\n Welcome to the Skull Session. <\/p>\n
\n\tThis is\u00a0the\u00a0Caleb Downs edit.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tI think I found the best Caleb Downs edit on the internet right now. pic.twitter.com\/okmBGqeO3Y<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\u2014 SSN – Dallas Cowboys (@SSN_Cowboys) May 4, 2026<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\tHave a good Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0MENTAL GYMNASTICS.<\/strong> USA TODAY columnist Blake Toppmeyer has the take of the offseason.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIn an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show, Toppmeyer addressed Kirby Smart\u2019s comments<\/a> on whether the Big Ten has surpassed the SEC in college football dominance.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\t“That takes some gold medal-level mental gymnastics to believe that the reason the SEC has a 3-year national title drought is because Arkansas is too good.”<\/p>\n
–@btoppmeyer<\/a> not buying the argument that conference depth hurts SEC title contenders: pic.twitter.com\/FRokOJQt5N<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n
\t\u2014 Paul Finebaum (@finebaum) May 4, 2026<\/a>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m sorry,\u201d Toppmeyer said. \u201cThat takes some gold medal level mental gymnastics to believe that the reason the SEC has a three-year national title drought is because Arkansas is too good.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSuper good take.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\tNo notes.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tYou\u2019ve already seen Paul Finebaum\u2019s pitiful response in the clip, but now I\u2019m very curious to hear what Smart has to say.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0DOLLAR DOLLAR BILLS, Y\u2019ALL.<\/strong> Duke made headlines last week when the Blue Devils and Amazon reached a multi-year agreement <\/a>to televise three marquee nonconference games per season.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tThat deal prompted USA TODAY columnist Matt Hayes<\/a> to ask an intriguing question: What if Ohio State did the same?\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s a fair thought experiment \u2014 and one Hayes believes Ross Bjork and his staff will at least consider. Even with Ohio State receiving a conference-high $91.57 million<\/a> from the Big Ten in fiscal year 2024-25, the Buckeyes could still be leaving money on the table in what Hayes describes as a \u201cscary\u201d time for college athletics.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tWhy wouldn\u2019t Duke basketball jump in on this action? And here\u2019s the scary part for the rest of college sports: When does Ohio State football make a move?\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWhen do Alabama or USC or Texas or Michigan say, screw it, we\u2019re tired of Mississippi State and Rutgers and Vanderbilt and Maryland riding our coattails. We\u2019re going to take our media rights and find out just how much someone is willing to pay.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tDon\u2019t kid yourselves, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu, Apple \u2014 or any streaming service worth its weight in dragging, commercial-filled garbage \u2014 will throw millions upon millions upon millions for seven Ohio State home games.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tLive sports is the only guaranteed winner in broadcast television and streaming. Live sports with Ohio State? A revenue-driving king.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tAnd what\u2019s the Big Ten going to do? Tell Ohio State you\u2019re either with us, or you\u2019re out of the league?\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tFour words: There will be suitors.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tOhio State’s value in this environment is probably three times the $91.5 million the Big Ten paid the Buckeyes in fiscal 2024-25. The Ohio State-Michigan game alone is worth $100 million annually.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tIt would be fiscally reckless for the Big Ten to push Ohio State out of the conference when the current media rights deal ends after the 2029-30 season. So the next logical step would be a deal.\u00a0\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWelcome, everyone, to leverage in the free market.\u00a0\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n\tHayes argues this wouldn\u2019t be unprecedented. It\u2019s no different than agents floating a coach\u2019s name for leverage in a high-profile job search, or shopping a player in the transfer portal to drive up NIL value.\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tWhy should Ohio State\u2019s brand and power be used to supplement the Minnesotas of the world? If you don\u2019t think this is happening \u2014 and a lot sooner than you think \u2014 you\u2019re the same person who thinks the player movement toothpaste can be put back in the tube.\u00a0\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tThat guy will be gone in two years. Ohio State football will be around \u2014 and thriving \u2014 decades after that.\u00a0\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tDuke did the smart thing, the prudent thing. Then opened the door for every other university to follow suit.\u00a0\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n\tIf Ohio State crosses that threshold, it may feel like the end of the sport as we know it. It wouldn\u2019t just change the math \u2014 it would change college football.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd sure, I want the Buckeyes to keep thriving. But at what cost? That\u2019s the question I can\u2019t shake. Because if the opportunity comes, will Bjork and his administration see the full picture or just the dollar signs? This is the same leadership that has already introduced round-up donations at Ohio Stadium and explored jersey patch sponsorships.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAt some point, the risk isn\u2019t just change. It\u2019s erosion.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\tErosion of the People, the Tradition and the Excellence that built Ohio State into what it is \u2014 the very foundation that makes those dollar signs possible in the first place.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAnd if that foundation starts to crack, the payoff might not be worth the price.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0WHAT IS GOOD, GREAT, GRAND?\u00a0<\/strong>I thought Ohio State had a really good offseason, but to the Worldwide Leader, \u201creally good\u201d apparently translates to No. 4 in the Big Ten \u2014 behind Indiana, Oregon and USC.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIn an article ranking the offseason for every Power 4 college football team, ESPN\u2019s Eli Lederman, Max Olson and Adam Rittenberg<\/a> slotted the Buckeyes behind the Hoosiers, Ducks and Trojans in the conference.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHere\u2019s what the trio wrote about Ohio State:\n<\/p>\n
\n\n\t\tBiggest coaching move:<\/strong> The Buckeyes will have a different offensive coordinator for the fourth consecutive season as Arthur Smith, the former Atlanta Falcons coach and NFL coordinator, will direct the unit this fall. Smith, who called plays for both the Tennessee Titans and Pittsburgh Steelers in between his Falcons stint, gives OSU coach Ryan Day the freedom to oversee the whole program. Smith has spent almost his entire career at the NFL level. The Buckeyes also hired new special teams coordinator Robby Discher from Illinois and Cortez Hankton, a longtime SEC assistant, to coach Jeremiah Smith and the wide receivers.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWhat went wrong:<\/strong> Ohio State is replacing the stars of its defense for the second straight year as Downs, Reese and Kayden McDonald all skipped their final seasons of college eligibility, and the team also lost Sonny Styles. The team also lost offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, who has overseen a historic stretch of elite wide receivers and been among the nation’s top recruiters, to a head coaching role at South Florida. Ohio State had several notable transfer departures on offense, from guard Tegra Tshabola (Kentucky) and running back James Peoples (Penn State) to emerging wide receivers Mylan Graham and Quincy Porter, both ESPN top-65 national recruits, joining Notre Dame. Tight end Max Klare declared early for the draft, and defensive backs Faheem Delane and Aaron Scott also transferred out.\n\t<\/p>\n
\n\t\tWhat went right: <\/strong>Smith had his deep-pocketed suitors, but Ohio State retained the All-American, who will complete his college career in scarlet and gray. Day also retained his most valuable assistant in defensive coordinator Matt Patricia, who coordinated a historically stingy defense in 2025 and will log a second season in Columbus. Arthur Smith’s hiring should give Day comfort to step away from schematic minutia. Ohio State made several portal gains, including Smith and Russaw, both coming from Alabama, safeties Little (Florida State) and Terry Moore (Duke), Northwestern tight end Hunter Welcing, and productive UTSA receiver Devin McCuin. The Buckeyes retained Henry as the jewel of a recruiting class that ranked No. 9 nationally and included seven top-100 prospects.\n\t<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
\n\tSo, the \u201cwhat went wrong\u201d section mostly boils down to expected, unavoidable departures \u2014 ones Ohio State anticipated and addressed. Got it.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIt feels like the Buckeyes are being docked for losing four top-11 picks, three second-rounders and four more draft selections \u2014 and for Brian Hartline leaving to become a head coach. That\u2019s the cost of success, not failure.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tBut sure, it\u2019s not like Ohio State returns the best player in college football, a Heisman finalist quarterback, a breakout freshman running back, an experienced offensive line and a Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator. And it\u2019s definitely not like the Buckeyes supplemented all of that with portal additions or hired an NFL head coach to run the offense.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tIt\u2019s a strange way to evaluate an offseason: penalize Ohio State for developing too much NFL talent and losing a coach good enough to land a head job, while downplaying everything it did to reload. The Buckeyes didn\u2019t just survive the churn \u2014 they leaned into it, retained elite talent, upgraded key spots and positioned themselves for another title run. If that only amounts to the fourth-best offseason in the Big Ten, then the bar for \u201csuccess\u201d in Columbus is doing exactly what Ohio State just did \u2014 and somehow getting less credit for it.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0UNTIL IT DOESN’T. <\/strong>There was an English teacher at my high school who had a trademark phrase: until it doesn\u2019t.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tA dove means peace \u2014 until it doesn\u2019t.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tA red rose means love \u2014 until it doesn\u2019t.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tA skull means danger \u2014 until it doesn\u2019t.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI couldn\u2019t help but think of ol\u2019 Mr. Miller when I read Ravi Bellamkonda\u2019s Friday interview with The Columbus Dispatch\u2019s Sheridan Hendrix<\/a>, during which the new Ohio State said he\u2019s committed to maintaining all of the school\u2019s 36 Division I sports teams \u2014 until he isn\u2019t?\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cWe are very committed to the Olympic sports, beyond all of the revenue sports and such,\u201d he said. \u201cBut like any good leader, you have to be open to other possibilities, but I don\u2019t see any reason to go away from that mission unless we have to for some reason.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHendrix immediately noted that hundreds of Division I athletic programs have either shuttered or consolidated since House v. NCAA. Recently, many colleges have cut their tennis programs to fund other sports and athletes’ payments.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cAs long as we\u2019re able to compete and take care of all these sports and do well, our intention is to try to continue to do that,\u201d Bellamkonda said.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSo, yes \u2014 Ohio State will have 36 Division I sports.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tUntil it doesn\u2019t.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0NEW DUBCAST.\u00a0<\/strong>Today’s Eleven Dubcast welcomes back 11W deputy editor Dan Hope to discuss the decision by Ohio State to send the Buckeyes’ whole offensive coaching staff to visit 2027 five-star running back David Gabriel Georges. Hope also joins for an Across the Shield segment to discuss a pair of recently drafted former OSU players currently featured in articles on the site.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0SONG OF THE DAY.\u00a0<\/strong>“The Winner Takes It All” – ABBA.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0CUT TO THE CHASE.\u00a0<\/strong>Male coyote swam 2 miles to Alcatraz Island, twice as far as biologists had expected<\/a>…\u00a0Matthew Perry\u2019s “Friends” keepsakes and artwork go up for auction for foundation named for him<\/a>…\u00a0Astronomers believe they\u2019ve detected an atmosphere around a tiny, icy world beyond Pluto<\/a>…\u00a0After front office changes, Maple Leafs win draft lottery<\/a>…\u00a0No more Miami Super Bowls? Why there may not be any in coming years<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n