The Ohio State football team has boosted its future schedule by going outside the “big five” conferences.
OSU has set up a home-and-home series with the University of Notre Dame for the 2022 and 2023 seasons, according to an OSU release. The Buckeyes are scheduled to play the Fighting Irish on Sept. 3, 2022, in Columbus in their first game of the season. The two teams are set to play in South Bend, Ind., Sept. 23, 2023, to complete the series.
Notre Dame is scheduled to play their final game of a 13 consecutive year series against rival Michigan Saturday. The Saturday finale between the Fighting Irish and the Wolverines will mark the 42nd meeting in their series.
For football, Notre Dame is an independent program and not affiliated with any conference.
OSU executive associate athletic director Martin Jarmond said in the release that OSU is “extremely pleased” to scheduled games against Notre Dame.
“Notre Dame adds to the prestigious series of non-conference games we have been seeking to schedule that are competitive, attractive for our fans and exciting for our student-athletes to be a part,” Jarmond said in the release.
The football program now has home-and-home series set with Virginia Tech (2014-15), Oklahoma (2016-17), Texas Christian University (2018-19), Oregon (2020-21), Texas (2022-23) and Boston College (2023-24) in addition to Notre Dame over the next decade.
The two programs have played five times in the past with the Buckeyes taking a win in the most recent matchup, 34-20, in the 2006 Fiesta Bowl.
OSU’s next game is scheduled for Saturday against Virginia Tech at 8 p.m. at Ohio Stadium. The game marks the Buckeyes’ 2014 home opener.
