Ohio State is paying a small fortune to beat the brakes off Akron

Going to Columbus to play Ohio State in football is a daunting task for any school, but a hefty bag of cash makes the lopsided scoreline just a bit more bearable.

According to Action Network's Brett McMurphy, the No. 2 ranked Buckeyes are paying $1.8 million for the privilege to absolutely spank cross-state neighbors Akron on Saturday afternoon. That lump sum is the third-highest among other college football teams writing checks to entice small opponents to visit Week 1 and (in all likelihood) get their butts kicked.

However, historically there have been some outliers. In 2023, Auburn paid New Mexico State $1.85 million to visit Jordan-Hare Stadium only to have the Aggies upset them 31-10.

And most notably, then-No. 5 Michigan paid lowly Appalachian State $400,000 to visit The Big House in 2007 when the Mountaineers pulled, arguably, the most iconic upset in college football history.

But an upset of that caliber is unlikely Saturday at The Horseshoe. Akron were picked to finish second-to-last in the Mid-American Conference, per its coaches poll in July.

Ohio State paying $1.8 million to boat-race Akron in Week 1

Ohio State are currently 48.5 point favorites over the bottom-feeder Zips, according to ESPN. And this won't be the last time this season the Buckeyes write a check of this size.

Western Michigan will also be paid $1.8 million to visit Columbus on Sept. 7 and Marshall will receive $1.6 million for their troubles on Sept. 21. Ohio State is expected to win both of those games by a healthy margin as well. It must be nice to be able to easily shell out a grand total of $5.2 million for a 3-0 start to the season.

At the end of the day, though, it could be worth it for Ohio State in the long run. After spending heavily on NIL in the transfer portal to acquire the likes of Will Howard, Quinshon Judkins, Caleb Downs and many more, the Buckeyes certainly need to see their offense get some warm-up reps in live-game action.

Paying a combined $5.2 million to ensure that happens would all be worth it if Ryan Day is hoisting a national championship trophy for the first time as a head coach come January.