A couple notes and thoughts from the 2015 and 2016 conference football schedules the Big Ten released today:
-- Interesting that Big Red will be MIA on the Buckeyes' schedule. OSU hosts Nebraska under the lights Oct. 6, then will not play the Huskers until at least 2017. Strange, too, that defending division champions Michigan State and Wisconsin won't play between 2013-16. It's too bad. OSU-Nebraska and MSU-Wisconsin looked to have the potential to evolve into two of the Big Ten's better rivalries.
-- OSU will not play Iowa, Northwestern and Nebraska, which seems fair, though not as "fair" as the hand dealt to Northwestern. The pressure will be on Pat Fitzgerald's Wildcats to take advantage of a soft conference schedule. Northwestern misses OSU, Wisconsin or Penn State.
-- The Buckeyes will face a Murderers' Row on the road in 2016, travelling to Oklahoma, Michigan State, Penn State and Wisconsin before a breather at Indiana. Contrast that to Ohio State's road slate in 2013, when the Buckeyes visit California, Northwestern, Purdue and Illinois leading into the year-end brush at Michigan. Depending on how OSU performs this fall, national title talk could shift into overdrive heading into Urban Meyer's second season in Columbus.
Here is a complete look at the Buckeyes' future football schedules:
2012
Miami (Ohio) (Sept. 1)
Central Florida (Sept. 8)
California (Sept. 15)
UAB (Sept. 22)
at Michigan State (Sept. 29)
Nebraska (Oct. 6) 8 p.m.
at Indiana (Oct. 13) 8 p.m.
Purdue (Oct. 20)
at Penn State (Oct. 27) 6 p.m.
Illinois (Nov. 3)
at Wisconsin (Nov. 17)
Michigan (Nov. 24)
2013
Vanderbilt (Aug. 31)
Florida A&M (Sept. 7)
at California (Sept. 14)
Buffalo (Sept. 21)
Wisconsin (Sept. 28)
at Northwestern (Oct. 5)
Iowa (Oct. 19)
Penn State (Oct. 26)
at Purdue (Nov. 2)
at Illinois (Nov. 16)
Indiana (Nov. 23)
at Michigan (Nov. 30)
2014
Navy (Aug. 30) Baltimore, Md.
Kent State (Sept. 13)
Virginia Tech (Sept. 20)
Cincinnati (Sept. 27)
Purdue (Oct. 4)
at Iowa (Oct. 18)
Northwestern (Oct. 25)
at Wisconsin (Nov. 1)
Illinois (Nov. 8)
at Penn State (Nov. 15)
at Indiana (Nov. 22)
Michigan (Nov. 29)
2015
North Carolina (Sept. 5)
Northern Illinois (Sept. 12)
at Virginia Tech (Sept. 19)
at Purdue (Oct. 3)
Penn State (Oct. 10)
Michigan State (Oct. 17)
at Minnesota (Oct. 31)
Wisconsin (Nov. 7)
at Illinois (Nov. 14)
Indiana (Nov. 21)
at Michigan (Nov. 28)
2016
Sept. 3: Bowling Green
Sept. 17: at Oklahoma
Purdue (Oct. 1)
at Michigan State (Oct. 15)
Illinois (Oct. 22)
at Penn State (Oct. 29)
Minnesota (Nov. 5)
at Wisconsin (Nov. 12)
at Indiana (Nov. 19)
Michigan (Nov. 26)
2017
Oklahoma (Sept. 16)
at North Carolina (Sept. 23)
2018
Cincinnati (Sept. 8)
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