In 136 years of Ohio State football, only one team has traveled more miles during the regular season than the Buckeyes will in 2026.
Ohio State is scheduled to travel 4,422 miles for its five road games in 2026 as the Buckeyes will travel to USC (1,973 miles), Texas (1,072 miles), Nebraska (722 miles), Iowa (460 miles) and Indiana (195 miles).
| Date | Opponent | Miles from Ohio Stadium |
|---|---|---|
| Sept. 12 | Texas | 1,072 |
| Oct. 3 | Iowa | 460 |
| Oct. 17 | Indiana | 195 |
| Oct. 31 | USC | 1,973 |
| Nov. 21 | Nebraska | 722 |
| Mileage via distance.to | ||
It’s only the second time ever that Ohio State will travel more than 4,000 miles during the regular season. The only time the Buckeyes traveled more miles during the regular season than they will in 2026 was in 1994. The Buckeyes played six road games during the 1994 season, including two trips to the West Coast to open the season, as they faced Fresno State in the Pigskin Classic in Anaheim, California, before traveling to play Washington in Seattle two weeks later.
2026 will also be only the second time that Ohio State has played two regular-season road games more than 1,000 miles away from Columbus in the same season.
| Year | Total Miles | Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 4,919 | Washington, Fresno State (Anaheim, CA), Northwestern, Penn State, Michigan State, Indiana |
| 2026 | 4,422 | USC, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana |
| 1986 | 3,747 | Washington, Alabama (East Rutherford, NJ), Iowa, Wisconsin, Indiana, Purdue |
| 1974 | 3,572 | Washington State, Minnesota, Iowa, Northwestern, Michigan State |
| 1981 | 3,502 | Stanford, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Purdue, Michigan |
With trips to Washington in 2025 and Oregon in 2024, Ohio State also traveled more miles in each of the last two seasons than it did any of the previous 10 seasons. Regular-season trips to the West Coast were a non-conference rarity before the 2024 season, but they’ve become annual occurrences since USC, Oregon, Washington and UCLA joined the Big Ten two years ago.
| Year | Total Miles | Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| 2026 | 4,422 | USC, Texas, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana |
| 2025 | 3,059 | Washington, Wisconsin, Illinois, Purdue, Michigan |
| 2024 | 2,814 | Oregon, Northwestern, Penn State, Michigan State |
| 2023 | 1,629 | Rutgers, Wisconsin, Purdue, Notre Dame, Indiana, Michigan |
| 2022 | 1,095 | Maryland, Northwestern, Penn State, Michigan State |
| 2021 | 2,152 | Nebraska, Minnesota, Rutgers, Indiana, Michigan |
| 2020 | 478 | Penn State, Michigan State |
| 2019 | 1,810 | Nebraska, Rutgers, Northwestern, Indiana, Michigan |
| 2018 | 1,966 | TCU (Arlington, TX), Maryland, Penn State, Purdue, Michigan State |
| 2017 | 1,989 | Nebraska, Iowa, Rutgers, Indiana, Michigan |
| 2016 | 2,060 | Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Maryland, Penn State, Michigan State |
| 2015 | 1,319 | Rutgers, Illinois, Virginia Tech, Indiana, Michigan |
| 2014 | 1,791 | Minnesota, Navy, Maryland, Penn State, Michigan State |
Ohio State’s significant increase in travel mileage on its 2026 schedule comes as a result of not only having a cross-country trip to USC in Big Ten play, but also having a non-conference road game at Texas, the second leg of a home-and-home after the Longhorns traveled to Columbus last season. Additionally, Nebraska is the longest road trip for Ohio State of any Big Ten school that isn’t on the West Coast, while Iowa is the third-longest (behind Minnesota, who Ohio State will play on the road in 2027, when the Buckeyes will travel 3,571 miles with trips also scheduled to Oregon, Rutgers, Northwestern and Michigan).
While Ohio State will fly to all of its road games, it will be a tough year of travel for Ohio-based Buckeye fans who want to drive to see the Buckeyes play on the road. Indiana (approximately three-and-a-half hours from Columbus) will be the only road game Ohio State plays in 2026 within an eight-hour drive from Columbus.
Ohio State’s 2026 schedule is expected to be one of its toughest schedules ever, featuring six teams that are ranked in On3’s composite preseason top 25: Indiana (No. 2), Texas (No. 3), Oregon (No. 5), Michigan (No. 14), USC (No. 15) and Iowa (No. 21). The fact that Ohio State will have to play four of those six teams on the road, and that Ohio State will cumulatively have to travel further from home than all but one previous season in team history, only increases the difficulty of the gauntlet the Buckeyes will face this fall.
Ohio States 2026 schedule is here https://t.co/FQ2kOX57Cy pic.twitter.com/Ft8vIhO1Xg
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) January 27, 2026
