Ohio State’s 2026 schedule is loaded with the kind of games that already have people circling dates, but CBS Sports thinks the one that could sneak up on Ryan Day’s team is the trip to Nebraska on Nov. 21.
Brad Crawford labeled the Huskers as the Buckeyes’ biggest “trap game,” and the reasoning is simple: it comes one week before The Game against Michigan. As Crawford put it, “Ah, the game before The Game,” Crawford writes.
“Ohio State’s late-season trip to Nebraska has all the makings of a classic look-ahead trap. The Buckeyes visit Lincoln one week before facing Michigan, and that rivalry will undoubtedly dominate the conversation leading into kickoff.”
The setting matters, too. Memorial Stadium has a reputation for being one of the Big Ten’s toughest places to play when Nebraska is competitive, and Crawford pointed to the way the last two meetings in this series have gone down to the wire.
By late November, he wrote, Nebraska should be “battle-tested, physical and desperate for a signature win.” If Ohio State shows up distracted or gets off to a slow start, Crawford believes it could turn into “a fourth-quarter fight.”
Ohio State enters 2026 with sky-high expectations. The Buckeyes are No. 1 in ESPN’s preseason FPI rankings and are projected to have a 75.7% chance of making the College Football Playoff. Their matchups with Texas, Indiana, Oregon and Michigan are the games drawing the most buzz, but Nebraska is the one CBS Sports flagged as the potential danger spot.
The history between the programs adds another layer. Nebraska joined the Big Ten in 2011, and the first conference meeting between the teams went the Huskers’ way, a 34-27 win in Lincoln. Since then, though, Ohio State has stacked up eight straight wins over Nebraska.
Even with that streak, the recent games have been tighter than the overall series record might suggest. Ohio State won 26-17 in Lincoln in 2021, and the Buckeyes edged Nebraska 21-17 in Columbus in 2024.
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