The rematch of the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship now has a time and channel.
Ohio State’s home opener against Oregon on Sept. 11 will be part of FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff, the network announced on Thursday afternoon.
While many expected the game to be in a primetime slot, Fox Sports executive vice president and head of strategy and analytics Michael Mulvihill noted the network will instead broadcast the game between the New York Mets and New York Yankees that evening.
“It’s the 20th anniversary of (the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks), so that obviously has a chance to be a special commemoration,” Mulvihill said during an appearance on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on Thursday.
This will mark the first meeting between the two programs since the 2015 College Football Playoff National Championship, which the Buckeyes won handily, 42-20. They were supposed to meet last fall in Eugene, as well, but that game was cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic that ultimately forced both the Big Ten and Pac-12 to play conference-only schedules.
Ohio State opens the season on the road at Minnesota on Sept. 2 before returning home to take on the Ducks, who play Fresno State in their home opener on Sept. 4. The only other game on the Buckeyes’ 2021 schedule locked into a channel and time slot is the rivalry game at Michigan, which will also kick off at noon on FOX on Nov. 27.
Ohio State has played nine games during the noon window since FOX premiered its Big Noon Kickoff pregame show on the opening weekend of the 2019 season, including last year’s Big Ten Championship Game win over Northwestern.
Oregon, meanwhile, has not played a game with a 12 p.m. ET/9 a.m. PT kick in at least the last 40 years. The earliest kickoff the Ducks have had during that time span came against Wake Forest in the 1992 Independence Bowl, which began at 12:30 p.m. ET/9:30 a.m. PT.
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