Ohio
How difficult is Ohio State football’s 2026 schedule? See breakdown
Just how difficult is Ohio State’s 2026 football schedule? And how does it stack up against other Big Ten opponents’ schedules?
After an early matchup against Texas, the Buckeyes have a difficult stretch of Big Ten opponents including games against Oregon and Indiana, two 2025 College Football Playoff teams.
After a bye week, the Buckeyes will also travel to Los Angeles to play USC, which owns the top recruiting class in 2026 according to 247Sports.
See how Ohio State’s schedule might stack up against other Big Ten opponents.
2026 Big Ten opponents’ 2025 conference winning percentage
While college football teams look vastly different year to year due to graduating players and transfers, Ohio State’s 2026 Big Ten opponents combined have a stronger 2025 conference win-loss percentage than any other team’s opponents. The other 2025 CFP teams, Oregon and Indiana, rank fifth and sixth on the list.
- Ohio State – 0.629
- Northwestern – 0.580
- Michigan – 0.568
- Nebraska – 0.568
- Oregon – 0.556
- Indiana – 0.531
- Washington – 0.531
- USC – 0.519
- Iowa – 0.506
- Michigan State – 0.494
- Purdue – 0.493
- Minnesota – 0.481
- Rutgers – 0.469
- UCLA – 0.469
- Illinois – 0.444
- Maryland – 0.432
- Penn State – 0.420
- Wisconsin – 0.346
Ohio State football 2026 games against 2025 College Football Playoff teams
Including Ohio State, three Big Ten teams made the 2025 College Football Playoff. Indiana and Oregon, the other two teams that played against each other in the CFP semifinals, are on Ohio State’s schedule next season. While the Buckeyes will face Oregon at home, they will face the reigning national champion in Bloomington, Indiana.
Three teams in the conference – Northwestern, Nebraska and USC – will have to play all three 2025 CFP teams next season.
Teams facing three 2025 CFB teams:
Teams facing two 2025 CFB teams
- Ohio State (Oregon, Indiana)
- Illinois (Ohio State, Oregon)
- Michigan (Ohio State, Oregon)
- Washington (Oregon, Indiana)
- Indiana (Ohio State, Oregon)
Teams facing one 2025 CFB team
- Indiana (Ohio State)
- Iowa (Ohio State)
- Maryland (Ohio State)
- Michigan State (Oregon)
- Oregon (Ohio State)
- Purdue (Indiana)
- UCLA (Oregon)
Teams facing no 2025 CFB teams
- Minnesota
- Penn State
- Rutgers
- Wisconsin
2026 Opponents on USA Today’s way-too-early top 25 list
Since the end-of-the-year rankings fail to accurately represent how a team projects for the 2026 season, USA TODAY’s way-too-early top-25 poll can be used to judge Ohio State’s opponents.
Among Big Ten teams, Ohio State plays the most teams included in the top-25 list: Texas (No. 1), Iowa (No. 21), Michigan (No. 13), USC (No. 12), Oregon (No. 9) and Indiana (No. 4). The Buckeyes are No. 2 spot in the rankings.
See what matchups the rest of the conference has below:
- Ohio State – 6 (Texas, Iowa, USC, Oregon, Indiana, Michigan)
- Northwestern: – 5 (Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State)
- Michigan – 5 (Ohio State, Iowa, Penn State, Indiana, Oregon)
- Washington – 5 (Indiana, Oregon, Penn State, USC, Iowa)
- Nebraska – 4 (Indiana, Oregon, Ohio State, Iowa)
- USC – 4 (Indiana, Ohio State, Oregon, Penn State)
- Purdue – 4 (Notre Dame, Penn State, Indiana, Iowa)
- Rutgers – 4 (USC, Indiana, Michigan, Penn State)
- Wisconsin – 4 (Notre Dame, Penn State, USC, Iowa)
- Oregon – 3 (USC, Ohio State, Michigan)
- Indiana – 3 (USC, Ohio State, Michigan)
- UCLA – 3 (Oregon, Michigan, USC)
- Illinois – 3 (Iowa, Ohio State, Oregon)
- Maryland – 3 (Ohio State, USC, Penn State)
- Michigan State – 3 (Notre Dame, Michigan, Oregon)
- Penn State – 3 (USC, Michigan, Iowa)
- Iowa – 2 (Ohio State, Michigan)
Ohio State ‘cross-country’ trips compared to Big Ten opponents
Last season, the Buckeyes had one trip to the West Coast, to open up Big Ten play against the Washington Huskies. This season, Ohio State once again has one West Coast trip, to face USC, but the Buckeyes will be coming off a bye entering the game.
USC, on the other hand, has a trip to Wisconsin before facing Ohio State the following week. Ohio State will also travel during its nonconference season to play Texas, which is 1,237 miles away.
No eastern Big Ten travels to play a West Coast Big Ten opponent more than once in the 2026 season. West Coast teams (USC, Washington, Oregon, UCLA) travel at least three times for road matchups against eastern Big Ten opponents. USC has the most road matchups in the Midwest: Wisconsin, Indiana, Rutgers and Penn State.
2026 Ohio State football schedule
All times TBD
- Sept. 5: vs. Ball State
- Sept. 12: at Texas
- Sept. 19: vs. Kent State
- Sept. 26: vs. Illinois
- Oct. 3: at Iowa
- Oct. 10: vs. Maryland
- Oct. 17: at Indiana
- Oct. 24: OFF
- Oct. 31: at USC
- Nov. 7: vs. Oregon
- Nov. 14: vs. Northwestern
- Nov. 21: at Nebraska
- Nov. 28: vs. Michigan
Dan Aulbach covers breaking and trending sports for The Columbus Dispatch. Email him at daulbach@dispatch.com and follow along X for more.
Ohio
$150,000 funding to be voted on for the Lisbon pool
LISBON, Ohio (WKBN)- We could find out as soon as Wednesday whether or not funding will be coming to help repair the Lisbon pool.
Mayor Pete Wilson says he spoke with State Representative Monica Robb Blasdel.
He says their $150,000 request was added into the state capital expenditures bill, which is expected to be voted on Wednesday. The Mayor says he was told the vote is a formality and that the funding will be approved.
He says with this funding, they hope to have the pool open next year.
Ohio
Trumbull County Commissioners discuss property tax reduction
WARREN, Ohio (WKBN) — Trumbull County Commissioners at Tuesday’s weekly workshop meeting discussed the possibility of enacting an additional 2.5% reduction in property taxes for people occupying homes.
Although no decision was made, all the commissioners agreed it was a good idea.
The owner occupancy deduction was one option enacted last year by the Ohio Legislature to lower property taxes.
The other option was the homestead deduction for homeowners 65 or older or permanently disabled. The owner occupancy deduction is the smaller of the two.
The commissioners indicated they hope to vote before July 1.
The deduction would save homeowners $25 for every $1,000 in property taxes but will mean less money for the townships, school and Trumbull County.
Ohio
Mass shooting at Ohio festival that wounded 12 stemmed from dispute between rival groups, police say
A mass shooting that left 12 people wounded on Saturday afternoon at a summer festival in Ohio stemmed from “a dispute involving two rival groups,” according to police.
Gunfire rang out just after 5:30 p.m. near the Old West End Festival in Toledo from two gunmen, one from each group, police said. A dozen people were hurt, with the oldest victim being 61 and the youngest 14, police Lt. Dan Gerken said Saturday, noting most were in their early 20s.
Toledo Police Chief Michael Troendle said Tuesday that a dispute between rival groups led to “a foot chase,” a physical altercation and one person producing a firearm and shooting before someone from the rival group did the same and returned fire.
“While investigators believe some of the victims are intentionally targeted, the majority of those injured appear to have been innocent bystanders caught up in this senseless act of violence,” Troendle said during a news briefing.
Police estimate that three of the victims were involved in the incident, while nine were caught in the crossfire. All of the victims are expected to survive, with nine already having been released from the hospital, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said at the Tuesday briefing.
Toledo Fire & Rescue Chief Allison Armstrong said bystanders helped in the aftermath of the shooting by administering tourniquets to the injuries of the victims and providing them with comfort.
“While that act showed us the worst of humanity, what followed in the moments after showed us the very best,” Armstrong said.
Detectives have continued conducting interviews since the incident and “identified several persons of interest,” Troendle said. The gunmen police believe to be responsible are between the ages of 18 and 24, and still at large, he said.
Before the shooting, a deputy sheriff at the festival was about to check a bag when someone grabbed it and ran off with it, Troendle said, adding that police are “still trying to piece all that together.” It is not clear who the bag belonged to, or if the firearm was used in the shooting.
Since the shooting, Troendle said that investigators have recovered and are examining two firearms that are believed to be connected to the shooting.
“While there’s still work to be done, I can tell you that investigators continue to make progress,” Troendle said.
Kapszukiewicz said moving forward, young people need to be held accountable for their actions.
“The reality is they did something that deserves punishment and accountability, and when our police find them and arrest them, they will be held accountable,” he said about the gunmen.
Kapszukiewicz also said he thinks the city should finish hosting the Old West End Festival, which was halted a day early after Saturday’s shooting. He said late summer or early September would be a good time to “put a bow on that weekend.”
Changes, including strengthened curfews and more opportunities to check bags, are being discussed for events like the Old West End Festival, Kapszukiewicz said.
“Our heart is broken, and it will take time to work through what happened, and to seek to make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said.
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