Ohio State basketball first opponent of coming season announced
· Yahoo Sports
College basketball schedules are a lot different than their football counterparts, which have nonconference games often made years in advance. The basketball slates don't normally start to come together until the offseason before the next campaign, and that's certainly no different with Ohio State.
However, thanks to some news that hit on Thursday, we already know what the OSU basketball team's first game of the 2026-27 season will be. According to Roco Miller of "The Field of 68," the Buckeyes will travel to Salt Lake City to do battle with the BYU Cougars to open the season this winter. A return game in Columbus is expected to make its way on a future schedule as part of the deal.
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Both teams will look a lot different next season in the era of Name, Image and Likeness and the transfer portal. BYU is likely losing three of its starters, with star freshman AJ Dybantsa expected to enter the NBA draft and Robert Wright III and Kennard Davis Jr having entered the transfer portal. Likewise, Ohio State has already seen Devin Royal, Taison Chatman, Colin White, and Gabe Cupps enter the transfer portal, and Bruce Thornton is out of eligibility, so the Buckeyes' squad will also look drastically different.
NEWS: BYU and Ohio State will meet in the 2026-27 College Basketball season opener on Monday, November 2nd at the Delta Center, per multiple sources.
— Rocco Miller (@RoccoMiller8) April 9, 2026
The game counts as a neutral-site contest with a likely return game coming to Ohio in a future season.#Big12#B1Gpic.twitter.com/W3FJLj7as0
Both teams made the NCAA Tournament field, but both lost in the first round. No. 6 seed BYU was knocked out by No. 11 Texas, and No. 8 seed Ohio State fell to No. 9 seed TCU. It will be just the second time the two programs have met, with the Cougars winning the first matchup 72-65 back on Dec. 30, 1997.
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This article originally appeared on Buckeyes Wire: Ohio State basketball to open up against Power 4 opponent next year