The Ohio State Buckeyes head into Week Zero of the college football season ready to make a run to the National Championship game in Las Vegas.
It is officially week zero of the 2026 college football season, and the chase to the National Championship is on. For Ohio State, it is going to be one of the hardest paths that this program has ever had to take to get to the top.
If they do, it will be some of Ryan Day's finest work as a head coach.
There is a lot that has to happen between now and then, but the ball gets officially kicked off this weekend.
The week zero slate is an appetizer for what is to come next weekend when the Buckeyes get kicked off against Ball State. However, on Saturday, there is one game: the USC Trojans and the San Jose State Spartans clash on Saturday afternoon.
That is the only game on the schedule this weekend that should have Buckeye fans' attention.
Internally, the Buckeyes have had a very busy last couple of weeks with their team. They have been deep into finding out who the five offensive linemen will be this year and what the depth chart at wide receiver will look like behind Jeremiah Smith.
It has been pretty quiet about each of those position battles throughout the end of Training Camp, but that might be a strategic move by Day and the Buckeyes. All signs point to Ian Moore playing left tackle on the offensive line and Austin Siereveld playing right guard at least to start the season.
At wide receiver, Brandon Inniss earned the Block O honor for this year, indicating that he is going to be included at some level in the passing game. While that is true, it seems like Devin McCuin has been undeniable, and these two freshmen, Chris Henry Jr. and Brock Boyd, simply have it. I would rank spots two through five like this: McCuin, Innis, Henry Jr., and Boyd.
Obviously, all subject to change.
That takes us to the schedule conversation: the Buckeyes' roller coaster begins by hosting the Ball State Cardinals in week one. Then, the week two matchup will be insane between them and the Texas Longhorns, before a trip home against Kent State.
That three-game stretch sets up the start of Big Ten play, which is no cupcake. Ohio State hosts the Illinois Fighting Illini before hitting the road to Kinnick Stadium to face the Iowa Hawkeyes, setting up the first trap game of the year against Maryland.
That is a trap game because behind it sits the Indiana Hoosiers in Bloomington. This one has the potential to be the game of the year in all of college football and is the rubber match between Cignetti and Day.
The schedule then ramps all the way up. Ohio State gets on the jet and goes to the West Coast for a date with the USC Trojans. After that, a trip home to play the Oregon Ducks in Columbus to kick off the month of November.
That might be the hardest stretch of schedule in the last decade of college football.
If the Buckeyes survive that three-game set, they come home for the Northwestern Wildcats before heading to Lincoln, Nebraska, to take on the pesky Cornhuskers.
All of that sets up The Game, back in Columbus for the first matchup between Ryan Day and Kyle Whittingham.
From start to finish, the Buckeyes are going to be going through a gauntlet this year, and if they make a run, they will have absolutely earned every bit of it.
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