Ohio released its 2021 schedule Friday. 2021 will be the first time in eight seasons without head coach Rob Smith, who retired from coaching in January. Craig Moore will take over as an interim head coach this season.
The Bobcats are scheduled to play 57 games in 2021 starting in late February.
Ohio’s first series will be away at Radford from Feb. 19-21. Following that, the Bobcats will play two doubleheaders against Morehead State. The first will be Feb. 26 at Bob Wren Stadium, and the next will be Feb. 28 in Morehead, Kentucky.
Ohio will then play four games in Athens against Wisconsin-Milwaukee from March 5-7 and then play a home game against Marshall on March 12. The Bobcats will also play against the Thundering Herd on the road March 13-14.
Mid-American Conference play begins March 19 for the Bobcats when Bowling Green comes to Athens for a four-game series until March 21. Ohio will follow up Bowling Green with another four-game home series against Central Michigan from March 26-28.
The Bobcats will play on the road against Toledo for four games from April 2-4 and then return home for another four games against Eastern Michigan. After that, Ohio will play four games against Northern Illinois in DeKalb, Illinois.
Ohio will take a break from MAC opponents from April 23-24, when it will play three games against Purdue Fort Wayne in Athens. April 24 will feature a doubleheader between the two teams.
The Bobcats resume MAC play on April 30 for a four-game series against Kent State on the road. Next, Miami will visit Athens for another four-game series from May 7-9. It’s back on the road again for Ohio following that for a four-game series with Akron from May 14-16. Then, the Bobcats return to Athens for four games against Ball State from May 21-23.
Ohio will conclude its regular season with a four-game series at Western Michigan from May 28-30.
Due to COVID-19 protocol, there will be no MAC Tournament in 2021. Instead, the MAC team with the highest record at the end of the regular season will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, which is scheduled to begin June 4.
Before the 2020 season was canceled last year, the Bobcats were only 3-12.
