Ohio State vs. Texas: Kickoff time for highly anticipated matchup revealed

The highly anticipated matchup between Ohio State and Texas has an official kickoff time. ESPN announced hat the game will kick off at 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC.

It’s likely the game will draw more viewers than the 2025 matchup, which took place in Columbus, Ohio, and aired on FOX at noon. Last year’s contest averaged 16.6 million viewers, the ninth most-watched game of the season and the second-highest viewership of the regular season (Ohio State-Michigan, 18.4 million, FOX).

Another reason this year’s Ohio State-Texas matchup will see more viewers is that ABC and ESPN dominated the college football viewership ratings last year. Of the 20 most-watched games last year, 17 belonged to ABC and ESPN.

Texas is hoping to get some revenge on Ohio State. In last year’s battle (which was the season-opener), Ohio State got past the Longhorns 14-7. Longhorns QB Arch Manning threw for 170 yards, one touchdown, and one interception in the loss.

What happened to Ohio State and Texas after last year’s game

After the game, Manning took a lot of heat for the loss because of the expectations that were set for him by fans and experts. His coach went to bat for him after the game.

“For Arch, the expectations were out of control on the outside,” Texas head coach Sarkisian said after the game, per Heather Dinich of ESPN. “I’d say let’s finish the book before we judge him. That’s one chapter.”

The loss was the start of a disappointing season for Texas. After winning the next three games, the Longhorns fell to Florida 29-21. They bounced back the following week with a 26-6 victory against Oklahoma and went on to win the next three games before losing to Georgia 35-10. Texas won the final three games to finish the season with a 10-3 record.

Ohio State went 12-2 last year, with the only losses being against Indiana in the Big Ten Championship game and Miami in the quarterfinals of the College Football Playoff.

On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this story.