The Ohio State Buckeyes' 2026 schedule has caught the eye of many a pundit this offseason. Most see OSU's slate this fall and naturally start to wonder if the Buckeyes have the bandwidth to make the CFP field for a third straight year.
ESPN's Paul Finebaum and Matt Barrie offered that take on Friday's edition of The Paul Finebaum Show, specifically naming Ohio State's upcoming matchups with the defending champion Indiana Hoosiers, Iowa Hawkeyes, Texas Longhorns, and TTUN as opponents that could bend and/or break the Buckeyes.
“The schedule that’s difficult is Ohio State. Man, that one’s a real challenge. I believe they go to Iowa, then Indiana. You can say, ‘So, what?’ It could be a problem if they lose to Texas," Finebaum said.
“They have to go on the road this year to Austin, it’s gonna be a big thing. They’ve got Michigan, we know that. They have one of the hardest schedules in the Big Ten. They had a Week One win against Texas and they kind of just flowed it the rest of the way. They just didn’t play anybody the rest of the way, and once they got to the Playoff, they didn’t look like they were battle-tested. That’s not gonna be the case this year," Barrie said.
That constant testing may produce big results, though.
Ohio State may rise to the occasion against tough schedule
The flipside viewpoint from pundits in the early portion of the offseason is that Ohio State could use this difficult schedule as fuel to form a hardened protective shell against any postseason competition.
Saturday Blitz's Nicholas Rome believes it's possible the Buckeyes become better after surviving a few close-calls against elite competition, both in Big Ten play and on the road in Week 2 in Austin, Texas.
"The biggest issue for Ohio State in 2025 may have been the fact that they weren’t tested enough. This season, the Buckeyes should face a tougher schedule, which will make sure this team is ready for the Playoff. Non-conference play is headlined by the Texas game, which once again could be a matchup between the two top teams in the country," Rome wrote.
"Conference play will be much tougher for Ryan Day's team, which should ensure they're ready for the College Football Playoff. Ohio State faces Illinois, Iowa, Indiana, USC, Oregon, and Michigan, which will be a gauntlet compared to last year's schedule."
Of course, it all comes down to one's belief in Ryan Day being an effective CEO as Matt Patricia and Arthur Smith bring pro-style concepts to a highly-compensated locker room who are mostly destined to be in the NFL one day.
Bet on the Scarlet and Gray, and you're betting on a program that's dominated the regular season in recent years but was not on its axis in its most recent playoff foray.
Talent will be a luxury again, and there shouldn't be any hirings during the playoff run unless a downtrodden NFL team decides to bet on Smith or Patricia early. God forbid another assistant is hired away during a CFP run.