Ohio State football enters the 2026 season with six opponents ranked inside the top 25 of the ESPN FPI ratings. Texas, Oregon, and Indiana all rank in the top six. Michigan, Iowa, and USC round out a schedule that will test the Buckeyes at nearly every point of the season.
According to Yahoo Sports, The Sporting News college insider Bill Bender did not hold back in describing what Ohio State is facing. "I haven't seen a schedule this difficult," Bender said of the Buckeyes. "... I'm not saying Ohio State is going 9-3, but if they were 9-3 with that schedule, much like Texas was last year, I think they would have a very legitimate argument to get into the playoff."
The early weeks are brutal. Ohio State opens with a road trip to Texas in week two, then turns around for back-to-back games against Illinois and at Iowa in weeks four and five. Four of the team's five road matchups come against top-25 opponents in the FPI rankings.
The most punishing stretch may come in games seven through nine. The Buckeyes travel to Indiana, then to USC, before returning home to face Oregon. That three-game run sits in the middle of a season that offers almost no breathing room.
Ohio State has not lost three games in a season since 2011. The program has had more than one conference loss just twice since 2004. The 2026 schedule puts both of those streaks in genuine jeopardy, though the program returns nearly every key offensive playmaker from last year's roster. The defense enters year two under coordinator Matt Patricia, which ESPN has described as one of the most dominant units in the country.
ESPN's Football Power Index gives Ohio State a 75.5 percent chance to reach the College Football Playoff and a 38.8 percent chance to win the Big Ten. The odds of going undefeated sit at 9.2 percent. The program has a 28.2 percent chance to reach the national championship game and a 17.1 percent chance to win it.
Bender framed the situation as a combination of factors converging at once. "Well, I think we're going to continue to see an imbalanced schedule," he said. "You know, there will be years where Ohio State misses these teams ... it's just a perfect storm on their schedule this year."
The Buckeyes open the season in the coming weeks, with the Texas game in week two serving as the first major test of how this roster handles the pressure of the schedule ahead.