Ohio State Fans Will Love This Representative's Proposed Scheduling Bill

Ohio State Buckeyes fans complained about the team's gametimes last year, but this proposed bill would significantly change things.
Fans spell out O-H-I-O during the Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Playoff National Championship celebration at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Jan. 26, 2025.
Fans spell out O-H-I-O during the Ohio State Buckeyes College Football Playoff National Championship celebration at Ohio Stadium in Columbus on Jan. 26, 2025. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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Last season, Ohio State Buckeyes fans were routinely frustrated on Saturdays due to witnessing their beloved football team starting at noon far too frequently, and that will apparently continue into 2025 with Ohio State's season opener against the Texas Longhorns scheduled for 12:00 pm.

Well, an Ohio representative is attempting to change that.

Tex Fischer, who represents the state's 59th district, has proposed a bill to eliminate noon starts for the Buckeyes, except against the Michigan Wolverines.

Fischer's bill states that no game can begin before 3:30 pm, more specifically when Ohio State is facing a team ranked in the top 10 by the Associated Press. And if the Buckeyes do get scheduled beforehand under those conditions? Then a $10 million fine would be imposed against either the Big Ten or the broadcasting network.

Obviously, the chances of this happening are very slim, but it seems relatively safe to say that Fischer speaks for the vast majority of Ohio State fans when he says he is beyond tired of the Buckeyes playing at noon every Saturday.

This was a running theme in 2024, but so long as the games are generating ratings, it seems hard to envision anything changing.

Ohio State's last six regular-season games of last year fell into the noon time slot. It played just one night game at home, which game against Western Michigan in Week 2.

There is definitely something special about playing under the lights at Ohio Stadium, but we may just have to imagine that for now.

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Matthew Schmidt
MATTHEW SCHMIDT

Matthew Schmidt is a sportswriter who covers NFL, MLB, NBA and college football and basketball. He has been writing professionally since 2011 and has also worked for Bleacher Report, FanRag Sports, ClutchPoints, NFLAnalysis.net and NBAAnalysis.net. He was born and raised in New Jersey and has a rather eclectic group of favorite teams: the Boston Celtics, New York Giants and Miami Marlins.