Ohio State football plays Michigan on Oct. 24, opens season at Illinois on Thursday, Sept. 3

COLUMBUS, Ohio — The Game is moving to October, one of many aspects of Ohio State football’s 2020 schedule changed in a re-worked slate announced by the Big Ten on Wednesday.

Ohio State and Michigan will play at Ohio Stadium on Oct. 24, instead of the traditional Thanksgiving weekend regular season finale.

The Buckeyes’ season is scheduled to begin Thursday, Sept. 3 at Illinois and conclude No. 21 at home against Iowa. The Big Ten championship game in Indianapolis is scheduled for Dec. 5 but could be played as late as Dec. 19.

The changes, including two idle weeks for all teams, were made to give the Big Ten greater flexibility in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“This is not a final decision that there will be an athletics season; it is the next phase in our responsible planning process with the Big Ten Conference to be prepared if we are able to have an athletics season,” Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said in a news release. “The final decision will be made in the coming weeks in consultation with local, state and federal authorities.”

All teams will play 10 conference-only games over 12 weeks. The new 10-game schedule means the Buckeyes add a road game at Purdue. The other big East Division game, at Penn State, comes on Nov. 7.

Ohio State retained its six East Division opponents and locations — home against Rutgers, Indiana and Michigan and at Michigan State, Penn State and Maryland. The Buckeyes were originally scheduled to play three crossover games with West opponents — home against Iowa and Nebraska and at Illinois.

DATE OPPONENT Sept. 3 at Illinois Sept. 12 RUTGERS Sept. 19 at Purdue Sept. 26 INDIANA Oct. 3 Idle Oct. 10 NEBRASKA Oct. 17 at Michigan State Oct. 24 MICHIGAN Oct. 31 at Maryland Nov. 7 at Penn State Nov. 14 Idle Nov. 21 IOWA

All Big Ten East Division teams are idle on the Nov. 14 weekend, which would allow for a game previously postponed due to a COVID-19 flare-up to be rescheduled. Ohio State’s other idle week is Oct. 3, and all teams have their first idle week by Oct. 17.

“In making this announcement, the Conference acknowledges that there is much work to be done on our campuses, in our communities and across the country to gain control of a virus that continues to spread at an alarming rate,” the Big Ten said in its news release. “While the Conference remains hopeful for a September 2020 start in all fall sports, including football, issuing a schedule does not guarantee that competition will occur. While our strategy is to continue planning for all fall sports, if the virus continues to spread among our students despite our many preventative measures, including testing and quarantine protocols, we are also prepared to delay or cancel competition pursuant to local and state public health orders or the recommendations of our medical experts.”

The Big Ten announced on July 9 it would play only conference games in all fall sports in 2020. Ohio State lost out on a widely anticipated game at Oregon, as well as non-conference home games against MAC opponents Bowling Green and Buffalo.

Ohio State is the three-time defending conference champion and is trying to return to the College Football Playoff in back-to-back seasons for the first time. A cleveland.com poll of conference-wide media last week established the Buckeyes as the near-unanimous favorite to win the Big Ten championship.

Ohio State and other teams are scheduled to officially begin preseason camp on Friday. However, in a letter to conference athletic directors last week, Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren and Chris Kratochvil, head of the league’s Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, said evaluations were still being made whether those practices could start on time.

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