Buckeyes learn home, away Big Ten opponents for 2024-25 season
COLUMBUS — Ohio State won the Big Ten outright for the first time since 2009-10 last season. That was the high point for the Final Four-hungry Buckeyes, who bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinal and then got bounced in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32 not too long after that.
Head coach Kevin McGuff is reloading his roster with transfer additions and a strong freshman class. The goal? Stay atop the Big Ten, make another deep run in March like Ohio State did two seasons ago and maybe, just maybe, break glass and win the program’s first-ever national title.
A lot needs to happen before the Buckeyes can even think about that, including another meaty Big Ten slate, which now includes four additional teams: USC, UCLA, Washington and Oregon.
The Big Ten revealed every member’s home and away league opponents for the 2024-25 season Tuesday. Every school will play 18 conference games. In the process, they will each face 16 Big Ten opponents once and one Big Ten opponent at home and on the road.
Here’s what Ohio State’s Big Ten home/away split looks like:
HOME ONLY
Illinois
Iowa
Michigan State
Minnesota
Northwestern
Purdue
Washington
Oregon
AWAY ONLY
Indiana
Michigan
Nebraska
Penn State
Rutgers
Wisconsin
UCLA
USC
HOME AND AWAY
Maryland
OUTLOOK
+ Game dates, times and television information will be announced at a later date.
+ Ironically, the one team Ohio State will face twice in the regular season is Maryland, which ousted the Buckeyes from the Big Ten Tournament last season. Just 11 days before the Terrapins blew out McGuff’s squad by 21 points in the league tourney, Ohio State beat Maryland by 13 points. That first victory was part of the Buckeyes’ 15-game Big Ten win streak.
+ That 15-game Big Ten win streak came to an end in Carver-Hawkeye Arena. Behind Caitlin Clark, Iowa avenged its overtime loss to Ohio State earlier last season with a victory in the regular season finale. Fortunately for the Buckeyes, Clark is off to the WNBA — and Ohio State doesn’t have to go to Iowa City in 2024-25.
+ Ohio State does have to hit the road to play both USC and UCLA, though. USC is coming off an Elite Eight appearance and has one of the sport’s biggest stars, JuJu Watkins. She’ll be joined by Stanford transfer Kiki Iriafen and Oregon State transfer Talia von Oelhoffen. Oh, and the Trojans reeled in the top recruiting class in the country.
+ On the other hand, Ohio State does get to host the two Pacific Northwest Big Ten schools. That includes Oregon, setting up a nostalgic matchup for new Buckeyes guard Chance Gray, a Cincinnati native who spent the first two seasons of her career with the Ducks.
