COLUMBUS, Ohio – Ohio State University announced Wednesday that it has cancelled the home-and-home series with the University of Washington that was scheduled for the 2024 and 2025 football seasons.
“We initiated the cancellation,” Gene Smith, Senior Vice President and Wolfe Foundation Endowed Athletic Director, said. “I have the utmost respect for the University of Washington and for Director of Athletics Jennifer Cohen, and this was a very difficult call to make.
“Consistent with terms of the contract, we will be responsible for the $500,000 cancellation penalty that has to be paid by February 2025. As a result of the cancellation, we will add an eighth home game for the 2024 season, affording us the opportunity to have the funding to pay the penalty and guarantee for that eighth opponent.”
The cancellation leaves Ohio State needing one non-conference home game in 2024 on either Sept. 7 or Sept. 14, and a non-conference home game in 2025 on either Sept. 6 or Sept. 13.
Ohio State will open the 2024 season in Ohio Stadium Aug. 31 against Southern Mississippi and it will host Western Michigan on Sept. 21. The 2025 non-conference schedule features a season-opening game against Texas at Ohio Stadium on Aug. 30 and a home game Oct. 18 vs. UConn.
Ohio State will play at Texas on Sept. 12, 2026.
Changing Landscape
Ohio State’s 2024 schedule won’t be formally announced until October of this year, and for the first time it could include a Big Ten Conference game against either the UCLA Bruins or the USC Trojans, tradition-rich programs that will be in their inaugural season as members of the Big Ten.
A changing college football landscape will also feature the newly-expanded 12-team College Football Playoff (CFP) beginning with the 2024-25 season. Teams in the CFP title game, and that also play in a conference championship game, could play as many as four or five additional games after the regular season.
