Leading into the 2025 season, Ohio State’s schedule featured multiple matchups in Big Ten play perceived as marquee games. Michigan, Penn State, and Illinois. All three of those games were viewed as major games on the schedule.
Those three games, though, turned out to be cakewalks for the Buckeyes. Overall, Big Ten play became a cake walk for the Buckeyes. It felt as if Ryan Day and the players were playing the long game in staying fresh for The Game and the Postseason. That was fine at the time, but it came back to be a negative for the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff.
Thankfully, that will probably not be the case in 2026. Penn State isn’t on the schedule, but Indiana, Oregon, Michigan, and Iowa are. Good. There needs to be stiffer competition in the Big Ten during the regular season. Make the games entertaining. This team needs to be battle-tested, and they will be in 2026.
Forget Indiana, Michigan, and Oregon. The Buckeyes play at Iowa in their second Big Ten game this season. That’s never an easy road trip. Indiana and Oregon both won at Iowa last year. It clearly benefited both of them. The same may be true for the Buckeyes this year if they can win on the road in a tough environment against a tenacious Iowa team.
Playing at USC. I don’t care if USC isn’t what it was in the mid-2000s. It’s still playing a prestigious program in Los Angeles at the Memorial Coliseum. Late October traveling to the West Coast, even off a bye week, is not going to be an advantage for the Buckeyes. That game is a trap game epitomized. It’s after the bye week and after the game at Indiana… and before the game against Oregon.
I’m very interested in seeing what the road game at Nebraska could look like. The weather could be brutal, and that is one of the last places you want to play before The Game the following week. Nebraska is an unknown going into the 2026 season, but they have a tough home environment. That game cannot be overlooked.
The Big Ten becoming what it became last season was out of the Buckeyes’ control. This season, though, I’m confident it will be a tougher schedule. There won’t be any cakewalking. Julian Sayin will be playing meaningful snaps in the fourth quarter, and the Buckeyes will be much more battle-tested going into The Game and the Postseason. It all should lead to a deeper Playoff run.
