COLUMBUS – Ohio State football players, coaches and fans – chafing after a seven-week delay – can finally celebrate the opening game of the 2020 season.
The Buckeyes will host Nebraska at noon Saturday (Noon/FOX) to begin the 131st season of OSU football, nearly two months after they were scheduled to begin the season before the Big ten Conference canceled all sports due to concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic.
Under the conference’s reshuffled schedule, the Buckeyes and the rest of the teams will play for nine straight weeks, culminating in an expanded weekend of championship and consolations games involving all 14 teams.
See the Ohio State 2020 schedule here
UPDATE 10/20/20 4:17 a.m.: The Oct. 31 game at Penn State will kick off at 7:30 p.m. on ABC.
The Buckeyes begin the season in the top five of the AP Top 25 poll Florida’s game against LSU was postponed when some Gators players tested positive for the coronavirus that causes COVID-19.
Clemson and Alabama remained atop the poll while Georgia slipped from No. 3 to No. 4 while following a decisive loss to the Crimson Tide and idle Notre Dame jumped into the No. 3 spot.
Cincinnati, at 3-0, is ranked No. 9.
Five Big Ten teams, who have all been off the field since January, are in this week’s poll: No. 8 Penn State, Wisconsin, which is in a tie for 14th with North Carolina; Michigan at No. 18, and No. 21 Minnesota. The Wolverines and Golden Gophers meet up in their season openers Saturday.