Why the Buckeyes' Season Opener Against Texas is a Good Idea (And Why Other Teams Should Follow Suit)
- Ben Latham
- 27 minutes ago
- 2 min read
The college football world is in for a treat in just one week. For the first time ever, the No. 1 and No. 2-ranked teams in the Coaches Poll will face off to begin a season; Arch Manning and the top-ranked Texas Longhorns visit the Shoe to take on the defending National Champions, the Ohio State Buckeyes, on August 30 at noon.
Ohio State is no stranger to scheduling season openers against college football's perennial powers. Just three years ago, the Buckeyes welcomed Notre Dame to Ohio Stadium in what was an electric atmosphere and a 21-10 win for the good guys.
It is games like these that the fans love and want to see more of in the sport. However, scheduling has become a more talked-about issue in recent years, especially with the expansion of the College Football Playoff.
It has been known that teams have started to become more reluctant at scheduling elite out-of-conference opponents and instead schedule mid-major "cupcake" teams, and it's hard to blame them.
Power Four teams that have played weaker schedules and have an undefeated record have had a tendency in recent years to be placed higher up in the ranking by the College Football Playoff Committee compared to teams that have a couple blemishes on their record but have a much tougher strength of schedule.
It significantly hurts the sport when future games are cancelled just because teams don't want to risk a loss and not get rewarded for playing the game. The committee needs to do better at rewarding teams that schedule games against elite Power Four opponents.
That being said, this season's marquee matchups like Ohio State-Texas and LSU-Clemson are what fans want more of. They want to see the best play the best week in and week out.
It just feels different when two elite programs rich in tradition clash on the gridiron. Whether they play at noon or at night, the pageantry of the sport is on full display and is one of the aspects of college football that I feel gives it a slight edge over the NFL.
Some people may disagree with me, but there's nothing better in sports than when two storied college football programs duke it out in front of 100,000-plus fans. Nothing. College football should never have a "down week" where there aren't any enticing matchups to watch.
If you are a coach of a Power Four team and want to be 100% certain that your squad is battle-tested heading into the CFP, wouldn't you want to play challenging out-of-conference games in the regular season?
If college football wants to keep its soul in the age of superconferences and playoff expansion, it needs more Ohio State-Texas, not fewer. Games like these are what make college football so great. When the best play the best, everybody wins.