No one had a tougher finish to the 2024 season than the Ohio State football program. They had to finish against Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame. They won all of those games in order to win the national championship. Their 2025 schedule isn't much easier.
Ohio State's 2025 schedule is a lot tougher than it was in 2024. Last season, the non-conference schedule was very easy. That's something that will be a lot different this year. That doesn't mean that they don't have an easy Big Ten schedule either. They have to play at Michigan and at home against Penn State.
With all of the hard games that the Buckeyes have this year, there is one game that is harder than the rest. That game happens to be the very first game that they play, which is less than ideal. That opener is against Texas in a rematch of the Cotton Bowl.
The Ohio State football team's toughest game will be its first one
Texas is going to be one of the best teams in the country this year. They have a starting quarterback that a lot of people believe in, with Arch Manning. Manning is going to be really hard to stop, especially with a new defense in both scheme and with new players.
That aspect makes things a lot tougher for the Ohio State Buckeyes to win this game, even if it is at home. The Buckeyes were able to beat the Longhorns en route to winning a national title last year, so Texas is going to be very motivated to win this game.
All of those factors combined make this game the hardest one on Ohio State's schedule. Texas will very likely be in the College Football Playoff again when the year is over. It's going to be a very tough game for Ohio State to win, but one that could give them a lot of confidence if they do.
Jeremiah Smith is going to want to be better than he was in the Cotton Bowl. Texas shut him down, which was the only team really all year to do that. He's going to want revenge.