There's been rampant speculation for weeks now that Alabama was looking to get out of an upcoming home-and-home series with Ohio State.
That smoke began with Paul Finebaum doing what he does best and stirring the pot. Perhaps this should be a lesson to not take anything that man says seriously.
Despite speculation rising even further after Alabama added Georgia State to its 2028 schedule, that move seemed to be an obvious signal that the Crimson Tide would likely be looking to cancel the Oklahoma State series, not the Ohio State one.
Because the 2028 season will see Alabama play five road SEC games. Alabama AD Greg Byrne has stated publicly that he intends for the Crimson Tide to play seven home games each year, and if that series with the Cowboys stays on the schedule, Alabama would have only six in 2028.
There's too much revenue on the line for Ohio State coming to Bryant-Denny in 2028 for that game to go away. The same is true of Alabama's trip to Columbus in 2027.
And you don't have to take my word for it, or anyone else with an Alabama allegiance, for that matter. You can take it straight from the mouth of Ohio State AD Ross Bjork.
Bjork said on Tuesday that there was "no indication" that Alabama wanted to get out of the scheduled home-and-home series:
Bjork said the Buckeyes' home-and-home series with Alabama for 2027 and 2028 remains on the schedule and expects that it will be played despite speculation over a potential cancellation by the Crimson Tide. "No indication they want to get out of anything."
— Joey Kaufman (@joeyrkaufman) February 24, 2026
Alabama-Ohio State series is likely to continue on as scheduled
It would be difficult to blame either Byrne or Bjork for thinking about scheduling an easier game in both 2027 and 2028. The College Football Playoff committee has not placed the emphasis on strength of schedule like it said it would.
What has continued to matter the most - at least for power conference teams - is number of losses vs. who those losses came against.
So scheduling a game like this doesn't make sense, particularly for programs that already play nine-game conference schedules and will have a sufficient strength of schedule already.
But these types of non-conference matchups are what make college football special. And if the Crimson Tide and Buckeyes can figure out a way to keep it on the schedule, the sport will be better for it.