Ohio State’s “easy to hate” reputation keeps following it into Big Ten spotlight

Ohio State’s reputation in college football took another turn in the spotlight this weekend. In a June 7, 2026 Yahoo Sports item that credited The Sporting News, the Buckeyes were described as one of the few programs that are “easy to hate,” and the write-up framed that label as something Ohio State carries around within the Big Ten college football community.

That matters in the Big Ten because the conference has become, in effect, a national-stage engine. When a program is routinely treated as the league’s most obvious headline, every result carries extra narrative weight. An ESPN Big Ten blog post from 2013 captured a similar dynamic, calling Ohio State “the team America loves to hate” as it pursued a national championship berth on the doorstep of the postseason.

The Buckeyes do not appear to be shrinking from that role. On-field expectations remain baked into the program’s identity. Ohio State’s own 2026 spring materials list 9 national championships and 39 Big Ten championships in program history, along with 7 College Football Playoff appearances and 990 all-time wins. Those milestones help explain why outsiders can view the Buckeyes as both perpetually relevant and persistently resented.

For 2026, the schedule also keeps Ohio State positioned for the kinds of moments that amplify a “villain” label. Ohio State’s slate features a non-conference opener against Ball State on Sept. 5, followed by a trip to Texas on Sept. 12. The Buckeyes then open the home Big Ten season at Ohio Stadium with Illinois (Sept. 26) and close the regular season at Michigan on Nov. 28, while also drawing Oregon (Nov. 7), Northwestern (Nov. 14), and a road trip to USC (Oct. 31).

Even within the league’s own structure, the pressure stays concentrated at the back end. Ohio State’s 2026 schedule announcement notes that the 18 Big Ten teams will play for a berth in the College Football Playoffs at the Big Ten Championship Game on Dec. 5 at Lucas Oil Stadium, with the winner earning the league’s automatic entry.

When a program is “easy to hate,” it can become a shorthand for why neutral fans tune in and why opponents feel justified in trying to puncture the brand. But it also tends to sharpen the scrutiny on every week of preparation, because the same label that draws attention can turn into a test of whether the team can win while being the story rather than just the protagonist.

What to watch next is less about the label itself and more about how Ohio State handles the surrounding narrative as games get bigger. The Buckeyes’ ability to meet the league’s high expectations in September and October will shape whether their “easy to hate” status turns into mere background noise, or whether it becomes a defining story arc again once the conference title chase arrives in December.