Ohio State Eyes High-Stakes February Showdown Against ACC Basketball Titan—Details Inside!

Other notable nonconference games before all the March Madness include Baylor vs. Louisville (also on Feb. 14, in Fort Worth, Texas) and Duke vs. Michigan (Feb. 21 in Washington, D.C.). This, after we saw Gonzaga at Kentucky in 2024 and Duke vs. Illinois last season at Madison Square Garden. Not exactly a big population, but a trend in the right direction nonetheless.

College hoops fans, buckle up—there’s something quite intriguing bubbling up beyond the usual Big Ten battles we’re accustomed to seeing when conference play hits its stride. I caught wind of a juicy nugget from CBS Sports that’s sparking my curiosity: Ohio State and Virginia are reportedly cooking up a Valentine’s Day showdown, a rare nonconference clash right when the grind usually keeps teams locked within their familiar circles. It’s not every day we get to witness this kind of crossover action late in the season—especially not with history’s curtain of TV rights and conference politics dimming these matchups. And yet, here we are, on the cusp of a fresh, electrifying tradition maybe—setting neutral grounds possibly in Nashville (how’s that for intriguing?). This trend isn’t isolated either; Baylor-Louisville and Duke-Michigan are joining the calendar, breathing fresh life into pre-March Madness madness. As someone who’s been tracking the shifts and shakes of college basketball terrain for ages, I’m genuinely excited to see where this leads—and I’ll be right here bringing all the updates as it unfolds. LEARN MOREIn a post to X (formerly Twitter) on Monday, Matt Norlander cited sources that told him that the Buckeyes and Virginia Cavaliers are working on a February 14, Valentine’s Day game. According to the story, “the game will be organized by Intersport, with the neutral-site venue soon to be determined. The goal is to house the one-off game at an arena that’s practical for OSU and UVa fans. Nashville is under consideration as a destination, sources added.”

As more details emerge about the Buckeyes and Cavaliers, we’ll bring them to you.Playing these types of games used to be commonplace, but once television contracts, conference realignment, and resistance from conference administrators got in the way, it’s a rare sight to see teams have these types of nonconference tussles late in the season. But, it’s a trend that seems to be taking off more as of late.

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Generally, when the conference college basketball season gets into full swing, we rarely see teams step outside the Big Ten to play teams. According to a report from CBS Sports, however, there appears to be something in the works between Ohio State and another school not in the Big Ten.