Typically, Ohio State plays at least one really strong non-conference opponent at the beginning of every football season. In years past the Buckeyes have taken on notable programs such as Texas, USC, Oklahoma, and many more to beef up the strength of schedule, and later this week will take on Oregon for the exact same reasons.
Coming down the pipeline, the Buckeyes have plenty of high-quality opponents on future schedules with home-and-home agreements with Notre Dame, Washington, Texas, Alabama, Georgia, and the return trip to Oregon that was canceled in 2020. In the playoff era, teams need to enhance their strength of schedule and Ohio State clearly isn’t running away from that reality.