Welcome to the Skull Session.
Year three incoming...
Act III pic.twitter.com/ylPTe3jUsg
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) June 25, 2025
Have a good Friday.
“A MONSTER, MONSTER MATCHUP.” In the latest episode of his podcast, Joel Klatt ranked the top 10 games that will shape the 2025 college football season. The Fox Sports commentator kicked off the list with Ohio State vs. Texas … sighs … a game he will call as part of FOX’s Big Noon production.
“This is going to be a monster, monster matchup,” Klatt said. “Not only do you have all the backstory that these teams just played in the College Football Playoff semifinal, but you also have the first start in the Arch (Manning) era. Now, I know that Arch has started before, but this is the first start of the Arch era. This is now his team. This is his program. Arch Manning here as your starter for Texas, and he will get that start against the defending national champion on the road. That’s pretty awesome. I cannot wait for that scenario.
“We’ve also got the quarterback situation at Ohio State. Who’s it going to be? Is it going to be Julian Sayin? I know he’s incredibly talented. I’ve really enjoyed watching what he brings to the table when I’ve been to Columbus and seen practice. You’re going to have a new offensive playcaller in Brian Hartline. You’re going to have a new defensive playcaller in Matt Patricia at Ohio State.”
Klatt’s intrigue also includes Steve Sarkisian, whom Klatt considers a top-five or top-six coach in college football. In four seasons at Texas, Sarkisian has a 38-17 record. He’s led the Longhorns to back-to-back College Football Playoff semifinals, with losses to Washington in 2023 and Ohio State in 2024.
“He is one hell of a college football coach,” Klatt said of Sarkisian.
Day ranks in Klatt’s top three next to Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, but has room to climb if he takes the Buckeyes on another title run.
“How different has this offseason felt for Ryan Day and the Ohio State Buckeyes? I mean, my goodness,” Klatt said. “Granted, they have not beaten Michigan in several years, but winning the national championship has made this feel totally different, like the monkey off his back. I actually think Ohio State might go on a bit of a run here. I would not be surprised at all if Ohio State wasn’t back in this position, where they were competing for and potentially winning a national championship this year.”
I like the sound of that. I like the sound of Ohio State vs. Texas in Columbus, too.
“Week 1 in the Shoe. Ryan Day against Steve Sarkisian. Possibly Julian Sayin against Arch Manning. You’ve got new coordinators, you’ve got all of it. The colors, all of it,” Klatt said of the matchup.
The colors. Mmmmmm. Ohio State’s are undefeated neva lost, but Texas’ burnt orange and white? That’s a close second for me.
“IT WAS DISAPPOINTING.” ESPN selected Ohio State vs. Texas for Lee Corso’s final episode of College GameDay. Considering Brutus Buckeye was the first headgear Corso donned on the show, the selection didn’t surprise me. However, it may have surprised Lee’s son, Dan.
“As a family of Seminoles, yes, it was disappointing, but at the same time, it will be fun to watch his last GameDay and headgear in Columbus,” Dan Corso said in an interview with The Tallahassee Democrat.
Lee Corso was a quarterback and cornerback at Florida State from 1953-57 and started his coaching career as a graduate assistant for the Seminoles in 1958. Off the gridiron, Corso also played baseball at Florida State, and – this is a fun fact I learned on Thursday – he was roommates with the eventual actor Burt Reynolds, star of one of my favorite films, Smokey and the Bandit.
In the decades to come, a combined 12 of Corso’s children or grandchildren, including Dan, graduated from Florida State.
“He was consistent with his love for FSU and the pageantry and tradition of college football, and on a weekly basis for 38 years, reminded everyone that college football is a great form of entertainment,” Dan said of his father.
Florida State has not hosted GameDay since 2014, but the show has made 36 all-time appearances on the campus. Meanwhile, Ohio State has the most GameDay appearances with 67, including seven last season: at Oregon, at Penn State, Indiana, Tennessee (CFP first round), Oregon (Rose Bowl), Texas (Cotton Bowl) and Notre Dame (CFP championship). The Buckeyes are 46-21 with GameDay in attendance and 19-6 when hosting the pregame show.
THE SABAN EFFECT. The Athletic’s Matt Baker asked a question this week: If Nick Saban left Alabama in 2015, what’s the worst program the best version of the best coach in college football history could have led to a national title?
To come up with a good-faith, albeit unscientific, answer, The Athletic examined six critical factors, from on-field metrics to talent to money. We identified every FBS program’s historic norms, quantified Alabama’s growth under Saban — let’s call it the Saban Effect — and then determined whether he could have pushed that school past the threshold necessary to win a national championship.
Our process took us from 133 potential candidates — every FBS incumbent except for Alabama (no need to game that one out) — to a list of 33 programs. The final list of possible title winners includes obvious headliners, a couple of surprises and one very tantalizing what-if.
After a thorough examination of all the factors stated above, Baker’s process narrowed down the list of 33 to seven: Arizona State, Louisville, North Carolina, South Carolina, Stanford, Utah and Wisconsin. None of those schools have won national championships in the AP poll era (since 1936). In fact, none of them have even played for a national championship in the AP poll era!
According to Baker’s numbers, the weakest remaining option among those seven schools was…
Louisville.
The Cardinals are the only one without a top-five finish since 1990 and had the lowest average FPI. Their recruiting rankings were virtually tied with Utah at the bottom of the top tier, and the Sun Devils were the only contender with lower NFL Draft production. Louisville’s perch in the ACC also provides a power conference starting point with an easier route to the Playoff. Pair a Saban defense with 2016 Heisman Trophy winner Lamar Jackson, and a national title doesn’t seem outlandish.
Although numbers never lie, Baker also wanted to add a human element to this debate, so he asked 17 of The Athletic’s college sports staffers to look over a list of the 68 Power 4 teams and check Yes or No on whether Saban could lead them to a national championship.
Of the 68 Power 4 teams, 17 schools received unanimous support for being able to win a national title under Saban: Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Georgia, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, Penn State, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M and USC. Apologies to the six schools that received zero votes: Kansas, Northwestern, Purdue, Rutgers, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest.
Six schools and three of them are from the Big Ten?!
Oh, it’s those Big Ten schools.
Harsh… but accurate.
WE’LL GET ‘EM NEXT TIME. Ohio State finished in eighth place for the LEARFIELD Director’s Cup, a prize that honors institutions achieving success in their NCAA sports programs. Texas won this year’s competition, with USC, Stanford, North Carolina, UCLA, Texas and Florida claiming the second through seventh spots.
Nineteen Ohio State programs contributed to the school’s 1,032.25 points:
Men’s Sports
- Football: No. 1
- Soccer: No. 3
- Wrestling: No. 5
- Gymnastics: No. 7
- Hockey: No. 9
- Lacrosse: No. 9
- Tennis: No. 9
- Swimming and diving: No. 16
Women’s Sports
- Hockey: No. 2
- Soccer: No. 9
- Tennis: No. 9
- Swimming and diving: No. 14
- Basketball: No. 17
- Gymnastics: No. 17
- Softball: No. 17
- Track and field: No. 22
- Golf: No. 24
Co-ed
- Fencing: No. 6
Ohio State has never won the Directors’ Cup, as Stanford, Texas and North Carolina have dominated the award. But next year, next year is the time to make history!
SONG OF THE DAY. "Sweet Dreams" - Eurythmics, Annie Lennox, Dave Stewart.
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