How further conference realignment would affect Ohio State Football

It’s that time of year again! It’s the end of July and it’s right before Fall camp starts. Next month, games will be played. That means it’s time for unsubstantiated rumors about the Ohio State football program having to play against a new opponent in the future because of conference realignment.

If you’ve spent any time on the internet lately, you’ll see all kinds of rumors about the Pac-12 dissolving and the ACC teams wanting to jump ship for more TV money. Heck, we speculated on Oregon moving to the Big Ten too. So how would future conference realignment affect the Ohio State football program?

The short answer is that it would depend on which programs would join the Big Ten. They are one of the conferences in a position of power, along with the SEC. I think in 20 years those might be the only two conferences left in major college football.

If that happens, Ohio State would have a tougher schedule to navigate for sure. If there are two superconferences with 20 teams each, that would make winning a national championship insanely hard to do. That’s not something to worry about right now though.

What fans need to worry about is the next five years or so. If Oregon joins the Big Ten along with Washington, does that really affect the Buckeyes that much? No. It would increase the amount of money they get from the TV deal, but neither program are on the level Ohio State is.

I do think conference realignment is ruining college football. Part of what makes this sport great is the regionality of it. I want it to be a sport that the whole country cares about, not just pockets of it. But realignment isn’t going away anytime soon with the amount of money being thrown out there.

Ohio State will survive anything because they are one of the most powerful brands in the country. They sit in a very nice spot for years to come.