Ohio State Will Hold 2026 Senior Day Before Season Opener vs. Ball State
By
Dan Hope on August 14, 2026 at 2:38 pm
@dan_hope
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Ohio State is making a big change to Senior Day for the 2026 season.
Instead of celebrating its seniors before the final home game of the season against Michigan, Ohio State’s 2026 Senior Day ceremony will be held before the Buckeyes’ season opener against Ball State.
In a
news release on Friday, Ohio State announced that it will recognize its senior class before its 12:30 p.m. kickoff on Sept. 5, in what Ohio State expects to be “a meaningful and celebratory moment to start the season.”
Traditionally, Ohio State has held its Senior Day before the final home game of the season. That said, Ryan Day has made a concerted effort to minimize distractions and keep the team’s routine as normal as possible before the Michigan game.
While Ohio State previously held its Senior Tackle on Thanksgiving before The Game, Day made the decision in 2022 to move that tradition to bowl practices in December. The Buckeyes also used to host the Ohio State Marching Band for a practice during rivalry week, but moved that tradition to earlier in the season as well to keep the focus on beating Michigan during the final week of the regular season.
Last year, the Buckeyes broke from tradition again by flying to Michigan rather than driving to Ann Arbor in an effort to keep their routine as normal as possible – a move that seemingly worked, as Ohio State defeated Michigan, 27-9, to break a four-year losing streak in The Game.
It’s not unprecedented for schools to move up their Senior Day when they are hosting their rival in the final game of the season. Clemson, for example, will also host its Senior Day before its penultimate home game of the regular season rather than before its regular-season finale against South Carolina. Georgia has also previously moved up its Senior Day to avoid holding it before its rivalry game against Georgia Tech.
Ohio State, however, will take it a step further by holding Senior Day before its first of seven home games this season, choosing to honor its seniors before the season begins to add some pregame excitement to its first game of the year.
