In the age of the 12-team College Football Playoff, the in-season importance of non-conference schedules has been diminished. The old BCS system rewarded strong out-of-conference schedules, as did the four-team CFP (to an extent). However, as we’ve seen with the first two 12-team iterations, having a strong non-conference schedule does nothing. Sure, Ohio State beat Texas in Week 1 of the 2025 season and jumped from number three to number one in the AP Poll, but what did Texas get? The Longhorns went on a limb, scheduled a game at Ohio State, lost by one touchdown in a defensive showcase, and were on the outside looking in. Of course, losing to a bad Florida team didn’t help.
But, as our Craig McMichael highlighted, the last three national champions had dreadfully weak non-conference schedules. The nine non-conference games on the three champions’ schedules were ECU, UNLV, Bowling Green, Akron, Western Michigan, Marshall, Old Dominion, FBS newbie Kennesaw State, and FCS Indiana State. Exciting stuff.
Ohio State has had no issue scheduling tough non-conference teams. The 2024 and 2025 OOC slates had featured a home-and-home with Washington, but then the Huskies joined the Big Ten. It’s currently in the midst of a home-and-home with Texas (a trip to Darryl K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium awaits this fall), and is fresh off matchups with Notre Dame, Oregon (when it was in the Pac-12), Cincinnati (two years removed from making the CFP), TCU (neutral site…in Dallas), Oklahoma, and so forth.
Despite all of this, what will become of Ohio State’s future non-conference foes?
Ohio State’s Future Non-Conference Schedule Faces Questions
As It Stands
Ohio State is getting ready for the 2026 season, but the powers that be have an eye to the future. As of now, this is the Buckeyes’ non-conference schedule for 2026 and beyond:
- 2026: Ball State, at Texas, Kent State
- 2027: Bowling Green, New Hampshire (FCS), Alabama
- 2028: Buffalo, at Alabama, Northern Illinois
- 2029: Navy, Charlotte, Youngstown State (FCS)
- 2030: Nevada, at Georgia
- 2031: Georgia
- 2035: Boston College
- 2036: at Boston College
While there are a few cupcakes in there, the home-and-home with Alabama and Georgia are nothing to sneeze at. Sure, Alabama isn’t quite what it was under Nick Saban, but it’s still a top program. And, of course, Georgia, which has won each of the last two SEC Championships and has missed the SEC Championship Game just twice in the 10 years with Kirby Smart as head coach (four conference titles in that time).
For every MAC or in-state FCS foe, there’s an SEC or Power 4 team on the schedule.
But, in a system that doesn’t really reward for playing tough schedules, what now?
Bama Backing Out?
As of today, all of these scheduled matchups are going to happen. However, the king of the SEC media machine, Paul Finebaum, does not believe the Ohio State-Alabama series is going to happen.
On a guest spot with 97.1 The Fan in Columbus, Finebaum weighed in on the potential marquee matchups of the 2027 and 2028 seasons. “I sincerely doubt the Alabama game is going to happen based on what I’ve heard from Alabama’s AD,” Finebaum said. “He’s got a shaky situation there anyway with a coach that is in trouble.”
Georgia, according to Finebaum, will likely keep things as they are because it’s “more in-tune and aligned,” alluding to Smart’s job security vs Kalen DeBoer’s at Alabama.
Of course, at the same time, Bobby Carpenter, a former Buckeye and host of the “Bobby Carpenter Show,” talked to radio folks in Tuscaloosa who “hadn’t heard yet that there was going to be any cancellation [of the 2027 and 2028 matchups].”
To be fair to Finebaum, he isn’t reporting anything. This isn’t an exclusive for ESPN where he is breaking news. It was an opinion. So, to take it as anything but would be giving too much credence. However, who is a bigger SEC mouthpiece than Finebaum?
Moving Forward
The future of Ohio State’s non-conference schedule will forever be in flux. Things change almost daily in college football, so who knows where these programs will be when the time comes. The foundation of Finebaum’s doubt is sound. Not the point that the ground below DeBoer is shaky, but because the SEC is moving to nine conference games. As of now, the Tide’s non-conference matchups in 2027 are Marshall and at Ohio State, while 2028 are Ohio State, UT-Martin (FCS), and at Oklahoma State.
Will Alabama really willingly play 11 Power 4 opponents? Even if Oklahoma State is awful, it still counts just as much as playing Arkansas.
Who knows, we could be getting ready for the first season of the College Football Super League at this time next year. Nobody knows what is going to happen.
It makes sense to think the Alabama matchups would be in danger, but as of now, they’re on the schedule to be played. Hopefully, it stays that way because a regular-season home-and-home with two of the game’s greatest programs and brands could only be a good thing.
Main Image: Syndication: The Columbus Dispatch
