Welcome to the Skull Session.
Ohio State is the best of the best.
Ohio State is No. 1.https://t.co/mQIOsml8ho pic.twitter.com/PSgkmEBVSB
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 5, 2025
Have a good Wednesday.
THE COMPUTERS! It's Hump Day. You know what that means. This week, The Computers are over their conflicted feelings about whether Ohio State is the best team in college football. The Buckeyes are ranked No. 1 in both the College Football Power Index and SP+ ahead of Curt Cignetti and the Indiana Hoosiers.
College Football Power Index
| TEAM | RECORD | FPI | WIN OUT | WIN CONF | MAKE CFP | WIN CFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 8-0 | 27.8 | 44.6% | 49.2% | 98.5% | 26.3% |
| INDIANA | 9-0 | 27.5 | 39% | 45.3% | 99% | 25.5% |
| OREGON | 7-1 | 23.7 | 29.2% | 3% | 76.1% | 6.9% |
| ALABAMA | 7-1 | 22.6 | 32.7% | 55.1% | 92.6% | 11.9% |
| NOTRE DAME | 6-2 | 21.1 | 64.3% | N/A | 22.5% | 0.9% |
Ohio State's future opponents in the College Football Power Index: Purdue (77), UCLA (68), Rutgers (64), Michigan (19)
SP+
| TEAM | RECORD | RATING | OFFENSE | DEFENSE | SPECIAL TEAMS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 8-0 | 29.8 | 39.4 (8) | 9.6 (1) | 0.0 (81) |
| INDIANA | 9-0 | 29.5 | 40.7 (1) | 11.8 (2) | 0.5 (14) |
| OREGON | 7-1 | 27.1 | 38.9 (10) | 12.1 (3) | 0.3 (36) |
| TEXAS TECH | 8-1 | 24.3 | 39 (9) | 14.7 (8) | 0.0 (80) |
| TEXAS A&M | 8-0 | 21.8 | 40.6 (2) | 18.9 (21) | 0.1 (61) |
Ohio State's future opponents in the SP+: Purdue (75), UCLA (79), Rutgers (69... nice), Michigan (21)
Matchup Predictor
| OPPONENT | DATE | LOCATION | PREDICTION |
|---|---|---|---|
| PURDUE | 11/8 | WEST LAFAYETTE, IN | OHIO STATE 97.1% |
| UCLA | 11/15 | COLUMBUS, OH | OHIO STATE 98.4% |
| RUTGERS | 11/22 | COLUMBUS, OH | OHIO STATE 97.2% |
| MICHIGAN | 11/29 | ANN ARBOR, MI | OHIO STATE 79.6% |
Movements from Week 9 to Week 10
- Purdue: 97.3% → 97.1%
- UCLA: 98.2% → 98.4%
- Rutgers: 96.7% → 97.2%
- Michigan: 75.7% → 79.6%
Ohio State is college football's No. 1 team across the board, but in Bill Connelly's latest CFP simulation, the Buckeyes... lose to Texas Tech in the Rose Bowl?!
FIRST ROUND
Texas Tech over BYU in Provo
Georgia over North Texas in Athens
Oregon over Louisville in Eugene
Notre Dame over Ole Miss in OxfordQUARTERFINALS
Rose Bowl: Texas Tech over Ohio State
Sugar Bowl: Alabama over Georgia
Cotton Bowl: Texas A&M over Oregon
Orange Bowl: Indiana over Notre DameSEMIFINALS
Peach Bowl: Alabama over Texas Tech
Fiesta Bowl: Indiana over Texas A&MFINALS
Indiana over Alabama in Miami
Heh?!
STOP STOP STOP. For the third straight week, Ohio State ranked No. 1 in stop rate — this time at 83.3%. The Buckeyes lead a new-look top five, which features Does Brady Hoke still coach there? San Diego State (82.9%), Future Rose Bowl champion Texas Tech (81.8%), Chad Powers' former school Oregon (78.2%) and Build Phil Parker a statue Iowa (77.6%).
The rest of the top 10 also experienced some shake-up, as Indiana now ranks No. 6 at 77.5% ahead of Utah (77.3%), Toledo (76.2%), Texas (75.9%) and James Madison (75.6%).
| TEAM | GAMES* | STOP RATE | PTS/DRIVE |
|---|---|---|---|
| OHIO STATE | 6 | 84.2% | 0.72 |
| TEXAS TECH | 7 | 82.1% | 0.97 |
| SAN DIEGO STATE | 6 | 80.9% | 1.04 |
| TEXAS | 8 | 78.8% | 1.16 |
| OREGON | 7 | 78.2% | 1.22 |
| IOWA | 7 | 77.6% | 1.20 |
| JAMES MADISON | 6 | 76.9% | 1.32 |
| INDIANA | 7 | 76.6% | 1.01 |
| OKLAHOMA | 7 | 76.3% | 1.10 |
| TOLEDO | 7 | 76.2% | 1.52 |
| *GAMES VS. FBS OPPONENTS | |||
ESPN's Max Olson created stop rate to measure the percentage of a defense's drives that end in punts, turnovers or a turnover on downs for all 136 FBS teams.
Ohio State's defense has been generational this season, thanks to its talent and execution. Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs are shoo-ins to win the Butkus Award and Thorpe Award. They'll also contend with Miami's Reuben Bain Jr. (five tackles for loss, two sacks) and Texas Tech's David Bailey (14 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks) for the Bednarik Award.
But Reese and Downs are just two parts of Matt Patricia's No. 1 defense. Caden Curry and Kayden McDonald were both midseason AP All-Americans, and it's hard to overlook the production Sonny Styles, Davison Igbinosun and Jermaine Mathews Jr. have each week. Consider that Kenyatta Jackson Jr. and Eddrick Houston had career-best performances against Penn State, and that Lorenzo Styles Jr. and Jaylen McClain have seemingly improved week after week, and this Ohio State defense — man, oh man, it's a well-oiled machine!
"GOT HIM!" Buckeye Huddle's Tony Gerdeman did some Big J Journalism on Tuesday, collecting the context we all wanted for the moment Ryan Day yelled "Got him!" before Carnell Tate's 57-yard reception against Penn State.
Ryan Day said the play where he yelled "Got him!" was installed at halftime against Penn State.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 4, 2025
"You got to credit Julian (Sayin), the protection was great, in putting a play on the field that we hadn't practiced." pic.twitter.com/DJvYpgldNW
"That one in particular, we hadn't practiced all week. We put that in at halftime," Day said. "I give the players a lot of credit for being able to run a play we hadn't practiced, I mean, that play in that formation probably ever. But we felt like, based on what we were seeing, that we were gonna do it. It was a concept that we work in the preseason, we work in the spring, and we felt like there was a look that we were getting that we felt we could take advantage of. We decided to put that in at halftime and called it the second play of the second half. And when we got kind of what we wanted pre-snap, we knew what was going on."
What was going on was Julian Sayin dropping a pass right into Tate's breadbasket.
Ryan Day said the play where he yelled "Got him!" was installed at halftime against Penn State. He praised his team's execution in that moment.
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) November 4, 2025
"You got to credit Julian, the protection was great, in putting a play on the field that we hadn't practiced."pic.twitter.com/ekSxfN1Lox
"Carnell ran a tremendous route, stuck them, and you could see the angle, job well done. But yeah, I mean, that is the fun part of coaching, when you kind of put something together and it goes exactly how the way you thought it would go," Day said. "It worked out the right way, but you gotta credit Julian, protection was great, and putting a play on the field that we hadn't practiced."
One of Eleven Warriors' Instagram followers, Doug Huber, said it best: The danger of facing a team that can implement a deep-ball play at halftime and execute it flawlessly should not be underestimated. No, it should not!
THREE INSPIRATIONS. I want to end the Skull Session with three videos about inspirational Buckeyes: Carnell Tate, Nolan Baudo and Sydney Reeves.
First, there's Tate. FOX's Tom Rinaldi featured Tate and some of his family members before the latest Big Noon Kickoff, sharing how the Ohio State wide receiver honors his late mother, Ashley, each time he takes the field for the Buckeyes.
"She always wanted me to chase my dreams, I'm doing exactly that."
— Big Noon Kickoff (@BNKonFOX) November 1, 2025
Tom Rinaldi tells the story of @OhioStateFB WR @carnelltate_, and how his mom inspires him to continue doing what he loves. pic.twitter.com/8QeWmKgxxY
Next, there's Baudo. Last month, Ryan Day called Baudo "the glue" of the Ohio State football program. NBC4's Jerod Smalley shared how a 5-foot-10, 180-pound wide receiver with zero career catches became one of the most popular players on the team.
OHIO STATE'S "GLUE GUY": Why is a walk-on with zero career catches among the most popular players among his teammates on the Buckeye roster? Once you meet @nolanbaudo, you'll get it. pic.twitter.com/MyoSgkMhBr
— Jerod Smalley (@JerodNBC4) October 31, 2025
And last but not least, there's Reeves, whose journey toward becoming an Ohio State marching band 'i' dotter I have featured in the Skull Session a few times thanks to the excellent work of Smalley, ABC6's Dave Holmes and ESPN's Andrea Adelson. On Saturday, ESPN featured Reeves' journey on College GameDay.
The Reeves family of Dublin, Ohio shares a special connection with "The Best Damn Band in the Land"
— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) November 1, 2025
(via @aadelsonESPN) pic.twitter.com/HhaM13cLGQ
I am rooting for Tate, Baudo and Reeves!
DAILY DUBCAST. Today's Eleven Dubcast welcomes back Dan Hope to speak on last night's release of the first College Football Playoff rankings for the 2025-26 season that recognized Ohio State as the nation's top team above Indiana.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Stop Stop Stop" - The Hollies.
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