Ohio State, Alabama to Play Home-and-Home Series in 2027, 2028

By Dan Hope on June 18, 2020 at 2:07 pm
Cardale Jones vs. Alabama in the 2014 CFP
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Two of college football's marquee programs have scheduled a home-and-home series for 2027 and 2028.

Ohio State will host Alabama in 2027 and travel to Tuscaloosa in 2028, the schools' athletic departments announced Thursday.

The game at Ohio Stadium is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2027, while the game at Bryant-Denny Stadium is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2028.

“We’d like to thank University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne and Senior Deputy Director of Athletics Finus Gaston, who worked so hard with us to get this series scheduled,” Ohio State deputy athletics director Diana Sabau said in a statement. “Building a non-conference schedule with tradition-rich programs is important to the competitive excellence of our program and the department, and it is great for our fans. We are excited for both schools and pleased to be able to share in this announcement today with the University of Alabama.”

Per the terms of the contract between the schools, as obtained by Eleven Warriors through a public records request on Thursday, the visiting team will receive $1 million and 5,000 tickets from the home team for each year's game, while either school would owe $3 million to the other if it backs out of the agreement. Per the contract, “the teams agree to discuss in good faith a future date(s) for the game(s) to be played” if conference rule or alignment changes dictate that a game between the two schools cannot be played in 2027 or 2028.

 

Ohio State and Alabama have previously played each other four times, most recently in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2015, when the Buckeyes defeated the Crimson Tide 42-35 en route to winning the inaugural College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide won each of the previous three matchups.

The 2027 and 2028 games will be the first home-and-home games between Ohio State and Alabama – neither has ever played at the other school's home stadium – and will be Ohio State's first regular-season games against an SEC opponent since the Buckeyes played LSU in a home-and-home in 1987 and 1988.

Ohio State now has home-and-home series scheduled with six Power 5 opponents over the next 12 years, also including Oregon (2020-21), Notre Dame (2022-23), Washington (2024-25), Texas (2025-26) and Georgia (2030-31).

Ohio State's Scheduled Home-and-Home Games
Opponent Date Location
OREGON SEPT. 12, 2020 AUTZEN STADIUM (EUGENE, OREGON)
OREGON SEPT. 11, 2021 OHIO STADIUM
NOTRE DAME SEPT. 3, 2022 OHIO STADIUM
NOTRE DAME SEPT. 23, 2023 NOTRE DAME STADIUM (SOUTH BEND, INDIANA)
WASHINGTON SEPT. 14, 2024 HUSKY STADIUM (SEATTLE, WASHINGTON)
TEXAS AUG. 30, 2025 OHIO STADIUM
WASHINGTON SEPT. 13, 2025 OHIO STADIUM
TEXAS SEPT. 5, 2026 DARRELL K. ROYAL–TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM (AUSTIN, TEXAS)
ALABAMA SEPT. 18, 2027 OHIO STADIUM
ALABAMA SEPT. 9, 2028 BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM (TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA)
GEORGIA SEPT. 14, 2030 SANFORD STADIUM (ATHENS, GEORGIA)
GEORGIA AUG. 30, 2031 OHIO STADIUM

Ohio State was also previously scheduled to play a home-and-home with Boston College in 2026 and 2027 (which was originally scheduled for 2023 and 2024), but that series is being rescheduled for later dates. Sabau told Eleven Warriors on Thursday that those games will be played no sooner than 2029.

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