Ohio State Football adds three bad non-conference games

The Ohio State football game usually does a pretty good job of scheduling marquee opponents in the non-conference slate. They normally get at least one really good opponent to play. Then, they have some really bad teams for the rest of the non-conference games.

That’s certainly the case with what the Buckeyes just announced today. They have added three more bad teams to play in the non-conference part of the schedule in the coming years. They will play Marshall at home next year on the 21st of September and will play home games against Nevada and Charlotte in 2029.

Ohio State was set to take on Washington next year but pulled out of that. So instead of Ohio State football fans being treated to a good game, they get a crappy one with Marshall instead. Buckeye fans also get two more crappy games to watch in 2029.

I don’t think this is a good thing. Fewer fans are going to get season tickets if these are the kinds of games that are going to be on the schedule. Ohio State already had the worst attendance since WWII for a non-con game a couple of years ago. This won’t make things better.

I understand that their schedule is about to get harder overall with the addition of USC and UCLA to the Big Ten next year, but that’s no excuse for this type of schedule. No one wants to watch the Buckeyes put 50 on another bad team. They want to see great matchups against other teams.

Unfortunately, expect this sort of scheduling to continue. The Buckeyes don’t have the incentive to change in terms of winning games. The Big Ten as a whole has started scheduling softer. I think it’s bad for the sport as a whole and will drive less interest in the product.