Welcome to the Skull Session.
Is this good?
Game changing speed pic.twitter.com/C9272pkyaw
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) December 18, 2025
Seems good!
Have a good Friday.
THE BEST OF THE BEST. This week, The Athletic’s Scott Dochterman selected an All–College Football Playoff team ahead of Friday’s CFP kickoff. Of the 28 total selections (12 offense, 12 defense, four specialists), Dochterman picked six Buckeyes, meaning Ohio State accounted for 21.4% of the entire team.
WR Jeremiah Smith
The best player in last season’s CFP, Smith caught 19 passes for 381 yards and five touchdowns in the Buckeyes’ four Playoff games. No player tilts the field like Smith, who followed up that performance with 80 catches for 1,086 yards and 11 scores as a true sophomore this season.
WR Carnell Tate
If opponents pay too much attention to Smith, Tate will make their secondary pay for that strategy. A first-team All-Big Ten selection like Smith, Tate caught 48 passes for 838 yards and nine scores and arguably was the Big Ten’s most explosive receiver, averaging 17.5 yards per catch.
DL Caden Curry
Curry developed into the Big Ten’s top edge rusher, with 11 sacks and 16.5 tackles for loss this fall. He produced one of the season’s best individual games by a defender with 11 tackles, three sacks and five tackles for loss as the Buckeyes ended Washington’s 22-game home winning streak.
DL Kayden McDonald
An Outland Trophy finalist as the nation’s top interior lineman and a consensus first-team All-American, McDonald was a force up front for the Buckeyes. He routinely tied up multiple blockers on the nation’s leading defense in scoring (8.6) and yards allowed (213.5). McDonald has 57 tackles this season, including eight for loss, and three sacks.
LB Arvell Reese
The most physically gifted player in the nation, Reese recorded 62 tackles, including 10 for loss, and 6.5 sacks for the Buckeyes. A consensus first-team All-American and the Big Ten’s linebacker of the year, Reese is a multi-talented mismatch for every offense.
DB Caleb Downs
A consensus first-team All-American for two consecutive seasons and the Thorpe Award winner, Downs is one of the best safeties in recent college football history. He recorded 60 tackles, including five for loss, a pair of interceptions and a sack this year, but his impact stretches well beyond his statistics. Every offense must account for where Downs lines up.
According to Dochterman — and just about everyone else — no team enters the CFP with more talent than Ohio State. Here’s how the other 12 teams stack up on his list:
- No. 1 Indiana (3): QB Fernando Mendoza, OL Carter Smith, DB D’Angelo Ponds
- No. 3 Georgia (2): LB CJ Allen, P Brett Thorson
- No. 4 Texas Tech (2): LB Jacob Rodriguez, AP David Bailey
- No. 5 Oregon (3): TE Kenyon Sadiq, C Iapani Laloulu, DB Dillon Thieneman
- No. 6 Ole Miss (1): RB Kewan Lacy
- No. 7 Texas A&M (3): WR KC Conception, OL Trey Zuhn III, DL Cashius Howell
- No. 8 Oklahoma (2): K Tate Sandell, RS Isaiah Sategna
- No. 9 Alabama (2): OL Kadyn Proctor, DB Bray Hubbard
- No. 10 Miami (1): DL Rueben Bain Jr.
- No. 11 Tulane (1): X-factor Jake Retzlaff
- No. 12 James Madison (1): AP Wayne Knight
The only team capable of beating the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff is the Buckeyes. If Ohio State plays like Ohio State, it’s wraps.
WELL DONE, NCAA. The NCAA is an Emperor with No Clothes, but (!) I must credit the organization for acting swiftly after Kalshi notified a federal regulator on Wednesday that it planned to offer markets on whether college athletes would enter the transfer portal. This is one of those rare moments where the NCAA’s concern aligns with basic common sense.
“The NCAA vehemently opposes college sports prediction markets,” NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement to ESPN. “It is already bad enough that student-athletes face harassment and abuse for lost bets on a game performance, and now Kalshi wants to offer bets on their transfer decisions and status. This is absolutely unacceptable and would place even greater pressure on student-athletes while threatening competition integrity and recruiting processes.
“Their decisions and futures should not be gambled with, especially in an unregulated marketplace that does not follow any rules of legitimate sports betting operators.”
The NCAA may have lost control of NIL and everything else, but at least it recognized that betting on 18 to 22-year-olds’ career decisions is a bridge too far.
A SIGN OF THE TIMES. Here’s another example of the NCAA losing control: Each time a USC player announces their return to the Trojans, the program’s creative team captions the post, “X Player has re-signed with the USC Trojans.”
Jayden Maiava has re-signed with the USC Trojans. pic.twitter.com/jLI0S6hPKh
— USC Football (@uscfb) December 16, 2025
I’m sorry.
Re-signed?
Back in my day — literally, like, five years ago — we used to call this coming back from winter break. But I guess this is the world we live in now.
USC has “re-signed” several key players from its 2025 team who will be back in 2026, including quarterback Jayden Maiava, running back Waymond Jordan, wide receiver Tanook Hines, defensive tackle Jahkeem Stewart and more.
There’s also this from Texas A&M, where Mario Craver became the… highest-paid wide receiver in program history?
Mario Craver has inked a contract extension with Texas A&M, sources tell @On3sports.
— Pete Nakos (@PeteNakos) December 18, 2025
The deal makes him the highest paid WR in A&M history. https://t.co/bpGJCCHhGM pic.twitter.com/huyldXARQQ
I guess I’ll have to get used to that, too.
THAT'S HOW IT'S DONE. I don't think it would ever happen, but if my future son or daughter had a choir teacher tell them to sing "The Victors," I hope they would do this on stage:
Raised him right! This you dawg fan refuse to sing that crappy song and then they was singing that crap for Christmas #GoDawgs pic.twitter.com/FxT0cW7zBN
— We Are Dawgnation! (@We_R_Dawgnation) December 18, 2025
This young Georgia fan is an absolute legend!
NEW DUBCAST. The final Eleven Dubcast of the week enlists Dan Hope to preview the first-round College Football Playoff matchup between the Miami Hurricanes and Texas A&M Aggies that will determine the next opponent Ohio State plays in the CFP quarterfinals.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Walk Of Life" - Dire Straits.
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