After falling short of a Big Ten title and a second consecutive College Football Playoff berth in 2015, the Ohio State Buckeyes are gearing up for another potential championship run this fall.
But unfortunately for the Buckeyes, their 2016 schedule is absolutely brutal.
Ohio State will kick off its season against reigning MAC champion Bowling Green on September 3 before hosting a high-flying and feisty Tulsa squad. Those games are just a prelude to what could be the top nonconference showdown in all of college football this year when the Buckeyes hit the road for a clash with playoff contender Oklahoma.
Dropping that game against the Sooners wouldn't be a season crusher, however. Ohio State should know better than any team in the country that it's not how you start but how you finish.
In 2014, they overcame a Week 2 loss to Virginia Tech and ripped off 13 straight victories on their way to a national championship. A year later, a Week 12 loss to Michigan State kept them out of the league title game and, ultimately, on the outside looking in on Selection Sunday.
Ultimately, these three games have the potential to derail Ohio State's chances at a Big Ten title and a potential spot in this year's playoff.
October 15, @ Wisconsin
After opening its conference slate with games against Rutgers and Indiana at home, Ohio State will get its first stiff Big Ten test on the road when it travels to Madison, Wisconsin, for a showdown against the Badgers.
Camp Randall hasn't been kind to Ohio State in recent years. The Buckeyes barely escaped Madison with a 21-14 overtime win to preserve their undefeated season in 2012, but two years prior, the Badgers knocked off Jim Tressel's top-ranked Ohio State squad—a loss that kept them out of the BCS title conversation.
The game, which has already been announced as a prime-time showdown that will be nationally broadcasted, will be a huge test for a young Buckeyes squad that should be hitting its stride midway through the season. If they can't pass that test and fall to the Badgers, the season could take a drastically negative turn as Ohio State will be in another hostile environment the following week at Penn State.
November 19, @ Michigan State
Since Meyer took over at Ohio State in 2012, he has showed his team how to get even.
The Buckeyes have suffered just four losses in his four seasons at the helm, but every opportunity the Buckeyes have had to avenge one of those defeats, they've cashed in.
It started in 2014 when Ohio State invaded East Lansing, Michigan, and blasted Michigan State 49-37, just 10 months after losing to them in the 2013 conference championship. In September 2015, the Buckeyes got revenge from the stunning upset loss to Virginia Tech the year prior, using a second-half surge to cruise to a 42-24 victory.
On November 19, Meyer and the Buckeyes will have revenge on their minds when they travel to East Lansing for another showdown with Michigan State. The Spartans, of course, stunned Ohio State with a last-second field goal in a 17-14 upset in Ohio Stadium last year.
If the Buckeyes are in contention for the East Division title and fall short in Spartan Stadium, it would not only crush their chances of making it to the title game, but it would be a deflating loss heading into the regular-season finale.
November 26, Michigan
Losing one of the greatest rivalries not just in college football, but in all of sports, will ruin a season.
The Buckeyes haven't experienced that feeling during the Meyer era, going a perfect 4-0 against Michigan since 2012. That stretch was highlighted by last year's drubbing in Ann Arbor—a game the Buckeyes ran away with to secure a 42-13 win.
There's no doubt that head coach Jim Harbaugh and the Wolverines will be looking for a considerable amount of payback when they visit Columbus on November 26.
With 15 starters back, loads of experience and another year in Harbaugh's system, Michigan is expected to be a Top 10 team and a playoff contender this year.
If Ohio State matures quickly and both teams can surge down the stretch, this game could decide who represents the East Division in the Big Ten title game and, on a larger scale, who gets into the playoff.
All recruiting rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports.
David Regimbal is the lead Ohio State football writer for Bleacher Report. Follow him on Twitter @davidreg412.
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