The Ohio State Buckeyes will soon begin summer workouts and fall camp will ramp up later in the summer. Ohio State football isn’t too far away from being back, we have just a few months longer to wait. 

Ohio State has high expectations as always this year, but especially with it being expected to be Jeremiah Smith’s final season in Columbus, as well as QB Julian Sayin back for his second season as a starter. Another loaded roster is in Columbus, and they’re going to be tested a ton with the schedule. 

Ryan Day gets honest about Ohio State’s 2026 schedule 

Ohio State cruised through its regular season with a 12-0 record last year before losing its final two games in the Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff. The Buckeyes weren’t tested much last year, but that’ll change in 2026’s slate. 

“We’re gonna get challenged this year,” Day told 97.1 The Fan. “There’s no question about it. I mean, you look at the schedule that we have ahead of us, we are gonna learn a lot about ourselves.”

Ohio State will open with Ball State at home, but in Week 2 they’re traveling to Austin to take on Arch Manning and the Texas Longhorns. That’ll be a tough early-season road test for the Buckeyes where they’ll be slight underdogs likely. Ohio State’s second Big Ten game will be on the road against Iowa, and two weeks later they’ll play the Indiana Hoosiers on the road. 

A bye week after Indiana is key for the Buckeyes, who will come out of the off week by traveling to USC to take on what could be Lincoln Riley’s best team yet since he’s been with the Trojans. Ohio State will then return home for a huge game with the Oregon Ducks. The Buckeyes will close the season with Northwestern, Nebraska, and Michigan. 

Sure there are a few games in between where you’d expect Ohio State to win handily. Kent State, Illinois, and Maryland are all games along with Ball State where the Buckeyes should roll in 2026 I believe. 

“We push through this schedule, we’ll be playoff-ready at the end of the season,” Day added.