The Opening Drive 1/28: The Final Rivals 300 For the Class of 2026 Drops and the 2026 Schedule is Here
New Five-Stars and a brutally tough schedule highlight the recent news.
We, here at Buckeye Film Breakdown, use the 247 composite rankings when discussing recruits. However, the final Rivals rankings are always interesting to check out. On Tuesday, the final Rivals 300 dropped. Rivals anoints thirty-two players as Five-Stars. The Buckeyes have five players in that top tier.
The Final Rivals 300 For The Class of 2026 Have Dropped
#12 Overall, #1 CB Jay Timmons
#17 Overall, #2 WR Jerquaden Guilford
#22 Overall, # 6 Edge Khary Wilder
#26 Overall, #1 LB Cincere Johnson
#31 Overall, #4 WR Chris Henry Jr.
The Remaining Buckeyes in the Top 300 :
#54 Overall, S Blaine Bradford
#62 Overall, OT Sam Greer
#70 Overall, CB Jordan Thomas
#111 Overall, LB Braxton Rembert ( UP FROM #330 PREVIOUSLY!!)
#115 Overall, DL Damari Simeon
#147 Overall, ATH Legend Bey
#290 Overall, TE Nick Lautar
We will keep you updated when the remainder of the rankings drop, along with the final update from 247!
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The 2026 Schedule Has Dropped
Also on Tuesday, the 2026 schedule was announced in it’s entirety. The Buckeyes face a daunting schedule, and a lot of the tough games are on the road. The silver lining is that Julian Sayin has a year under his belt.
Here is the 2026 schedule ( home games in bold)
9/5/26 Ball State
9/12/26 at Texas
9/19/26 Kent State
9/26 Illinois
10/3/26 at Iowa
10/10/26 Maryland
10/17/26 at Indiana
10/24/26 Bye Week
10/31/26 at USC
11/7/26 Oregon
11/14/26 Northwestern
11/21/26 at Nebraska
11/28/26 Michigan
Six of those teams should be ranked in the preseason polls, with Texas and Indiana being top-five teams. The bye week comes at as good of a time as it could before the back to back with USC and Oregon. I’m excited for this type of schedule though, especially given how odd this season felt with numerous blowouts.
Buckeye Film Breakdown will return soon with some fresh content.
