As college football programs continue to go light with non-conference scheduling, the Ohio State Buckeyes are bucking that trend. The Buckeyes continue to schedule quality opponents from other conferences, playing in big games that fans want to see.
In the past few years, Ohio State has taken on Notre Dame, Texas, and Oregon before they moved to the Big Ten. While Week 2 against Texas didn't go well for them, that hasn't kept the Buckeyes from playing big-time games. They are scheduled to play Alabama and Georgia in the future, as well. However, one of those matchups might be in danger.
Georgia could cancel its future matchups with Ohio State
The Georgia Bulldogs are currently slated to play the Buckeyes in 2030 and 2031 in a home-and-home series. However, the Bulldogs just canceled their home-and-home with Clemson, meaning Ohio State could be next. This is now the fourth home-and-home future matchup the Bulldogs have canceled.
This is clearly a result of the SEC moving to nine games in the conference slate, and teams are scared to schedule tough opponents. While Ohio State is still looking to play quality opponents, other top programs are afraid that losing such a game could threaten their chances of making the College Football Playoff.
Next season, the Buckeyes are going to take on Alabama. It's highly unlikely that the home-and-home is canceled, as it is too close for them to make that call. However, the Bulldogs could pull the plug on this series and end up scheduling an FCS cupcake instead, as most other SEC programs do.
Ohio State football fans have to give Texas credit for still keeping the matchups that the teams had in the last two years on the books. They easily could have tried to back out of them, but they also saw the value in playing these kinds of games. It's a shame that other programs don't feel the same.
Oho State will keep scheduling quality non-conference games with anyone who wants to play them
As long as the Buckeyes can keep finding quality teams in the non-conference to play, they will keep scheduling games. Ryan Day has made it clear that he thinks these games are good for college football, and he said so before the Week 2 matchup against the Longhorns.
If the CFP expands to 24 teams, there could be a better incentive for teams to schedule big non-conference matchups as resumes get diluted in a bigger playoff field. Canceling this matchup would be a shame for both fan bases, who both love seeing games like this.
These two programs have only played twice in their histories, which is pretty crazy. The most recent matchup was in the College Football Playoff semifinal in 2022, which saw Noah Ruggles miss a potentially game-winning field goal for the Buckeyes. They lost that game 42-41. The other matchup took place in the 1992 Citrus Bowl, with Georgia winning 21-14.
Ohio State likes playing these big-time matchups, and it would be a shame if Georgia didn't feel the same.
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