Throughout the year, we will be asking and answering questions about various Ohio State teams, the players, and anything else on our collective minds of varying degrees of importance. If you have a question that you would like to ask, you can tweet us @LandGrant33 or if you need more than 280 characters, send an email HERE.
As we wrap up Game of the Year Week here at Land-Grant Holy Land, we are diving into the results of this week’s fan survey. Earlier this week, we asked Buckeye Nation what they
thought were going to be the most important and the most entertaining games in Ohio State’s regular season.
The top three answers for both questions were the same, but they were not in the same order. So, check out the results below, and if you want to share your agreement (or disagreement) with anything in the survey, please feel free to head down to the comments at the bottom of the page.
And, while we’re thinking about the season to come, why don’t you put all of your football expertise to good use and put some money down on the season over at FanDuel Sportsbook? After all, they are sponsoring this article.
Question 1: What do you think will be the most important regular-season game on Ohio State’s schedule?
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Obviously, the top two results here are incredibly close. While Penn State clearly came out on top, it is as close as it possibly could be. But whichever answer you preferred likely comes down to how you define “important.”
Personally, while I think Penn State is likely to be the best team on OSU’s schedule this season (in spite of the fact that James Franklin is still their coach), to me, The Game is the clear-cut winner here. The Nits will visit Ohio Stadium in what will be the Buckeyes’ eighth game of the season. While a November loss in that game would be disappointing, even if OSU has already stumbled against Texas, Washington, Minnesota, Illinois, or Wisconsin, a loss to PSU would not eliminate them from a College Football Playoff berth.
While it would certainly go a long way to reconfiguring what the top of the Big Ten Conference looks like, Penn State’s first win in Columbus since 2011 (although I’m not sure that should even count) would likely only have limited ramifications. Don’t get me wrong, it would suck big time, but in this new era of college football, it would not be nearly as devastating as it would have been in the past.
The same cannot be said, in my opinion, about the regular season finale. While the logistics of the CFP are only markedly different than those of the Penn State game (by virtue of the fact that the Buckeyes will visit Ann Arbor for the regular season finale), the implications of that one go far beyond whether the check goes in the W or L column.
The Buckeyes have not beaten their rivals since 2019. Ryan Day is 1 and 4 against Michigan. The Wolverines, despite OSU’s national title, have all of the bragging rights. And even though there are NCAA sanctions looming that could negate some of the recent losses, it is undeniable that Ohio State has to win this game.
Obviously, they don’t have to win in order to continue to chase a national title — we saw last year that a win in The Game was not a prerequisite. However, while Day has quieted practically all of his doubters, there has to be at least the faintest of whispers in the back of many fans’ minds about what lies ahead at the end of the regular season. Woody forbid, should TTUN win for the fifth straight season, I think that there would be quite a bit of uncomfortable conversations happening across the homes of Buckeye fans.
So, because it is later in the season and comes with all of the extra mishigas that accompanies the greatest rivalry in all of sports, to me, it is a no-brainer that the Michigan game is the most important of Ohio State’s regular season.
Question 2: What do you think will be the most entertaining regular-season game on Ohio State’s schedule?
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- Season opener
- College Football Playoff semifinal rematch
- Arch Manning’s first start as Texas’ full-time quarterback
- A ton of Buckeyes will be making their first starts, including a new quarterback
- The Nos. 1 and 6 teams in the Blue Chip Ratio
- The first game of the season
Yeah, I think it is safe to say that Texas and Ohio State in The Horseshoe will be a wildly entertaining game. Will it end up being the most entertaining? I don’t know, but I am absolutely looking forward to finding out.
Throughout the year, we ask questions of the most plugged-in Ohio State fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. This survey was brought to you by FanDuel.
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