Ohio State will have a non-conference home night game, but it won’t be against Texas.
The Buckeyes’ highly anticipated season opener against the Longhorns on Aug. 30 is now officially set for a noon kickoff on FOX. Ohio State’s final game of non-conference play against Ohio, however, will kick off at 7 p.m. at Ohio Stadium on Sept. 13.
The in-state game between the Buckeyes and Bobcats will not be available on linear television as it will be streamed exclusively by Peacock.
In between those two games, Ohio State’s second game of non-conference play against Grambling State – also at the Shoe – will kick off at 3:30 p.m. and will be televised by Big Ten Network on Sept. 6.
Game times announcement
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Along with Thursday’s announcements of kickoff times and TV networks for the first three weeks of the season, FOX also confirmed Thursday that Ohio State’s season finale against Michigan will kick off in its traditional noon time slot.
| Date | Opponent | Time | TV | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUG. 30 | TEXAS | Noon | FOX | OHIO STADIUM (COLUMBUS, OHIO) |
| SEPT. 6 | GRAMBLING STATE | 3:30 p.m. | BTN | OHIO STADIUM (COLUMBUS, OHIO) |
| SEPT. 13 | OHIO | 7 p.m. | Peacock | OHIO STADIUM (COLUMBUS, OHIO) |
| NOV. 29 | MICHIGAN | Noon | FOX | MICHIGAN STADIUM (ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN) |
Thursday’s announcement comes after an unsuccessful effort by Ohio State to get the Texas game placed into the primetime slot Buckeye fans coveted. Ohio State proposed the idea of moving the game to Sunday night, a request that FOX was willing to accommodate, but Texas exercised its right to deny the request to move the game to a different date.
As a result, Ohio State and Texas will play at noon, the time slot in which FOX typically airs its game of the week each Saturday.
Ohio State now knows it will at least have one home night game this season against Ohio, though that far less anticipated matchup is unlikely to satisfy Buckeye fans’ desires for more marquee home night games. Fans who don’t subscribe to Peacock will also take umbrage with the Buckeyes’ game against the Bobcats being unavailable on traditional cable television, though it’s hardly a surprise that Peacock will air at least one Buckeye game this year. It’s the third straight year that at least one Ohio State game will air only on Peacock, which previously broadcast the Buckeyes’ 2023 road game at Purdue and 2024 road game at Michigan State.
The Big Ten’s TV contract stipulates that at least two games for every conference team will be broadcast by Big Ten Network each season, so the Grambling State game will fulfill the first half of that requirement for Ohio State.
Ohio State’s hopes of having a marquee home night game this season now depend on whether its Nov. 1 game against Penn State gets selected for primetime. That scenario appears less likely, however, after NBC announced Thursday that it will air Penn State vs. Oregon at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 27 – presumably its first pick in the Big Ten TV draft, which could mean Ohio State vs. Penn State is destined to be another Big Noon game on FOX.
That also likely means Ohio State’s road game at Washington on Sept. 27 won’t be a night game, with CBS’ 3:30 p.m. slot being a potential match for that game, though no kickoff time or TV network has been set for that game yet.
