It’s finally here. Impressively, before we got into 2026, too. The Ohio State program is notoriously late in posting a full schedule, but the Buckeyes just dropped the men’s lacrosse schedule for 2026 and it is...okay. I’ll be honest, there’s not a lot of marquee matchups in the non-conference schedule, but all the old standbys are there. First, full schedule:
2.1 Detroit Mercy
2.7 Cleveland State
2.10 Bellarmine
2.14 @Air Force
2.21 High Point
2.28 @Georgetown
3.7 Notre Dame
3.12 Denver
3.21 @Rutgers
3.25 Penn State
4.4 @Maryland
4.11 Johns Hopkins
4.18 Team Up North
That’s 13 games in less than 8 weeks, and no big brands until you travel to DC to take on the Hoyas. The Notre Dame-Denver tandem is going to be a little rough. Similar to last year, Ohio State just has to win 2 of the 3 games that close out the nonconference schedule. Go 1-2, and you’ ll have to go 4-1 in the Big Ten again to sniff the national tournament this season.
Virginia backing out of taking on the Buckeyes is just sad on the part of the Cavaliers, but I would have liked to see a Duke or North Carolina pop up here, just to give the Buckeyes a chance. Remember that Army was left out entirely from the tournament last year with just 2 losses.
The Big Ten slate is going to be an absolute grind, even though I think everyone outside of Maryland is going to take a step back. Rutgers is continuing to bring up the rear, Penn State is going to have a massive hole on offense to fill, Hopkins is in a quagmire of mediocrity, and the Wolverines have lost most of their offense from 2025, which was the one thing keeping them afloat.
Ohio State, for better or worse, will not really be challenged until the February 28 game against, Georgetown, almost halfway through their slate. That’s a long runway in a sport that is cutthroat about the postseason. The Big Ten tournament offers you a little redemption, but the Buckeyes need to retool the offense, both personnel and scheme, quickly to get to where they have to go.
All in all, not a meatgrinder of a schedule, but also not exactly a powderpuff schedule either. Utah going away is a little disappointing to see, frankly. The Utes are good, and would have provided a nice benchmark for Ohio State’s early season. Can’t let last year linger.
We're now less than 2 months to the first game of the season. It’s going to be a wild year. With all the firepower in Columbus on offense, there should be no excuse for not getting to the Final Four. That HAS to be the expectation now. Penn State has been there multiple times. The Buckeyes should 100% be able to achieve that with this group. Full stop.
No pressure.
Go Bucks!
