Big Ten reveals Ohio State's home, away league opponents for 2024-25 season
COLUMBUS — While Ohio State is putting the finishing touches on its roster and staff for next season, the Buckeyes’ 2024-25 schedule is just starting to come into focus.
The Big Ten revealed 2024-25 home and away league opponents for all 18 members Wednesday. Remember, the conference now includes UCLA, USC, Washington and Oregon.
Although there are now four more Big Ten programs, every team in the conference will still play 20 league games next season.
Here’s what Ohio State’s Big Ten home/away split looks like:
HOME ONLY
Iowa
Michigan
Michigan State
Northwestern
Oregon
Rutgers
Washington
AWAY ONLY
Illinois
Minnesota
Penn State
Purdue
UCLA
USC
Wisconsin
HOME AND AWAY
Indiana
Maryland
Nebraska
OUTLOOK
NOTE: The dates for each Big Ten game will be released later this year.
+ For reference, Ohio State had home-and-home series with all but six teams in the Big Ten last season. During the 2023-24 campaign, the Buckeyes played Illinois, Maryland and Purdue only at home. And they played Iowa, Michigan State and Northwestern only on the road. This time around, with the expanded conference, Ohio State will play just three in-conference home-and-home series. Those are with Indiana, Maryland and Nebraska.
+ Ohio State will make the trip to California to play both UCLA and USC on the road. Meanwhile, the Big Ten’s new Pacific Northwest programs, Oregon and Washington, are traveling to Columbus to face the Buckeyes.
+ Ohio State lost its first eight Big Ten road games last season. By that point, the Buckeyes were on a program-record, 17-game road losing streak. They finally snapped what ended up being a 420-day drought with a “true” road win at Michigan State, where Baylor grad transfer guard Dale Bonner beat the buzzer for a heroic game-winner. Ohio State then finished the regular season with its second consecutive Big Ten road victory, triumphing at Rutgers.
+ Interestingly enough, though, Ohio State posted a 5-1 record in regular season neutral site games last season. The Buckeyes won the Emerald Coast Classic, picking up an early-season win over Final Four-bound Alabama in the process. Ohio State also scrapped out a win against UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic and outlasted West Virginia in overtime in Cleveland’s Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse.
+ It’s important to note that Ohio State will play Michigan only once next season, and that game will take place in the Schottenstein Center. Guard Roddy Gayle Jr., who transferred from Ohio State to Michigan this offseason, will make his return to Columbus in that meeting.
+ Ohio State is preparing for the first full season under head coach Jake Diebler, who took over as interim head coach after Chris Holtmann was fired on Feb. 14. Diebler then led the Buckeyes to an upset win over national runner-up Purdue, the start of a seven-game stretch in which Ohio State ripped off six wins in seven games and knocked on the door of the NCAA Tournament before getting knocked out of the Big Ten Tournament by conference champion Illinois.
+ While Ohio State finished just 9-11 in Big Ten play last season, it still rounded out the year with 22 wins — in part thanks to two victories in the NIT — meaning that the Buckeyes clocked out with their most wins in a season since 2017-18 (25 wins), Holtmann’s first year with the program.
+ In addition to graduating both Bonner and sharpshooting Minnesota grad transfer Jamison Battle, Ohio State has lost five players to the transfer portal this offseason. The Buckeyes have, however, returned two-time captain Bruce Thornton, starting wing Evan Mahaffey and promising forward Devin Royal, along with guard Taison Chatman, forward Kalen Etzler and center Austin Parks. Ohio State is welcoming in a pair of freshmen, wing Colin White and guard Juni Mobley.
+ The Buckeyes have brought aboard three transfers so far — guard Meechie Johnson (South Carolina), wing Micah Parrish (San Diego State) and center Aaron Bradshaw (Kentucky) — and are expected to add two more frontcourt players in the portal.
