Ohio State football cancels series with Washington

The Ohio State football program usually does a really good job with their schedule. They usually have at least one marquee non-conference game every year. That scheduling has helped the Buckeyes make the College Football Playoff based on the strength of schedule from that game.

Despite this, the Buckeyes have canceled a home-and-home series with Washington for 2024 and 2025. Ohio State is doing this in part to be able to add an 8th home game in 2024 to add additional revenue. Since they are the ones canceling this series, they will have to pay a fee.

Ohio State was initially supposed to play both Washington and Texas in 2025. Now, just Texas remains. It’s unclear at the moment who the Buckeyes will replace Washington with on the schedule in either year. My guess is that it’s someone who isn’t very good.

As an Ohio State football fan, this saddens me. I was looking forward to this matchup in both years. I like that the Bucks make it a priority to schedule hard games in the non-conference slate. They’re fun to watch and they help the team prepare for Big Ten play as well.

As of now, Ohio State has no marquee non-conference opponent in 2024. They will play Notre Dame again next year and will face off with Texas in 2025. Both of this games will be big time matchups that will garner a lot of attention, especially the Texas game. That game is slated to be the season-opener in 2025.

I want to see if they can get some other Power 5 opponent for 2024. I think it’s imperative that the Buckeyes challenge themselves early. If they don’t, they won’t have the luxury of losing late in the season and still making the CFP like they did last season.