Predicting All 12 Kickoff Times For The Buckeyes In 2025

With Thursday’s announcement of a handful of early kickoff times and broadcast partners for the Big Ten — including Ohio State’s first three games this season — we can now start to piece together what the rest of the Buckeyes’ schedule looks like in terms of kick times and networks.

First, here is what is known: Ohio State’s season opener against Texas is set for 12:00 pm on FOX. The week two tilt against Grambling State will air on BTN at 3:30 pm, and the week three game against Ohio University will kick off at 7:00 pm on Peacock. The Michigan game, as always, will be a 12:00 pm kick on FOX.

So that still leaves eight other games. In today’s episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, Kevin Noon and I tried to piece together how OSU’s schedule is going to shake out. The show is posted below, but for the readers out there, I’ll spell everything out for you.

For those who aren’t familiar with how games are chosen, it is believed (because the networks are terribly secretive) that FOX receives the top three picks of weeks, followed by CBS or NBC with the fourth pick, and then the other with the fifth pick. The order gets a little shaky beyond that, which makes these projections incredibly difficult.

Even though the networks are drafting weeks, they do so with an eye on the best game that week. That’s why Michigan vs. Ohio State is always the first pick. This year, the Texas vs. Ohio State game was the second pick. And while we don’t know it for certain, the November 1 slate of games was almost certainly the third pick, because that is when Ohio State hosts Penn State.

What helps prove this theory is that the Oregon at Penn State game on September 27 is slated for a 7:30 pm kick on NBC. This is clearly the fourth-biggest (most-potentially watched) game on the Big Ten schedule, so this year it looks like NBC had the fourth pick. This then begs the question of which game would be worthy of the fifth pick, and if you can suss that out, go ahead and stick that kick at 3:30 pm on CBS.

The further down the draft board you get, the harder it is to pin down kicks and networks because it stops being about which specific game and starts being about the possibilities. The seventh or eighth week drafted could be selected because that network has two or three games that it could settle on as its first pick. This is why most kickoffs aren’t known until two weeks beforehand, and sometimes just a week prior to kickoff.

So, with all of those caveats out of the way, let’s start talking this out.

First, let’s go ahead and list Ohio State’s known kickoffs.

August 30 – Texas | 12:00 pm (FOX)
September 6 – Grambling State | 3:30 pm (BTN)
September 13 – Ohio | 7:00 pm (Peacock)
November 29 – at Michigan | 12:00 pm (FOX)

And now let’s speculate.

September 27 – at Washington

Here’s the first unknown, but what we do know is that this will not be a 12:00 pm kickoff because it is a West Coast game. We also know that NBC already has Oregon at Penn State, which means this one settles in nicely for a 3:30 pm kick on CBS. Other potential contenders for the CBS slot: Rutgers at Minnesota, USC at Illinois (likely Big Noon), Indiana at Iowa, and UCLA at Northwestern.

Best guess: September 27 – at Washington | 3:30 pm (CBS)

October 4 – Minnesota

We know that the Michigan State at Nebraska game this week is not scheduled to be at night, so this game could end up grabbing Ohio State’s timeslot against Minnesota, depending on how the Gophers are playing by this point. Penn State at UCLA seems like an okay bet to be the NBC night game because it’s the only West Coast game of the week for the Big Ten. Wisconsin at Michigan could be Big Noon or Big Ten Network. This might be the week with the biggest guess, but we sided with having the Buckeyes host the Gophers at 3:30 pm on CBS.

Best guess: October 4 – Minnesota | 3:30 pm (CBS)

October 11 – at Illinois

This could be a game between future College Football Playoff teams, so just go ahead and assume this is going to be a 12:00 pm kick on FOX. To make this statement even stronger, keep in mind that Michigan is at USC and Indiana is at Oregon. (Not that the Hoosiers are going to be a playoff team again, but Hoo knows.) Purdue at Minnesota is already listed as a night game, though the network is not yet known.

Best guess: October 11 – at Illinois | 12:00 pm (FOX)

October 18 – at Wisconsin

The NBC slot at 7:30 pm is off the table because Notre Dame is hosting USC that night. Last year, the Irish had two night games on NBC, so when that happened, the Big Ten got one game on NBC at 12:00 pm and one game on Peacock at 12:00 pm. That could be a possibility for this game. However, Kevin decided to play a hunch and put this game on FS1 at 3:30 pm. He’s very down on the Badgers, so much so that he actually called them “the Sadgers.” The Buckeyes last played on FS1 in 2021 and last played a conference game on FS1 in 2018. Other games this week are Michigan State at Indiana, Washington at Michigan, Nebraska at Minnesota, and Penn State at Iowa. It’s very bigtenny. I’m going to assume Washington at Michigan will be a Big Noon kick — or Iowa State at Colorado, but keep your eye on the Badgers and the Buckeyes just in case. Interesting, or oddly, Oregon at Rutgers is listed as 6:30 or 7:00 pm, with no network yet.

Best guess: October 18 – at Wisconsin | 3:30 pm (FS1)

November 1 – Penn State

We don’t do “stone-cold, lead-pipe locks” around here, but go ahead and lock in Penn State at Ohio State as a Big Noon kickoff, barring something unforeseen happening with either team.

Best guess: November 1 – Penn State | 12:00 pm (FOX)

November 8 – at Purdue

Just gonna warn you that this could be one of those BTN road night games, though none of OSU, Penn State, or Michigan had to play night games on the road last November. No, there is no rule against November night games. If this game is at night, it would be Ohio State’s first November night game on the road since the Michigan State classic back in 2014. We believe there is still a rule that everybody needs to play a conference game on BTN, so this would fulfill that requirement. Other games this Saturday include Nebraska at UCLA, Indiana at Penn State, and Oregon at Iowa. Keep in mind, Navy at Notre Dame is scheduled as a night game on NBC this week, eliminating a slot for the Big Ten.

Best guess: November 8 – at Purdue | 3:30 pm (BTN)

November 15 – UCLA

UCLA’s year two “welcome to the Big Ten moment” could be a night game in Ohio Stadium. Even though this is not a West Coast game, this might fit the bill for West Coast needs. Minnesota at Oregon is a Friday night game, so don’t worry about that. Iowa at USC has already been eliminated as a night game. This feels like a pretty good possibility. Other games this week include Wisconsin at Indiana, Penn State at Michigan State, and Michigan at Northwestern. There is no telling who has the first pick this week and also no telling what will actually be the best game. What we do know is that NBC still needs an OSU game.

Best guess: November 15 – UCLA | 7:30 pm (NBC)

November 22 – Rutgers

Nothing screams “BIG NOON KICKOFF” like Rutgers at Ohio State, but this is where we are — and Ryan Day wouldn’t mind this at all. Other games this week include USC at Oregon, Nebraska at Penn State, Illinois at Wisconsin, Arizona State at Colorado, Michigan State at Iowa, and Washington at UCLA. Not knowing how the Big XII is going to shake out, the Sun Devils vs. the Buffs could be a Big Noon Kickoff. Rather than put faith in anything the Big XII does, we’re going with Rutgers on Big Noon. This is probably one of the last weeks drafted, so there’s no reason to expect it to belong to FOX.

Best guess: November 22 – Rutgers | 12:00 pm (FOX)

So there you go. If you have a magnet printer, go ahead and put these kick times on a magnet and put it on your refrigerator. If there are any mistakes or inaccurate predictions, please try not to hold @Kevin_Noon personally responsible.