Ohio State Will Play Alabama In Home-And-Home Series In 2027 And 2028

It’s happening.

After a memorable matchup in the College Football Playoff Semifinal, Ohio State announced it will be scheduling a home-and-home series between the Buckeyes and Alabama for the 2027 and 2028 seasons.

“We’d like to thank University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne and Senior Deputy Director of Athletics Finus Gaston, who worked so hard with us to get this series scheduled,” Diana Sabau, Ohio State Deputy Director of Athletics, said in a statement. “Building a non-conference schedule with tradition-rich programs is important to the competitive excellence of our program and the department, and it is great for our fans. We are excited for both schools and pleased to be able to share in this announcement today with the University of Alabama.”

The Buckeyes and the Crimson Tide have faced off four times in the history of their programs, with Alabama holding a 3-1 advantage. But Ohio State has the most recent victory: a 42-35 win in the Sugar Bowl that led to the Buckeyes defeating Oregon in the national title game.

Ohio State and Alabama have been powerhouses in football over the past decade, with the two teams boasting two of the best records over the last 100 games with Ohio State at 91-9 and Alabama tied with Clemson at 90-10, according to the press release.

The next two installments, pending another matchup in postseason play, between these two teams will be on Sept. 18, 2027 and Sept. 9, 2028.

“The addition of Ohio State to our future non-conference schedule shows the commitment our program and administration has to creating the best possible games for our players and fans,” Alabama head football coach Nick Saban said in a statement. “I have coached a lot of years in the SEC and Big 10 and Bryant-Denny Stadium and Ohio Stadium are two of the very best environments in college football. Non-conference series like Alabama-Ohio State are so important to the health of college football, and we are very pleased that we could get this series completed.”

The addition of Alabama goes with a strong slate of nonconference opponents in upcoming seasons, including home-and-homes with Oregon in 2020 and 2021, Notre Dame in 2022 and 2023, Washington in 2024 and 2025, Texas in 2025 and 2026 and Georgia in 2030 and 2031.

There was also a previously scheduled home-and-home against Boston College scheduled for the 2026 and 2027 seasons, but that is now being pushed back to the “early 2030s,” according to a report by Nathan Baird of cleveland.com. The pair of games against the Eagles was initially scheduled for 2023 and 2024, and is now being moved back for a second time.

Photo Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State Athletics

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