How do Ohio State fans feel in 2026? Thoughts on Ryan Day, Michigan, CFP expansion and more

How do Ohio State fans feel now? This year, our annual Buckeyes fan survey tackles the state of the program, the Michigan rivalry, the 2026 season, potential College Football Playoff expansion and more.

A 24-team Playoff has been top of mind in the Big Ten and beyond this spring, raising debates about late-season rivalries like Ohio State-Michigan and nonconference scheduling. Texas was vocal about missing last year’s Playoff because it lost to Ohio State to open the season. With 24 teams, it would’ve made the field easily.

Regardless, the Buckeyes seem to be OK with high-profile games at the top of the schedule. Ohio State will make a return trip to Texas this year, before opening a two-year contract with Alabama next season and a two-year contract with Georgia in 2030-31.

That’s a decision many of the 728 respondents to our survey support, especially if the Playoff expands to 24 teams.

“Love the big nonconference matchups. Losing those games won’t matter much because they are absolutely going to force a 24-team Playoff,” reader Mike T. said.

“I think it’s good for the sport, but I don’t know why OSU has to always try to lead the way with these things. Indiana would never. Oregon would never,” Michael C. wrote.

No matter what changes in college football, expectations among the Ohio State fan base are always the same: schedule tough, beat Michigan, win the Big Ten and compete for a national championship.

Ryan Day recently said that eliminating the Big Ten title game would make the Michigan rivalry even better. Do you agree or disagree?

• Agree — 76.9%
• Disagree — 23.1%

Day made headlines when he said The Game would actually benefit from eliminating conference championship games.

“I think it could even be more important,” Day told The Athletic during Big Ten meetings. “You’re playing for either a chance to get into the Playoff or a chance to get seeded high to get a first-round bye. Or, if you are already maybe predicted to be one of the top eight schools, then you’re fighting for a high seed. So, all those are critically important to your success in the Playoff.”

There’s no rivalry in American sports better than The Game, and eliminating the Big Ten championship, which lost meaning the moment the Playoff expanded to 12 teams, doesn’t change that. We’ve already had matchups that determined who was going to the Big Ten title game, like 2022 when the winner locked in both a Playoff and conference title berth. Ohio State missed the CFP entirely in 2023 because it lost to Michigan.

I’m not sure eliminating the Big Ten title game makes it better, but it definitely doesn’t lessen it like some might think.

Did beating Michigan last year ease your concern with the state of the rivalry going into this season? Or does The Game always bring anxiety?

Ohio State’s win over Michigan last year seemed like a huge sigh of relief for the fan base, Day and the entire Ohio State program. The win ended the losing streak just before it reached five games, which would’ve been the longest since 1922-27.

That should take some pressure off The Game, but as many of you wrote, there’s always anxiety.

“From a scale of 1 to 10, it took the anxiety of The Game from an 11 to an 8 or 9,” wrote Mike H.

“Records don’t matter, you enter the game 0-0 every year. It will always have a different level of pressure,” said Tim W.

“Last year was a relief, but you always feel anxious before The Game. I grew up in the ’90s, so I know to never take it for granted,” said Rob W.

“I feel a lot better after the win last year, and I think OSU is about to start another winning streak,” said James M.

“It helped ease the tension, but as an Ohio State fan, the Michigan game will ALWAYS induce panic, even for our best teams. That’s how you know it means something,” said Karlton L.

How would you grade Ryan Day’s performance in seven years as Ohio State’s head coach?

• A — 81.7%
• B — 16.7%
• C — 1.2%
• D — 0.4%
• F — 0%

Day won his first national championship in 2024, then finally beat Michigan again, on the road, to end a four-year losing streak.

That helped raise his grade among Ohio State fans. Last year at this time, despite the national title, 63 percent of voters said they would grade Day’s performance as head coach as an A. This year, that number has risen to 81.7 percent.

He still has a losing record against the Wolverines at 2-4, but it’s hard to be overly critical of a coach who has a career .872 winning percentage and hasn’t lost more than two games in a season.

Will Jeremiah Smith or Julian Sayin win the Heisman Trophy?

• Neither — 65.7%
• Smith wins — 23.5%
• Sayin wins — 10.9%

Both Ohio State stars are in the top seven of BetMGM’s Heisman odds. Sayin is the lone returning Heisman finalist, and Smith is the best non-quarterback player in the country.

If I had to pick one of them, I’d lean to Smith, as 23.5 percent of you did. A week ago he went on Instagram and posted a picture of the Biletnikoff Award trophy, given to the nation’s top receiver, which was won by Ohio State’s Marvin Harrison Jr. in 2023, and Terry Glenn in 1995. His caption? “All or nothing.”

There’s a chip on Smith’s shoulder as he enters his presumed final season in college. While being considered the best non-quarterback player in college football for two years, he has yet to earn himself a trip to New York. He finished sixth in the Heisman vote last year, while finishing as the runner-up in the Biletnikoff race.

Still, I would side with the 65.7 percent of you who voted neither. My early vote is Oregon quarterback Dante Moore.

What would constitute a successful season for Ohio State?

• Win the national championship — 25.3%
• Big Ten championship, national title appearance — 34.3% 
• Big Ten championship, CFP appearance — 21.5%
• Win a playoff game — 10.9%
• Playoff appearance — 0.8%
• Just beat Michigan — 7.3%

The Buckeyes lost 25 players to the NFL Draft the past two years, but still the highest-voted option, with 34.3 percent, is to win a Big Ten title for the first time since 2020 and make the national championship game. Coming in second place, with 25 percent, was to win a national championship.

The standard doesn’t change at Ohio State.

Ohio State is entering the season in a weird place from an expectation standpoint. The difficulty of the schedule has to shift some of the regular-season predictions, but at the same time, this is likely the final year with Smith and Sayin together, so there is a sense of urgency to capitalize on that.

With 51 new players on the roster, which newcomer are you most excited to see?

• Chris Henry Jr. 68.4% 
• Terry Moore 3%
• Earl Little Jr. 13.4%
• Christian Alliegro 4.2%
• Ja’Kobi Jackson 5.5%
• Others: 5.5%

No surprise here that more than two-thirds of voters picked Henry, the five-star freshman receiver.

The 6-foot-5 Henry has all of the tools to be an immediate contributor for Ohio State. He already showcased his abilities in the spring game, tallying four catches for 96 yards and a touchdown. His length makes him a much different player from Brandon Inniss, Devin McCuin and Kyle Parker, all of whom are ahead of him as upperclassmen. That alone could make him one of the top options to play alongside Jeremiah Smith.

Beyond Henry, Florida State transfer safety Earl Little received the second-most votes.

A few other players who got votes who I’m also excited to see are freshman defensive end Khary Wilder, Georgia transfer cornerback Dominick Kelly and freshman linebacker Cincere Johnson.

Grade Ohio State’s hire of Arthur Smith as offensive coordinator:

• A — 30.4%
• B — 56.9%
• C — 10.7%
• D — 1.4%
• F — .6%

Day dipped back into the NFL ranks to fill an open coordinator position. Much like last year, when over 50 percent of people graded the hiring of Matt Patricia as a B, the majority gave Smith a B.

He comes with mixed reviews after some inconsistencies as a play caller in the NFL, but he brings a bright offensive mind, especially in the running game. When paired with Day’s passing prowess, it could lead to a more explosive and creative offense.

A B grade seems fair, for now.

What are you most worried about regarding Ohio State this season?

• Offensive line — 47.3%
• Replacing eight starters on defense — 32.6%
• Arthur Smith as the offensive play caller — 9.1%
• Special teams — 5.5%
• Schedule — 0.6%
• Defensive line — 0.3%
• Others 4.6%

With 47.3 percent saying the returning offensive line worries them, it is obvious that seeing Sayin under constant pressure against Indiana and Miami is still fresh in everybody’s mind.

The Buckeyes didn’t make a big splash in the portal, instead choosing to run things back with the returnees and hope that offseason development pays off. The experience is there, but the main question facing this group will be who is at tackle and who fills the right guard position.

I think that this offensive line has a chance to be much better than it was a year ago, especially with center Carson Hinzman at center and Luke Montgomery at left guard.

Which game are you most excited about?

• at Texas (Sept. 12) — 20.8%
• at Iowa (Oct. 3) — 0%
• at Indiana (Oct. 17) — 29%
• at USC (Oct. 31) — 1.9%
• Oregon (Nov. 7) — 6.5%
• Michigan (Nov. 28) — 41.7%

After coasting through the 12 regular-season games a year ago, this season the Buckeyes will play five teams that made the top 20 in Stewart Mandel’s post-spring Top 25, plus the first team out, Iowa.

I thought that would’ve changed things up here, but Michigan was the top game by a wide margin. The Game earned 41.7 percent of the vote, while Indiana came in second with 29 percent. I shouldn’t be surprised, as Michigan is the top game on the schedule every year, and it’s in Columbus this year.

I expected the home game against Oregon to be a bit higher. The Ducks were ranked No. 2 in Mandel’s rankings and got just 6.5 percent of the votes here. I think Oregon is the most talented team in the country and a home game in Columbus, even if it’s a 3:30 p.m. kickoff (which seems likely), should bring a raucous atmosphere to Ohio Stadium. The last time Oregon came to Columbus, it won 35-28 in 2021.

Who will win the Big Ten this season?

• Indiana — 4.7%
• Oregon — 21.6%
• USC — 0.8%
• Michigan — 0.4%
• Ohio State — 71.6% 
• Iowa — 0.1%
• Penn State — 0.1%
• Washington — 0%

Over 70 percent of voters expect Ohio State to win the Big Ten, but with that schedule and some questions up front, I’d be surprised if the Buckeyes did that.

In the past two seasons with no divisions, no team has made the conference title game with more than one conference loss. I don’t expect that to change this year. Going 8-1 with a conference schedule that includes road games at Iowa, Indiana and USC before hosting Michigan and Oregon in November will be difficult but not impossible for the Buckeyes to come through with one or zero losses.

Oregon received 21.6 percent of votes. Indiana, the defending Big Ten and national champion, got just 4.7 percent of the votes, despite having the weakest schedule of the top three contenders.

What will Ohio State’s regular-season record be?

• 12-0 — 9.6%
• 11-1 — 48.1% 
• 10-2 — 38.1%
• 9-3 — 4.1%
• 8-4 — 0%

There are a lot of optimistic Ohio State fans in this survey, with 48.1 percent of voters predicting an 11-1 record and 38.1 percent saying Ohio State will be 10-2.

The floor for Ohio State has been 10-2, at worst, which may be more difficult this year. I’m not sure where I stand yet on the record. I’m somewhere between 10-2 and 9-3, but both records should get Ohio State in the Playoff, depending on who the losses are against.

Having Texas on the road in Week 2 is a tough start, but at least splitting the matchups against Indiana and Oregon will be massive for the CFP resume. One game I’m not overlooking is Oct. 3 at Iowa. The Hawkeyes are tough to beat at Kinnick Stadium.

Will Ohio State win the national championship?

• Yes — 42.2%
• No — 57.8% 

This was a lot closer than I expected. Last year, 83 percent of voters said Ohio State would not win the national championship. This year, just 57.8 percent say no, which means 42.2 percent believe the Buckeyes will win their second championship in three years.

I’d take the field here and say no, but it’s not hard to see why people would take Ohio State with the trio of Sayin, Smith and Bo Jackson returning and the recent track record on defense.

Are you for or against Ohio State’s recent uniform changes? (The all-black uniforms, the Buckeye stripe changes and more)

• For — 50.3% 
• Against — 16%
• I don’t care — 33.7%

The Buckeyes have all-black uniforms this year and adjusted their Buckeye stripe back to the more traditional look. It was a subtle change, but one that over 50 percent of you like.

Which is your favorite network to watch Ohio State games on TV?

• CBS — 31.5%
• Fox — 53.2%
• NBC — 15.4%

The debate over kickoff times has been ongoing with Ohio State and fan bases in the Big Ten. The noon kickoff has become the Fox spot to market the biggest game in the conference that week.

Many fans are tired of noon kickoffs because they take away the exciting night atmosphere that Ohio State had in games like its Playoff win against Tennessee in 2024. Still, 53.2 percent of you prefer to watch games on Fox over CBS and NBC.

CBS earned 31.5 percent of the votes, while NBC, which features one Peacock game a season, earned just 15.4 percent. The NBC game is usually a night game, but it comes with its own concerns regarding Peacock and the streaming broadcasts.

Are you in favor of expanding the CFP from 12 teams to 24?

• Expand to 24 — 15%
• Stay at 12 — 85% 

No surprise here, but 85 percent of voters prefer the College Football Playoff stays at 12 games, as opposed to the Big Ten’s push for expanding to 24.

A 24-team Playoff would seemingly lock Ohio State into a CFP berth nearly every year, as the Buckeyes have finished in the top 20 in 23 of the past 24 seasons. A three-loss season would still mean a Playoff berth, and Ohio State hasn’t lost three games since 2011.

What is your preferred College Football Playoff size?

• 4 — 1.8%
• 8 — 18.3
• 12 — 36.1% 
• 16 — 33.6
• 24 — 8.3%
• More than 24 — 0%
• Go back to BCS — 1.8%

First, we have to acknowledge that 13 respondents prefer to return to the BCS era. I found any support for that shocking in its own right, but this was a pretty close contest with 36.1 percent of voters choosing the current 12-team Playoff, just beating out the 33.6 percent who prefer a 16-team format.

Just two years into the 12-team CFP, it seems that most around the sport still prefer it over the previous four-team format, which ended in 2023. Twelve teams is the sweet spot, to me, still allowing some important regular-season games and keeping conference championships relevant.