Ohio State basketball now knows the road ahead for 2026-27, and the Big Ten portion of the calendar looks every bit as demanding as expected.
With the conference schedule released on Wednesday, the Buckeyes’ full league slate is set: 20 games, split evenly with 10 at home and 10 on the road. Ohio State will face Michigan, Penn State and Iowa twice, with both a home and away meeting against each.
The conference grind starts early for Jake Diebler’s team. After opening non-conference play, the Buckeyes begin Big Ten action on Dec. 2 at Nebraska.
That trip has been a mixed bag for Ohio State since the Cornhuskers entered the league in 2011, with the Buckeyes going 8-4 at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Still, there’s some recent trouble in Lincoln, as three of those four losses have come in the last three visits dating back to 2023.
Nebraska should be a serious early measuring stick, too, with its first- and third-leading scorers back from a team that finished second in the Big Ten and reached the Sweet 16 last season.
The home opener in league play comes quickly after that, with Maryland coming to Columbus on Dec. 6. The Terrapins went 12-21 last season in Buzz Williams’ first year in College Park, but after a strong offseason in the transfer portal, that one shapes up as an interesting early December test.
Ohio State’s Big Ten rhythm picks up again after non-conference play with a home game against Oregon on Dec. 30, and then January turns into a brutal stretch almost immediately. The Buckeyes open 2027 at Iowa on Jan. 2 before returning home to face Northwestern on Jan.
- From there, they hit a tough run with back-to-back road games at Illinois and Purdue, then come home for three straight against Penn State, Michigan State and Iowa.
The month closes with a trip to Michigan on Jan. 30.
If Ohio State can navigate that middle-to-late January stretch, it will be in a much better spot heading into the final push.
The late-February trip to Southern California is now pinned down as well. The Buckeyes will go to UCLA on Feb. 17 and then USC on Feb.
- Last season, Ohio State’s West Coast swing took it to Oregon and Washington, and this year’s trip lands in a different part of the country against two teams that made roster moves this offseason and could be in position to contend in the Big Ten.
The regular season wraps with Rutgers coming to Columbus on Feb. 25, then road games at Indiana on Feb. 28 and at Minnesota to start March. Ohio State closes it all out at home against rival Michigan on March 7.
Once again, the schedule leaves little room to breathe in January and February. Diebler has pointed to a tougher non-conference slate as a way to prepare for exactly this kind of league gauntlet, and he has made clear his view of the conference by calling the Big Ten “the best league in the sport”. This schedule should test that idea from start to finish.
In Other News...
Ohio State Loss Keeps Getting More Awkward After Sarkisian Controversy
Texas comeback win over then-No. 1 Ohio State was already going to be remembered for the result, but the postgame noise has kept following it. Quarterback Arch Manning later apologized after laughing at an AI-generated video that showed coach Steve Sarkisian slapping ESPN reporter Holly Rowe, a moment that only added to the odd aftertaste surrounding a game the Buckeyes had let slip away.
Sarkisian also addressed the issue in a media meeting, saying he had skipped a postgame interview with Rowe because of a delay and because he chose to celebrate with his team instead. He said he respects Rowe and ESPN and expressed regret over how he handled it, another layer to a loss Ohio State fans were already trying to process as the off-field awkwardness kept building. [Read more 🡒]
Micah Parsons Just Revived A Massive Ohio State What-If
Micah Parsons has reopened one of those Ohio State recruiting what-ifs that never really disappears, especially when a player becomes one of the NFLs most disruptive defenders. The former Penn State star said he was close enough to Ohio State that he could picture what his career might have looked like in Columbus, where a front already stacked with elite pass rushers could have given him a different kind of launch point.
What makes the conversation linger is the way Parsons framed the fit with that Buckeyes defensive line. Ohio State has turned edge talent into a defining part of its identity, and Parsons imagining himself alongside names like Nick Bosa and Chase Young only adds to the intrigue of how much scarier that group might have been. The full story behind his decision is the kind of recruiting twist that still echoes years later, and it is easy to see why Buckeyes fans cannot help replaying it. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Secondary Has A Problem Big Ten Teams Will Notice
Ohio States secondary left Saturday with more questions than it wanted after a game against Texas in which coverage broke down on two pass plays that should have put the Buckeyes in real trouble. The only reason both snaps didnt turn into touchdowns was because Texas receivers failed to finish the job, a reminder that the back end is still searching for cleaner communication and tighter execution before Big Ten play begins.
Safety Earl Little Jr. acknowledged the need for improvement and stressed that every defender has to own his assignment if the unit is going to hold up against conference offenses. The coaching staff has kept practice demanding for exactly that reason, pushing the Buckeyes to sharpen the details now rather than hope they sort themselves out later. [Read more 🡒]