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Greetings from “Can’t Wait For Saturday,” your morning morsel of college football, courtesy of longtime Illini beat writer, AP Top 25 voter and Heisman state rep Bob Asmussen. He’ll give you his views each day on the game he loves

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The conference part of a Big Ten team’s football schedule is out of its hands. The league decides who plays who each year.

Every team has a set of rivalry games that are played no matter what. And the rest of the slate is a rotation of all the other teams. Team A, let’s call it Illinois, will play every team other than Northwestern and Purdue twice in a five-year window. Not always in consecutive seasons.

Illinois and the rest of the league controls three nonconference games each season. Over the next two-plus weeks, I’m going to rank the top game for each school starting with the best matchup and descending to No. 18.

Today: No. 1 Ohio State … at Texas, Sept. 12.

The game is a rematch of the 2025 slobber-knocker won 14-7 by the Buckeyes in Columbus. It set Ohio State up for a long run at the top of The Associated Press rankings.

Both starting quarterbacks return. And Arch Manning and Julian Sayin figure to be leading Top 5 teams that day.

It will be most hyped nonconference game in the country. The winner should jump a spot or two in the AP poll if it isn’t there already.

While the Ohio State defense has to be rebuilt — check out the first round of the upcoming NFL draft — the offense will be one of the best in the country. Sayin will be throwing to the No. 1 pick in the 2027 NFL draft, receiver Jeremiah Smith. There are stars on the line, in the backfield and at the other receiver spots too.

Are you thinking the Buckeyes might take it a bit easier after 2026 and skip the Texas-sized challenge.s? That isn’t how it works at Ohio State. The school hosts Alabama in 2027 and will go to Tuscaloosa in 2028. After taking a break in 2029, Ohio State is scheduled to play at Georgia in 2030. That is how national powers are supposed to schedule.

Bob Asmussen is a college football reporter and columnist for The News-Gazette. He can be reached at 217-393-8248 or asmussen@news-gazette.com.