Ohio State has a solid roster of alternate uniforms at its disposal. While there are a few that have only been worn once, like both iterations of the Land of the Wolves looks or the one-off throwbacks, a few looks have made their way onto the field a few more times. This week, Ohio State announced a revamp of its all-black look. So, logical thinking would assume that the all-black jerseys will return in 2026 after a three-year hiatus.
In the Ryan Day era, Ohio State has rocked the all-black, all-scarlet, all-gray, and all-white looks to go with its Diamond Quest scarlet and Diamond Quest white looks in the CFP. While his predecessor broke out alternates in what felt like every other week, Day’s teams have been more traditional. Last year, Ohio State didn’t wear alternates once despite hosting “Scarlet the Shoe” and “Blackout” events for the fans.
While it’s unlikely the Buckeyes will wear alternates four times this year, let’s see if we can predict when the Ohio State alternate unis will grace the field.
Predicting When Ohio State Will Wear Alternate Uniforms in 2026
All-White: Week 2 at Texas
Ohio State had five road games this year, and all of them could warrant the all-white Stormtrooper look. Urban Meyer had a great all-white look back in the day, but the Day version has just been the standard away jersey with white pants. To this point, that combo has been used twice. The Buckeyes won in their debut in 2020 over Michigan State. In 2024, Oregon bested the Buckeyes in that regular-season classic in Eugene.
What better way to usher in the 2026 season than to rock the all-white look for the first big road trip of the year? The Ohio State-Texas game is going to be one of the few early-season matchups between teams with College Football Playoff aspirations.
Also, how’s this for parallels? In 2006, Ohio State switched from the gray sleeves to the jerseys it wore for the next 20 years. Week 1? At home against a MAC team. Week 2? On the road at second-ranked Texas.
Here’s to hoping the Buckeyes get out of Austin with another 24-7 win…
All-Gray: Week 4 vs Illinois
Of the four jerseys to be mentioned here, the grays have not been unveiled with the new Buckeye Stripes on the sleeves. Will Ohio State also update the all-gray look?
The Buckeyes premiered the all-gray alternates – just a gray version of the standard home and away jersey, not anything crazy like the previous gray jerseys – in 2023 in a win over Michigan State. The all-gray combo returned in 2024 in the win over Iowa, but was kept on the shelves last year.
Of course, getting to wear any of these alternates (especially the all-grays and all-blacks) under the lights would be ideal. Will Fox allow the Buckeyes a 7:30 p.m. kick at home, or will Ohio State have to continue to subsidize the rest of the conference with eight noon kicks? Time will tell.
All-Scarlet: Week 6 vs Maryland
There was a consideration to have the all-scarlet look at home in The Game against The Team Up North. This writer, as much as he likes alternate uniforms, is firmly anti-alternate uniforms in The Game. So, let’s take a look at another Big Ten game at home.
Will they be worn against Maryland or Northwestern? Neither matchup is uber exciting, so let’s go with Maryland. The Buckeyes debuted the scarlet pants in the 2021 win over Penn State. While there was a thought Ohio State would wear them in Week 1 of last year against Texas, the Buckeyes went with the traditional gray pants for the titillating noon kickoff.
The most recent use of the all-scarlet was in that 42-17 beatdown of Tennessee in the College Football Playoff First Round in 2024.
All-Black: Week 10 vs Oregon
Speaking of noon kickoffs, will the Ohio State-Oregon game be a Big Noon Kickoff game, or will CBS pick it up for a 3:30 p.m. kick? The latter wouldn’t be too bad to debut the revamped all-black alternates if a night game isn’t in the cards.
Honestly, suiting up in alternates seems like the best bet against Oregon, one way or another. No matter what the Buckeyes choose to do, it’ll end up a great uniform matchup, just like the Rose Bowl was.
It’s a great bet to think Ohio State will roll out the all-black unis after the big reveal. It will be the fifth time, joining the wins over Penn State in 2015, Nebraska in 2018, Michigan State in 2019, and Wisconsin in 2022.
