2025 Ohio State Football Schedule
Aug 30 Texas
Sept 6 Grambling State
Sept 13 Ohio
Sept 20 OPEN DATE
Sept 27 at Washington
Oct 4 Minnesota
Oct 11 at Illinois
Oct 18 at Wisconsin
Oct 25 OPEN DATE
Nov 1 Penn State
Nov 8 at Purdue
Nov 15 UCLA
Nov 22 Rutgers
Nov 29 at Michigan
Who is Ohio State missing from the Big Ten schedule?
Indiana, Iowa, Maryland, Michigan State, Nebraska, Northwestern, Oregon and USC
It appears to be a sin for Ohio State to avoid Michigan State, but it may not be such a bad bargain this year. It’s never a terrible thing to avoid Iowa and USC, and not playing Oregon in the regular season is unfair to Big Ten fans, given the Ducks and Buckeyes might meet in the Big Ten Championship.
Of course, Ohio State should outperform everyone on the schedule, but not having to deal with potential curveballs from Indiana and Nebraska is a welcome relief.
Ohio State football schedule: the good and the ugly
The Good: As the season opener, Texas is about as risk-free a monster game as you can get. Lose at home, and you’ll have plenty of time to make it up. Win, and the stage is set for another incredible run.
There is a week break before the trip to Washington, followed by another before playing Penn State. To be honest, those are only two of the six probable losing scenarios.
The Bad: Even the defending national champions will struggle with three road games in four weeks in the middle of the season. Washington should be better, Wisconsin could be much better, and Champaign, Illinois, is deadly.
And, no, it makes no difference that the game is at Michigan. Although the pressure may be positive, it would be preferable to play the game in Columbus.
Ohio State Football Schedule: Best and worst-case scenarios
Best Case Scenario: Ohio State wins the first and, more importantly, the final regular-season games. Do this, and the remaining 10 games in the middle will fall into place.
There may be one loss along the way – honestly, that Illinois game could be a concern – but the Buckeyes will take care of the bookends and advance to the Big Ten Championship and the College Football Playoff.
Worst-case scenario: Ohio State loses against Michigan.
This is hyperbole, but after a finally-getting-over-the-hump national title season, the other 11 games are merely filler when it comes to what a large portion of the Buckeye fan base sorely needs.
Ohio State falls to Texas, a challenging mid-season game, for the seventh consecutive year.
And the national narrative turns into “a three-loss Ohio State remains one of the 12 finest teams” sad party.
Season Prediction: (February 7). Ohio State has a blip, maybe two, but it will not lose three games as it returns to the CFP. It will be a more difficult run than in 2024, including being the underdog at Michigan.
(It’s February 7th; we’ll flip-flop on this all offseason.) It loses the first and last games, but takes everything in between.
