Ohio State basketball keeps Michigan home‑and‑home for 2026‑27 Big Ten slate

The Ohio State men's basketball team will face Iowa, Penn State and rival Michigan twice during the 2026-27 Big Ten season.

In an 18-team league that features a 20-game slate, all Big Ten teams face three teams both home and on the road, seven teams solely on the road and seven solely at home. For the Buckeyes, that will mean playing home-and-home series with the Hawkeyes, Nittany Lions and Wolverines.

Ohio State will host Maryland, Michigan State, Northwestern, Oregon, Rutgers, Washington and Wisconsin this year. The Buckeyes will face Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Nebraska, Purdue, UCLA and USC on the road.

The games at UCLA and USC will constitute the team's trip to the West Coast. Last season, the Buckeyes went to Washington and Oregon and hosted the Bruins and Trojans.

The home-and-home series with the Wolverines is something both Ohio State coach Jake Diebler and Michigan coach Dusty May publicly lobbied for as a protected rivalry.

The Ohio State Buckeyes mascot, Brutus, waves a flag prior to the NCAA men's basketball game against the Illinois Fighting Illini in Columbus on Dec. 9, 2025. Ohio State lost 86-78.

Ohio State, like most teams, is still finalizing its roster for the 2026-27 season. The Buckeyes most recently added freshman Vuk Lazarevic, a 7-foot-1 center from Serbia, to the mix for third-year coach Jake Diebler.