The Buckeyes are staring at the toughest road left in college football.
According to the latest College Football Power Index simulations, Ohio State has the No. 1 most difficult remaining strength of schedule in the country entering Week 7. That’s a brutal label, but it fits what’s ahead for a team already sitting at 5-1 after a grind that included a one-point loss at Texas, a game in which the Buckeyes once led by 20.
Now comes the part that will tell the whole story. Ohio State goes to undefeated Indiana this week, then still has road trips to USC and Nebraska, plus home games against Oregon and Michigan. That kind of finish can burnish a College Football Playoff résumé in a hurry - or wreck it just as fast.
The SEC dominates the rest of the list, owning eight of the 10 most difficult remaining schedules. Missouri checks in at No. 2, followed by LSU at No. 3, with Texas A&M, Florida, Auburn, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Arkansas also stacked into the top 10.
Missouri, also 5-1, gets Ole Miss this week before a punishing stretch that runs through Texas at home, Georgia on the road, Kentucky at home, and then Oklahoma. It’s the sort of closing run that could push the Tigers into the playoff picture or expose where they stand against elite competition.
LSU, meanwhile, is 4-2 after a narrow overtime loss at Kentucky and still has a gauntlet to survive. The Tigers have Mississippi State, Auburn, Alabama and Texas left at home, plus a trip to Tennessee. It’s a schedule that leaves almost no margin for error.
USC lands at No. 5 on the remaining-schedule list thanks to a difficult Big Ten finish that includes a home date with Ohio State.
Florida and Auburn also face additional ranked tests that will help define where they stand in the postseason race, while Tennessee’s remaining home slate against Alabama, Kentucky and LSU keeps the Vols in the conversation - or knocks them out of it.
The bigger picture is hard to miss: the teams with the roughest roads ahead are mostly the ones in the power conferences, and the next few weeks should do plenty to separate the real contenders from the pretenders. In a playoff race where every late-season result gets magnified, these schedules are going to matter.
In Other News...
Marvin Harrison Jr And C.J. Stroud Just Revived A Buckeye Storyline
Marvin Harrison Jr. is heading from Arizona to Houston, and the move puts him back alongside the quarterback who helped make him one of the most electric receivers in college football. For Ohio State fans, it is a reminder of how quickly Harrisons Buckeye rsum came together, from big nights in the 2022 Rose Bowl and the 2023 Sugar Bowl to the kind of complete performance he delivered against Penn State in 2022.
The trade also gives Harrison a fresh chance after a difficult NFL start, and it arrives with a familiar face at quarterback in C.J. Stroud. For a former Buckeye star trying to reset his momentum, the reunion brings back the kind of setting where his talent looked at its most natural, and it leaves one obvious question hanging over the next chapter of his career. [Read more 🡒]
Ohio State Still Has One Problem Fans Cant Ignore
Ohio States special teams issues have become hard to brush aside, especially when games tighten and every point starts to matter more. The Buckeyes have already lived through missed opportunities in key moments, including a costly field goal miss in the previous Big Ten Championship, and the unit has remained a lingering concern even with Robby Discher brought in to coordinate the operation.
Connor Hawkins entered the season with a track record that suggested steadier days ahead, but his 2026 form has not matched expectations. For a program that usually expects clean execution in the kicking game, the continued uncertainty around field goals keeps showing up in the places Ohio State can least afford it, and until that changes, fans are going to keep watching this part of the team with unease. [Read more 🡒]
Ryan Day Faces One Big Lineup Question Before Ohio State's Indiana Test
Ryan Day sounded encouraged this week about Ohio States health heading into Indiana, saying most of the six starters who missed the Maryland game are expected back. That group included Brandon Inniss, Devin McCuin, Austin Siereveld, Phillip Daniels, Christian Alliegro and Jay Timmons, with some of those absences tied to non-football-related issues. Getting that much experience back would matter for a Buckeyes team trying to keep its rhythm intact as the season tightens.
Indiana, though, gives Ohio State little margin for error. Day pointed to the Hoosiers recent success and made clear they are not the kind of opponent to take lightly, especially with lineup questions still hanging over his own side. The Buckeyes should be closer to full strength, but this matchup still comes with one obvious layer of uncertainty: exactly how quickly those returning starters can settle back in and how much of the rotation changes with them. [Read more 🡒]