Ohio State Spring practice has kicked off and the attention has turned to Week 1 at home against Texas. The last time the Buckeyes had to defend a title, they got to open on the road at Virginia Tech. That game was an 18-point Buckeye win that gave us the iconic Braxton Miller spin move on a 53-yard score. This year, Ohio State gets to begin its title defense at home but against a blueblood from the SEC. It’s a far cry from the 2024 opener against Akron, that’s for sure.
On the Week 1 slate, there are six Power 4 vs. Power 4 matchups: Texas at Ohio State, Alabama at Florida State, Auburn at Baylor, LSU at Clemson, Tennesee vs. Syracuse (in Atlanta), and Utah at UCLA. Objectively, there are two matchups worth a primetime matchup: LSU at Clemson and Texas at Ohio State. However, according to On3 Texas insider Eric Nahlin, Fox Sports picked up the Buckeyes’ matchup with Texas. Since it’s Fox, that means it’s “Big Noon Kickoff.”
.@InsideTexas hears that Texas vs. Ohio State on August 30 is slated for Big Noon Kickoff on Fox, per @EricNahlin
That’s good news for the Longhorns, even if the Buckeyes are used to 12 p.m. ET starts (FREE): https://t.co/w0rylE4pKz pic.twitter.com/EYBx0MsRdg
— Inside Texas (@InsideTexas) March 20, 2025
Longhorns Insider Reveals Kick Time for Ohio State vs. Texas in Week 1
Last year, the Buckeyes had nine games at Ohio Stadium including the CFP First Round vs. Tennessee. Of those nine, two were in primetime (Western Michigan, Tennessee), two were on CBS‘s 3:30 slot (Akron, Iowa), and five were on Fox‘s “Big Noon Kickoff” (Marshall, Nebraska, Purdue, Indiana, Michigan). Buckeye fans began to get a tad tired of noon kicks considering the final four home games were kicked off at 12:00. The Game is traditionally at noon, so that’s not an issue. The Indiana game was a top-five matchup and the decision drew plenty of ire.
Now, media outlets bid on these games in a draft of sorts, so Fox just loves the Buckeyes. Given the alternative of exclusive streaming on Peacock, “Big Noon Kickoff” is better, of course.
A few game times will begin to leak out here in the coming months but the vast majority of Ohio State games will remain a mystery until the week before kick as usual. So, as of now, at least one of Ohio State’s seven home games is set to kick at noon.
The Buckeyes’ other home matchups are against Grambling State (FCS), Ohio, Minnesota, Penn State, UCLA, and Rutgers. Chances are, three or four of those remaining matchups will be at noon and you can chalk down UCLA and Rutgers as such considering they are in November.
Buckeyes vs. Longhorns
This will be the fifth time Ohio State and Texas will match up. The Longhorns won the first matchup in 2005 in Columbus. The following year, the Buckeyes avenged the loss with a 24-7 win in Austin. After the 2008 season, the two matched up in the Fiesta Bowl where Texas earned another last-minute win. Ohio State beat Texas in last year’s CFP Semifinal at the Cotton Bowl thanks to Jack Sawyer‘s strip-sack-scoop-and-score for a berth in the CFP National Championship. The two are set to cap off the home-and-home in Austin in 2026 but the actual date of the matchup has not been set just yet.
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