Texas Fans, Arch Manning Arrive At Ohio State — This Environment Proves College Football Is Best On Campus
Pregame shows, sold-out allotments, and sky-high ticket demand set the stage as Columbus transforms into the epicenter of college football
COLUMBUS, OH - All eyes are on the defending national champion, as Ohio State prepares to welcome Texas to town this weekend for the highly anticipated matchup that pits two teams with their sights set on another run to the college football playoff. Oh, and Arch Manning will be leading the Longhorns.
If you’re waiting until the last minute to purchase tickets for this ‘Mega Powers’ showdown, good luck. Judging by the price of tickets on the secondary mark, attending this game will force fans to make a decision about whether to be inside ‘The Shoe’ on Saturday, or pay this month's rent.
How much for one ticket? According to Ticketmaster, the get-in price has dropped to around $300 for the upper-deck in the north endzone.
As crews from both ‘Big Noon Kickoff’ and ‘College Gameday’ finished setting up their sets for their respective pre-game shows that will air on Saturday morning, you could already feel the excitement building.
Plenty Of Burnt Orange In Columbus Looking To Enjoy The Experience
Yes, there will be plenty of burnt orange in the stands, given that Texas had sold out of its allotment, and there were already fans circling the stadium to take a few pictures outside the iconic Horseshoe.
"We had to get into town a little earlier than we might have for other away games," Dale from Houston told OutKick. "The best part about these non-conference games is getting to experience environments that we don't get every weekend during the season. We've been to plenty of Big 12 stadiums and follow the Longhorns, but we weren't here the last time they played.
"We don't have tickets yet, but I've seen that there are plenty for sale on like Stubhub and other sites. Maybe they will drop a little bit so that it doesn't hurt our bank accounts too badly. But hey, my wife signed off on the trip, so I'm good on the home front."
On Friday, it was easy to notice that fans of the Longorns had arrived in droves, judging by the amount of burnt orange that was roaming around campus, soaking in the environment. This right here is one of the reasons why it's important for college football to get rid of these neutral site games that aren't attached to a rivalry.
You can't beat the experience of going on the road!
Texas fans are soaking in the atmosphere in Columbus, ahead of
Texas fans are soaking in the atmosphere in Columbus, ahead of
It's not hard to wrap your brain around the magnitude of this game, even if it's the season opener for both teams. We've grown accustomed to having these non-conference matchups in the opening weeks of the season, but this one certainly feels different just from walking around campus.
You can smell the anticipation in the air once you get past the overwhelming presence of the dead skunks, which is just another way of saying that it's legal to walk around town smoking marijuana. Though I won't be partaking in the pregame festivities, it's good to see fans already enjoying such a ‘chill’ environment.
Texas Fans, Arch Manning Arrive At Ohio State — This Environment Proves College Football Is Best On Campus
While the attention has been centered around Arch Manning since Quinn Ewers left Texas for the NFL, this game has been circled on calendars all across the country. There's a reason why both pregame shows are in Columbus, though the matchup between Clemson and LSU is going to be spectacular on Saturday night in ‘Death Valley’.
No, not the one in Baton Rouge.
It Smells Good: Arch Manning Draws Headlines, But Defending Champ Ohio State Ready for Texas Showdown Via: Trey Wallace/OutKick
Texas Has A Target On Its Back? What About The Reigning Champs?
One of the more interesting aspects of this game is that there are plenty of people overlooking the Ohio State side of this one, given that Arch Manning has drawn a majority of the offseason headlines.
"I think we kind of try to shift the narrative - we're going for everyone else. The target's not on our back. We have a red dot on everyone else," Manning said this week to the media.
Target? The defending national champions are hosting Texas, so this narrative about everyone having a bullseye on the Longhorns is fascinating to me. Did Ohio State all of a sudden fall off the map in recent months? Did I miss something?
Sure, Texas is the preseason No.1 ranked team in the country, but they still have something to prove on Saturday. And I would say more so than the Buckeyes. If you received an honest answer from Ohio State's Ryan Day, I'd say he is enjoying all the national attention on Texas leading up to this showdown.
Reece Davis is surrounded by reporters, and parrots on Friday before the Texas vs. Ohio State game.
Yes, overlook the defending national champions. Put all the attention on the Longhorns, and make them feel as though they are now the main storyline for the 2025 season. Though it's not as if folks have downplayed the Buckeyes, given they are ranked 3rd in the preseason AP poll, there is still this feeling of a team being overlooked.
I'm sure Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate are enjoying the buildup to this game, though Ohio State fans are prepared to make this a hostile environment that we failed to see in the college football playoff against Tennessee. On that day, the Buckeyes were just the better team, and spent two weeks listening to fans write them off after the Michigan loss, only to then terrorize each opponent on their way to a championship.
This monster game on Saturday will obviously not define the 2025 season for each squad, but it will give us a glimpse into where each program stands as we push through the remaining eleven regular-season games.
I'll tell you this - Columbus is oozing with energy 24 hours before kickoff, which is all we can ask for.