The Big Ten Conference just released the revised 2021 schedule for Ohio State and the rest of its teams.
On Friday, February 5th, the conference released a revised 2021 schedule. However, the Big Ten made no major changes to the current schedule.
The revised schedule has Ohio State starting 2021 in Minneapolis on a Thursday night. Then, the Buckeyes play the second leg of their previously scheduled home-and-home against Oregon. Unfortunately, this will be the only game in this series, as the game in Eugene was canceled last season.
The Buckeyes play Michigan in Ann Arbor this year, which means their first game in the series in Columbus since 2019 will have to wait until 2022.
Ohio State’s revised 2021 football schedule:
9/2 at Minnesota
9/11 Oregon
9/18 Tulsa
9/25 Akron
10/2 at Rutgers
10/9 Maryland
10/23 at Indiana
10/30 Penn State
11/6 at Nebraska
11/13 Purdue
11/20 Michigan State
11/27 at Michigan
12/4 B1GCG— Andrew Lind (@AndrewMLind) February 5, 2021
Observations on the 2021 Ohio State Schedule
Ohio State Gets a Full, 12-Game Schedule
The only knock against the Buckeyes last year was that they only played six conference games, including the Big Ten Championship. Now, supposing that no games are canceled this time around, Ohio State will play a full schedule in 2021.
The Buckeyes will play a nine-game conference schedule and have three games against non-conference opponents.
Ohio State gets to salvage its series against Oregon, hosting the Ducks in September. Despite last years’ cancellation, Oregon finally gets a rematch of the 2015 National Championship Game.
No Major Changes From the Original Schedule
The only changes for Ohio State are just some dates. No teams or locations had to budge for the Buckeyes under the revised schedule.
Eleven Warriors reported:
According to a statement released by the Big Ten, the schedule was revised “in order to accommodate the following six games that adjusted locations as a result of changes made during the 2020 scheduling process”: Indiana-Michigan, Indiana-Michigan State, Michigan-Michigan State, Nebraska-Purdue, Nebraska-Wisconsin and Purdue-Wisconsin. All other opponents and locations are unchanged from the previous 2021 schedule, which was initially released in 2017.
All the opponents from the original schedule are the same, as are the venues. The conference just had to tinker with the dates to accommodate changes for other programs.
This is the reason why Ohio State doesn’t get to host Michigan this year. Despite the canceled game in Columbus in 2020, the conference stuck with the same locations from the originally released schedule when it could.
Breaks in the 2021 Schedule
One of the most noticeable things about the revised schedule is that Ohio State plays Minnesota on a Thursday.
The next game is against Oregon in the Shoe, so the Buckeyes have a long week to prepare.
While Oregon is making a cross-country trip, Ohio State will have plenty of time to return to Columbus, rest, recover, and get an extra practice or two in.
The Buckeyes’ bye is exactly halfway through their schedule. The week off gives the Buckeyes a break between the October 9th game against Maryland and the October 23rd game at Indiana.
Given that Indiana gave Ohio State its toughest game in conference play last year, the Buckeyes will be glad to have a bye before their trip to Bloomington.
