Two of college football's marquee programs have scheduled a home-and-home series for 2027 and 2028.
Ohio State will host Alabama in 2027 and travel to Tuscaloosa in 2028, the schools' athletic departments announced Thursday.
The game at Ohio Stadium is scheduled for Sept. 18, 2027, while the game at Bryant-Denny Stadium is scheduled for Sept. 9, 2028.
“We’d like to thank University of Alabama Director of Athletics Greg Byrne and Senior Deputy Director of Athletics Finus Gaston, who worked so hard with us to get this series scheduled,” Ohio State deputy athletics director Diana Sabau said in a statement. “Building a non-conference schedule with tradition-rich programs is important to the competitive excellence of our program and the department, and it is great for our fans. We are excited for both schools and pleased to be able to share in this announcement today with the University of Alabama.”
Excited to announce a heavyweight upcoming home and home football series today!
— gene smith (@OSU_AD) June 18, 2020
Official announcement coming soon but you may remember this game pic.twitter.com/DZS7WZWZKI
We are excited to announce another H&H football matchup! Look forward to the new series with @OhioStateFB!
— Greg Byrne (@Greg_Byrne) June 18, 2020
Appreciate @OSU_AD working with us to put this together. #RollTide https://t.co/6VvJgZun70
Per the terms of the contract between the schools, as obtained by Eleven Warriors through a public records request on Thursday, the visiting team will receive $1 million and 5,000 tickets from the home team for each year's game, while either school would owe $3 million to the other if it backs out of the agreement. Per the contract, “the teams agree to discuss in good faith a future date(s) for the game(s) to be played” if conference rule or alignment changes dictate that a game between the two schools cannot be played in 2027 or 2028.
Ohio State and Alabama have previously played each other four times, most recently in the Sugar Bowl on Jan. 1, 2015, when the Buckeyes defeated the Crimson Tide 42-35 en route to winning the inaugural College Football Playoff. The Crimson Tide won each of the previous three matchups.
The 2027 and 2028 games will be the first home-and-home games between Ohio State and Alabama – neither has ever played at the other school's home stadium – and will be Ohio State's first regular-season games against an SEC opponent since the Buckeyes played LSU in a home-and-home in 1987 and 1988.
Ohio State now has home-and-home series scheduled with six Power 5 opponents over the next 12 years, also including Oregon (2020-21), Notre Dame (2022-23), Washington (2024-25), Texas (2025-26) and Georgia (2030-31).
| Opponent | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| OREGON | SEPT. 12, 2020 | AUTZEN STADIUM (EUGENE, OREGON) |
| OREGON | SEPT. 11, 2021 | OHIO STADIUM |
| NOTRE DAME | SEPT. 3, 2022 | OHIO STADIUM |
| NOTRE DAME | SEPT. 23, 2023 | NOTRE DAME STADIUM (SOUTH BEND, INDIANA) |
| WASHINGTON | SEPT. 14, 2024 | HUSKY STADIUM (SEATTLE, WASHINGTON) |
| TEXAS | AUG. 30, 2025 | OHIO STADIUM |
| WASHINGTON | SEPT. 13, 2025 | OHIO STADIUM |
| TEXAS | SEPT. 5, 2026 | DARRELL K. ROYAL–TEXAS MEMORIAL STADIUM (AUSTIN, TEXAS) |
| ALABAMA | SEPT. 18, 2027 | OHIO STADIUM |
| ALABAMA | SEPT. 9, 2028 | BRYANT-DENNY STADIUM (TUSCALOOSA, ALABAMA) |
| GEORGIA | SEPT. 14, 2030 | SANFORD STADIUM (ATHENS, GEORGIA) |
| GEORGIA | AUG. 30, 2031 | OHIO STADIUM |
Ohio State was also previously scheduled to play a home-and-home with Boston College in 2026 and 2027 (which was originally scheduled for 2023 and 2024), but that series is being rescheduled for later dates. Sabau told Eleven Warriors on Thursday that those games will be played no sooner than 2029.
