The Ohio State Buckeyes will stare into the abyss during the 2026 College Football season. A trip to Austin, Texas, to take on the Longhorns in Week 2 is just the beginning, with the Big Ten slate including a matchup with the defending champion Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington, the USC Trojans in LA, the Oregon Ducks, and their Week 13 finale against TTUN.
Two of those games, luckily, take place within the friendly confines of the "Shoe." All of them pose unique challenges.
CBS Sports' Cody Nagel believes OSU's schedule is the greatest challenge. Nagel labeled the Buckeyes' 2026 slate as "one of the most grueling slates in the country next season" in a piece that ultimately labels the SEC's schedule as overall a tougher one, but acknowledges that programs in both conferences are facing more difficult challenges than ever.
"Instead of two or three Saturdays that truly define a season, top teams are playing tougher opponents more often. There are fewer recovery games, fewer built-in breathers, and fewer chances to reset after a tough matchup," Nagel wrote.
"That shift is especially clear in the Big Ten. Each of the five highest-ranked teams in Marcello's way-too-early 2026 projections faces at least three of the other four."
"Ohio State alone is slated to face all four, including a punishing four-week stretch: a trip to No. 8 Indiana, a bye, a cross-country trip to No. 11 USC, then back home to face No. 4 Oregon. The regular-season finale against No. 9 Michigan still looms. Add in a non-conference trip to No. 2 Texas, and the Buckeyes expect to face one of the most grueling slates in the country next season."
Ohio State faces program-defining season in 2026
The rev-share era is new, but Ohio State has had the same pressure to win since World War II. The Buckeyes have defined success in College Football, winning championships while the sport was developed in every era, unlike TTUN and their prohibition-era, and even pre-prohibition-era, national championships.
Ohio State will always be near the top due to the resources accumulated through consistent winning football over the past several decades. But you truly have to wonder if there's the same level of urgency after the program hired Arthur Smith and was outperformed in the transfer portal by Indiana this past January.
2026 may be a season of concession in Cbus. Knowing the deck is stacked against him, perhaps Ryan Day is preparing for a down year.
You can't blame him. Even a good year might not be able to come out of their upcoming schedule unscathed.