Michigan, USC, New Big Ten Schools Highlight Tough Slate for Ohio State Women's Basketball

Kevin McGuff may have a tough season with his former No. 2 Buckeye squad.

Mar 24, 2024; Columbus, OH, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes forward Cotie McMahon (32) and guard Jacy Sheldon (4) look up to the scoreboard during the second half of the women’s NCAA Tournament second round against the Duke Blue Devils at Value City Arena. Ohio State lost 75-63. / Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK

It's been a long offseason for the Ohio State Buckeyes.

After graduating out multiple seniors and many more changes to the team, Ohio State's Big Ten Conference Schedule opponents were announced Thursday on the conference's network.

With Caitlin Clark not returning to Iowa, perhaps the Buckeyes may have an easier outlook to the conference title — but with the addition of UCLA, Southern California, Washington and Oregon, Kevin McGuff's path may be even tougher.

The Buckeyes will open their season against Illinois, and their only two-play opponent will be Maryland — they will play in College Park in their final game of the season.

Other notable matchups include a west coast series against the young gunning squads in UCLA and USC, as well as a February matchup vs. Iowa in the post-Lisa Bluder era.

Here is Ohio State's 2024-25 conference schedule:

Home games: 12/6 vs. Illinois, 1/6 vs. Northwestern, 1/12 vs. Oregon, 1/23 vs. Maryland, 2/2 vs. Washington, 2/13 vs. Minnesota, 2/17 vs. Iowa, 2/23 vs. Purdue, 2/26 vs. Michigan State

Road games: 12/29 at Rutgers, 1/6 at Michigan, 1/16 at Wisconsin, 1/19 at Penn State, 1/26 at Nebraska, 2/5 at UCLA, 2/8 at USC, 2/20 at Indiana, 3/2 at Maryland.

The Buckeyes' nonconference schedule consists of November matchups against Charlotte, Belmont, Ohio, Bowling Green, Old Dominion and Utah State, as well as December head-to-heads with Youngstown State and Stanford in the post-Tara VanDerveer era.

Although Clark and Mackenzie Holmes both got drafted to the WNBA, so did former Buckeyes' Jacy Sheldon and Celeste Taylor. Now, junior Cotie McMahon and senior Taylor Thierry will be at the helm for Ohio State, with both coming off their best seasons yet.

McGuff also brought in freshmen Seini Henry, Elsa Lemmilä, Ella Hobbs, Ava Watson and Jaloni Cambridge, who some of which are expected to make immediate impacts with this young Ohio State squad.

The Buckeyes managed to bring in some veterans as well from around the country, notably former Oregon guard Chance Gray and Kentucky big Ajae Petty. Gray could get a chance to show the Ducks what it's like to be a Buckeye in a revenge game.

Ohio State will also be returning multiple vets, including rotational players in Eboni Walker and Madison Greene.

McMahon's offseason was highlighted by a 3 on 3 tournament taking place overseas for much of the summer, separate from the Olympic games, in the states and in Mongolia. She brought her dominance as a Buckeye to the tournament — hopefully for McGuff, she comes back stronger than ever and is able to execute her paint spin-move more efficiently.

Ohio State will have a tough task this season to the Big Ten title, but perhaps their confidence while shine through coming off a regular season title a season ago.