Imagine showing the 2026 schedule to any Ohio State football partisan between 1913 and 2013. They'd see:

• MAC x2 (Ball State, Kent State)
• Pac-8/10/12 x2 (Oregon, USC)
• SWC/Big XII x1 (Texas)
• Big 8/Big XII x1 (Nebraska)
• ACC x1 (Maryland)
• Big Ten x5 (Michigan, Northwestern, Indiana, Iowa, Illinois)

Next year's schedule is the same; only five traditional Big Ten opponents. In 2024 we played six (counting longtime independent Penn State). In 2023 we played seven (again, counting the Nittany Lions). But going forward, it seems like five-ish will be the norm. (At least until the ACC grant of rights termination date draws near enough that its more valuable members can afford to leave, allowing the additions of Notre Dame and Miami (FL) to the Big Ten to become official for the 2031 season.)

I, for one, would never want to go back to the pre-1993 "traditional" schedules where we play the same old boring slate of Northwestern, Indiana (present miracles notwithstanding), Purdue, Illinois, Minnesota, etc. every single year. Give me more interesting games against quality opponents committed to winning at football. That's way more fun. A schedule featuring not just Michigan, but also USC, Texas, Oregon, and Nebraska (present doldrums notwithstanding), plus a game against the defending national champions? Heck yes. (And don't get me started on the colossal mistake the decision-makers have made by failing to protect the OSU-PSU series as an annual event after 30+ years of equity poured into it by all involved -- we should be playing all of the above PLUS Penn State.)

Of course, I am but one fan, hiding behind a picture of a statue of one of America's most underappreciated statesmen (and a great Ohioan). What say you all, my esteemed fellow commenters?