OSU director of athletics Gene Smith told ElevenWarriors.com that was the best compromise he could come up with in negotiations with Rob Mullens, his counterpart at Oregon.
A trip to Eugene was canceled last year along with the rest of Ohio State’s nonconference games, and the Buckeyes already have Power 5 opponents lined up for every year of the next decade except for 2029.
Ohio State also agreed to a guaranteed payout of $3.5 million for this year’s visit from the Ducks, which is scheduled for Sept. 11 at Ohio Stadium.
“Our options were to cancel the game and go find another opponent, which would be more expensive frankly, and then you wouldn’t generate the revenue that you would generate with an Oregon,” Smith told 11W.
“If things are back to some level of normal, we know the Oregon game will be packed. It will be a great game, and revenue-wise it would be exceptional and help us with our deficit. At the same time, we’d be able to pay Oregon more than we would be able to pay somebody else. So it became a math issue and (Mullens) and I agreed that we needed to do it this way, and they’ve accepted that.
“I also felt that it was important for our fans to have a chance to go to Oregon.”
Ohio State Buckeyes: Gene Smith up for new contract https://t.co/t5Lwqi95qK
— Marcus Hartman (@marcushartman) May 19, 2021
The new matchups with Oregon adds to a long list of games Ohio State has against other Power 5 schools in the coming seasons. Last summer, it announced a two-game series with Alabama, and previously it agreed to play Notre Dame, Washington, Texas and Georgia in the next decade.
Since 1993, Ohio State has played home-and-home series with Washington (twice), Pittsburgh (twice), Notre Dame, Arizona, Missouri, UCLA, N.C. State, Texas, USC, Miami (Fla.), California, Virginia Tech, and Oklahoma.
The Buckeyes are 23-8 in those games (they actually played a three-game series and a two-game series against Washington) and 11-6 when the opponent is ranked.
Here’s the full list of games on the schedule for the next 12 seasons:
Upcoming Power 5 Series
2022: Notre Dame
2023: at Notre Dame
2024: at Washington
2025: at Texas, vs. Washington
2026: Texas
2027: Alabama
2028: at Alabama
2030: at Georgia
2031: Georgia
2032: at Oregon
2033: Oregon
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