The Ohio State Buckeyes may be able to navigate their exceptionally difficult 2026 College Football schedule. OSU may just have to take a bump or two on the road to their third-straight CFP appearance.
Bleacher Report's Brad Shepard snuck in a massive big-picture prediction -- that Ohio State won't lose more than a few games and maintain a top-five ranking all season -- amid labeling the Texas Longhorns matchup in Austin during Week 2 a likely loss for the Buckeyes.
"It's time for a little Longhorn payback," Shepard prefaced before saying, "Last year, as both powerhouses were getting their feel for their rosters at the beginning of the season, Ohio State won a 14-7 snooze-fest in Columbus. The Buckeyes are expected to be right at the top of the national rankings again early in the season. Don't expect them to leave the top five throughout the year.
"The Longhorns, however, are title contenders also. Expect a massive junior season for Arch Manning, who was really beginning to come into his own and live up to the impossible expectations toward the end of the '25 season. Now, he's got weapons like receiver Cam Coleman and the running back tandem of Hollywood Smothers and Raleek Brown around him.
"Ohio State's explosive offense will be a big, early test for new Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, but there are elite athletes all over the field on both sides of the ball for the Horns. Plus, the Buckeyes must come to Austin. Texas is going to come away with a big-time win."
Ohio State can afford two losses to maintain a top-five ranking
Ohio State's 2026 slate is perhaps the most difficult, on paper, in the 12-team CFP era. It's possible that three losses could be had and the Buckeyes could still make the field, a la the Alabama Crimson Tide, who took losses during the regular season and a third in the SEC Championship Game against the Georgia Bulldogs. OSU might be able to take three in the regular season, not make the Big Ten title game, and still make the field.
If we're talking maintaining a top-five ranking, though, the Buckeyes can realistically only take two losses. Losing to Texas, and then maybe not losing again until a three-week stretch that starts with the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, features a Halloween game in LA against the USC Trojans after the bye week, and concludes with the Oregon Ducks at home, is the only way Shepard's scenario can happen.
You know a schedule is tough when a Week 2 loss can be forgotten by season's end. Ohio State is in a good, if precarious, place with its schedule.
Leniency will be afforded by the CFP selection committee, but the hits won't stop coming all year.