Ohio Football: Bobcats should keep rolling in 2018
2018 Ohio Schedule and Predictions
| Week | Date | Opponent | H/A |
| 1 | Sep. 1 | Howard | Home |
| 2 | Sep. 8 | Bye | N/A |
| 3 | Sep. 15 | Virginia | Away |
| 4 | Sep. 22 | Cincinnati | Away |
| 5 | Sep. 29 | UMass | Home |
| 6 | Oct. 6 | Kent State | Away |
| 7 | Oct. 13 | No. Illinois | Away |
| 8 | Oct. 20 | Bowling Green | Home |
| 9 | Oct. 25 | Ball State | Home |
| 10 | Nov. 1 | Western Michigan | Away |
| 11 | Nov. 7 | Miami (OH) | Away |
| 12 | Nov. 14 | Buffalo | Home |
| 13 | Nov. 23 | Akron | Home |
The schedule gets harder in 2018 for Ohio so they might only win seven games but could be playing better football. The Bobcats replace Eastern Michigan, Kansas and Purdue from 2017 with Cincinnati, Northern Illinois and Virginia in 2018.
The schedule sees an increase from thirteen wins to eighteen wins between those three opponents. The Virginia Cavaliers and Cincinnati Bearcats will both be improved programs as well. The Bearcats are supposed to improve from 102nd to 88th per the S&P+ pre-season rankings and the Cavaliers are supposed to climb from 85th up to 73rd.
While I pontificate that the Bobcats would only win seven games earlier, I do foresee Frank Solich proving that he’s quite the consistent force in the MAC. Ohio should roll Howard much like they did Hampton but the Hoos won’t be an easy out as Bronco Mendenhall continues to build a smart and tough squad at Virginia.
Traveling to Cincinnati won’t be easy either and the Bobcats could start 1-2. Easier games against UMass and Kent State lead to a showdown with Northern Illinois. Solich’s Bobcats will have a run of games against Bowling Green, Ball State, Western Michigan, Miami (OH), and Buffalo that should be wins before the showdown with Akron at home.
The Next Level
If Frank Solich wants to escalate the Bobcats to the next level and prove his life’s work the Bobcats need to win the east and challenge Toledo in the MAC Championship Game at Ford Field in downtown Detroit, Michigan. Ohio recruiting is down from 103rd to 122nd per 247 Sports and a MAC championship ring could really help boost the 73 year old Solich’s life’s work as more than the other guy alongside Tom Osborne at Nebraska. Solich was hastily fired at Nebraska before taking on the Ohio job that had only played in two bowl games before his arrival.
Next: Way-too-early 2019 NFL Mock Draft
Prediction: 9-3
The Bobcats will drop games to the Virginia Cavaliers and Cincinnati Bearcats but they won’t lose again until the Akron Zips. If they can come out of the MAC East division with only one loss they should via for a conference title shot against Toledo in December.