COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State has added home football games with UNLV of the Mountain West in 2017 and the Pac 12’s Oregon State in 2018.
EXTRA: Future Ohio State football schedules
The Rebels come to Columbus on Sept. 23, 2017, and the Beavers will open the 2018 season on Sept. 1.
Those games fill the void left when Ohio State and North Carolina agreed to cancel a two-game series set for those years. The schools said conference realignment and the addition of a ninth Big Ten game starting in 2016 altered the original plans.
In addition, Ohio State and Boston College agreed to move their two-game series from 2020 and 2021 to 2023 and 2024.
The addition of Oregon State to the 2018 schedule means the Buckeyes will now play its first three games — and 11 of 12 regular season games that year — against teams from the “big five” conferences, the Big Ten, SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Pac 12:
Sept. 1 vs. Oregon State (PAC 12)
Sept. 8 vs. Rutgers (Big Ten)
Sept. 15 at TCU (Big 12).
Right now in 2018 are against “big five” conference teams with one game – Sept. 22 – still to be scheduled.
Ohio State and Oregon State have met twice before on the gridiron with both games at Ohio Stadium. On Sept. 21, 1974 Ohio State won 51-10, and in 1984 the Buckeyes won, 22-14 in the season opener on Sept. 8.
The Buckeyes and UNLV will be meeting for the first time.