Ohio State football’s first three games of the season have been finalized, giving fans a clearer picture of how the month of September will look in Columbus and beyond.
The Buckeyes will open the 2026 season against Ball State at Ohio Stadium on Sep. 5, with kickoff set for 12:30 p.m. ET. This is notable because it marks the lone matchup for Ohio State in the noon window in the opening non-conference slate.
A week later, Ohio State will travel to Austin for one of the marquee nonconference games on the national schedule, facing Texas under the lights on Sep. 12. That game is slated for a 7:30 p.m. Eastern kickoff, positioning the Buckeyes and Longhorns squarely in the prime time spot for a viewing audience.
The Buckeyes will then return home on Sept. 19 to host Kent State at noon in Columbus, which would give Ohio State two early kickoffs in Ohio Stadium in the opening month. With the Golden Flashes’ visit, Ohio State will wrap up its nonconference schedule before turning its full attention to Big Ten play.
The release of the first three start times gives fans and recruits a framework to plan early-season visits. It also signals that Ohio State is going to once again be a featured team and will be a fixture in both the noon and prime-time television spotlights, a role that the program has become quite familiar with over the past few seasons.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State football 2026 opening week kickoff times announced
Reporting by Sunny Verma, Buckeyes Wire / Buckeyes Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
