Events on Ohio State football’s 2026 schedule will unfold a bit differently with senior day moved to the season’s opening week.
On Aug. 14, the Buckeyes announced that their senior day ceremony would be held before the home opener against Ball State Sept. 5, breaking the tradition of the event taking place before the final regular-season home game. In addition to senior day, former Ohio State coach and Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jim Tressel will be inducted into the Ohio Stadium Ring of Honor on the day of the Buckeyes' home opener.
Ohio State head coach Ryan Day explained the change was intended to limit distractions ahead of the Nov. 28 home game against rival Michigan.
"When we look at all the things that go on that weekend, the way things have
changed, there are some things we thought about. And the first thing was we want to keep the focus on that [Michigan] game," Ohio State head coach Ryan Day said Aug. 16. "There are already enough distractions that week, and so this was just one more thing we felt like we could move.”
Other programs in recent years have moved their senior day from their final home game if it conflicts with a rivalry matchup. Georgia, for instance, held its 2024 senior day a week early before the Georgia Tech game, and last year, South Carolina did the same to avoid its Clemson game.
In 2026, Ohio State has 23 players listed as seniors or redshirt seniors, but the full list of players to be honored on senior day has yet to be released.
Along with senior day, here is Ohio State football's entire events schedule for next season.
Ohio State football schedule 2026
A majority of times to be determined at a later date.
- Sept. 5 vs. Ball State, 12:30 p.m., Big Ten Network
- Senior day
- Jim Tressel's Ring of Honor Induction
- Alumni band and spirit day
- Sept. 12 at Texas, 7:30 p.m., ABC
- Sept. 19 vs. Kent State, 12 p.m., FOX
- "Scarlet & Gray" game
- "Helmet Stripe" game
- Faculty and staff appreciation
- Sept. 26 vs. Illinois
- 2026 Ohio State Athletics Hall of Fame weekend
- "Buckeyes for a Cancer Free World" game
- Oct. 3 at Iowa
- Oct. 10 vs. Maryland
- Homecoming game
- Oct. 17 at Indiana
- Oct. 31 at USC
- Nov. 7 vs. Oregon
- Nov. 14 vs. Northwestern
- Military appreciation
- Nov. 21 at Nebraska
- Nov. 28 vs. Michigan, Noon, FOX
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: With senior day Week 1, see Ohio State football full schedule, events
