The college football world will be blessed with a premier matchup between Texas and Ohio State to open the 2025 college football season.
But while fans are in for a treat for the matchup between the 2024 defending national champion Buckeyes and the up-and-coming Longhorns led by sensation Arch Manning, more of these marquee matchups could be off the table if there is no change in conference schedules and the format of the current College Football Playoff.
Speaking at Big Ten media days on July 22, Day talked about future scheduling of out-of-conference games and how it could be impacted with a lack of automatic berths in the current 12-team College Football Playoff.
“If we’re not going to do that, I don’t think it makes sense to do that,” Day said. “You have your nine conference games and schedule other nonconference games that aren’t in the Power Four.”
Despite saying that, Ohio State’s upcoming matchups against SEC powerhouses Alabama and Georgia appear to be safe. The Buckeyes are scheduled to play the Crimson Tide in 2027 and 2028, and the Bulldogs in 2030 and 2031. OSU begins a home-and-home with Texas this season.
“What’s scheduled is scheduled,” Day said.
The Buckeyes have recently added games against Navy and Youngstown State ― a Football Championship Subdivision member ― for the 2029 season.
A big reason for the philosophy from Day and the Buckeyes for a ‘softer’ out-of-conference schedule is the number of conference games played by each of the Power 4 conferences. Like the Big Ten, the Big 12 also plays nine conference games; meanwhile, the ACC and SEC have schedules with eight conference games.
“Until there’s continuity between conferences, if you’re in the Big Ten, it would make no sense to have anything other than a case to have four automatic qualifiers and an expanded pool of teams,” Day said, “because when you play nine conference games, it’s not the same as someone who plays eight conference games. If you’re going to be compared against that, it’s just not the same.”
No team ever made the four-team CFP field with more than two losses between 2014 and 2023. In the new 12-team format last season, Alabama became the first team with three losses to make the field over a two-loss team in Miami.
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti’s plan for a 16-team bracket that would secure four spots for the Big Ten and another four for the SEC has not gained approval and would need to be implemented before the Dec. 1 deadline to be added for the 2026 season.
“There’s no reason to schedule until you have clarity,” Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork said. “You could say we’re in a holding pattern.”