The 2025-26 Ohio State men’s basketball team got back into the NCAA Tournament for the first time in three years this spring, finishing with a 21-13 record overall and a 12-8 record in Big Ten play. The order and configuration of the Big Ten schedule is completely out of Ohio State’s hands, but upon some reflection, some chips did fall in the Buckeyes’ favor with how things lined up last year.
Now that the Big Ten has expanded to 18 teams, each team will play three teams twice, and each of the other
14 teams one time — seven at home, seven away. Because of how tough it is to win on the road in college basketball, you generally want your tougher opponents to come to you, and take your chances playing the “easier” teams on the road.
That is largely how the schedule shaped up for Ohio State last year — of the seven teams that finished ahead of Ohio State in the Big Ten standings, the Buckeyes only had to go on the road and play three of them (Michigan, Michigan State, and Wisconsin). They also avoided playing on the road at Indiana, and while the Hoosiers did not make the NCAA Tournament, Ohio State has struggled in Bloomington lately, losing five consecutive games at the hallowed concrete cathedral known as Assembly Hall.
However, things are about to get a whole lot tougher for Ohio State next season.
The Big Ten released the home, road, and double-play assignments for the 2026-27 season, and the Buckeyes were not nearly as fortunate this year as they were last year. After not playing a game in the state of Indiana last year, the Buckeyes will travel to Bloomington as well as to Purdue’s Mackey Arena. Although Ohio State upset Purdue in West Lafayette in 2025, they’re 2-6 at Mackey going back to the 2014-15 season.
Ohio State also avoided playing on the road in Champaign against a Final Four Illinois team last year, but they will travel to face the Illini and the raucous Orange Krush this season. They’ll also travel to face another team they did not see on the road last season — Nebraska — which finished the year 15-5 in league play. The Buckeyes’ last win at “The Vault” came during the 2021-22 season, when then-freshman Malaki Branham poured in a career-high 35 points in an overtime win. They’re 0-3 in Lincoln since that win.
The Buckeyes will, of course, travel to Ann Arbor to face the reigning Big Ten Champion and National Champion Wolverines as well. Both Jake Diebler and Dusty May expressed to the Big Ten last summer that the two teams should be a protected rivalry and play twice every season, and it looks like the conference has obliged — the Buckeyes will face Dusty May and his .831 Michigan winning percentage at least twice per season going forward.
A big part of Ohio State making the NCAA Tournament last season was its ability to stay competitive on the road. The Buckeyes went 5-5 on the road in the Big Ten last year, which was good enough to keep them afloat long enough to get them to a winnable three-game stretch at the end of the season that essentially clinched them an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
The biggest difference between last year and this year? Ohio State’s toughest road games are going to be tougher than last year’s toughest road games. The home slate is easier, but there are certain teams that you should beat regardless of whether you’re at home or on the road, and Ohio State got a few of those teams at home next season.
It’s tough to really assess how good teams will be in May because of how much can change between now and November, but here’s a quick breakdown of Ohio State’s Big Ten schedule. It’s broken into four tiers, with Tier 1 being the toughest games and Tier 4 being games that Ohio State absolutely should expect to win.
This is mainly based on Ohio State’s recent record playing at some of these venues, how tough places traditionally are to win at, and how good the programs have been in recent years.
Tier 1 – Brutally tough games
Illinois (Away)
Indiana (Away)
Michigan (Away)
Purdue (Away)
Tier 2 – Challenging games
Michigan (Home)
Michigan State (Home)
Nebraska (Away)
UCLA (Away)
Iowa (Away)
Tier 3 – Manageable games
Wisconsin (Home)
Iowa (Home)
USC (Away)
Minnesota (Away)
Tier 4 – Games Ohio State should win
Maryland (Home)
Northwestern (Home)
Oregon (Home)
Rutgers (Home)
Washington (Home)
Penn State (Home)
Penn State (Away)
