Welcome to the Skull Session.
Ohio State plays a football game this week!
Next Game
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) December 26, 2025
7:30 PM
AT&T Stadium
ESPN
CFP Quarterfinal Cotton Bowl
Miami (FL) pic.twitter.com/s0wu0lh5TK
Have a good Monday.
COMING TO YOU LIVE FROM DALLAS. Dan Hope and I have arrived in Dallas to cover Ohio State’s Cotton Bowl matchup with Miami.
Our plane took off from the wonderful John Glenn International Airport around 7:15 a.m. ET on Sunday. The concourses were packed with travelers heading home from a Columbus Christmas — or, like us, heading to North Texas to watch the Buckeyes break the Hurricanes for the second time.
When our plane landed in Dallas around 9:30 a.m. ET, one passenger shouted, “O-H!” It was met with a healthy chorus of “I-O!” responses — and probably would have been louder if three-quarters of the cabin hadn’t just woken up from their slumbers as the plane bounced down the runway.
The media will call The Westin Las Colinas home this week. It’s the kind of hotel I can only aspire to afford someday. But hey, if this is my one shot, I’m going to enjoy it — just like Dan and I enjoyed Sunday lunch at the award-winning BBQ joint Pecan Lodge. It was worthy of the praise Dan gave it before we visited and of the nap I took afterward.
Ohio State is staying across town at the Hilton Anatole. Dan and I were there Sunday evening to cover brief press conferences with Texans James Peoples and Payton Pierce. We won’t be back before Wednesday’s game, but we’ll spend plenty of time at Jerry World, covering Ohio State’s media day (10:15-11 a.m. ET) and practice (15 minutes between 4 and 6 p.m. ET) on Monday, followed by the head coaches news conference (1:30-2:15 p.m. ET) on Tuesday — all for Eleven Warriors.
It’s a short week, a big stage and a familiar opponent, and we’ll have you covered every step of the way.
“I DO NOW, I GUESS.” Kyle Whittingham liked Ohio State — until he became Michigan’s head coach.
In Whittingham’s introductory press conference on Sunday, a reporter asked the 66-year-old if he dislikes the Buckeyes.
“I do now, I guess,” Whittingham answered.
He continued, “I followed them for quite a while. Me and Urban Meyer were on the same staff at Utah, obviously, (I was his) defensive coordinator, so there was a real tight bond there. And I followed his career and stayed in touch throughout the course of his career. He had great success there. But now I’m on the right side of the deal.”
I found it hilarious that Whittingham then wondered aloud whether Meyer’s name is banned at Michigan like Voldemort in the Harry Potter universe — which, frankly, it should be, considering Meyer went 7–0 against the Wolverines.
A name that will forever be used in Ann Arbor, however, is Bo Schembechler. Whittingham said Schembechler hooked him on football when he was just 7 years old after watching Ohio State and Michigan face off on television.
“I was hooked,” he said. “That’s the honest truth.”
Whittingham hopes to provide the same inspiration for fans across the country as the Wolverines’ head coach, but it will take weathering some storms at first.
“There are some issues and missteps that are being taken care of, but the key is the players. The players are solid. The players here are rock solid. None of these issues and none of these things we’re dealing with involve the players,” Whittingham said. “To their credit, they just keep grinding and kept after it. I’m so impressed with that because there were a lot of distractions and a lot of adversity. I’ve got no doubt that everything’s going to be handled properly.”
I liked Kyle Whittingham — until he became Michigan’s head coach.
Now, I hope he fails spectacularly in Ann Arbor and the Wolverines spend the next decade cycling through coaches every three or four years. The Rich Rodriguezes. The Brady Hokes. The Jim Harbaughs without the cheating. Yeah, that sounds good to me!
MONEY, MONEY, MONEY… MONEY! Ohio State is worth $1 million!
No, Ohio State is worth $100 billion!
No, wait — Ohio State is worth over $1 billion.
| SCHOOL | VALUATION |
|---|---|
| Texas | $1.48 billion |
| Ohio State | $1.35 billion |
| Texas A&M | $1.32 billion |
| Georgia | $1.16 billion |
| Michigan | $1.16 billion |
| Notre Dame | $1.13 billion |
| Tennessee | $1.12 billion |
| USC | $1.10 billion |
| Alabama | $1.09 billion |
| Nebraska | $1.06 billion |
According to CNBC’s latest valuation of the top 75 athletic programs in college sports, the Buckeyes own the second-most valuable athletic programs in America, trailing only Texas. The entire top 10 is located in the chart.
Outside of the top 10 are Penn State, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida, Kentucky, Oregon, Wisconsin, Clemson, Iowa, Illinois, Auburn, Stanford, Arkansas and Washington.
Ohio State sat at No. 1 a year ago but slipped to No. 2 after its revenue dropped 9% to $255 million in fiscal year 2024. The decline was driven largely by a 20% drop in ticket revenue, which an Ohio State spokesperson told CNBC resulted from having two fewer home football games in 2023-24 than in 2022-23.
It remains to be seen how the Buckeyes’ nine home games in 2024 – eight in the regular season and its first-round CFP game against Tennessee – will affect revenue in fiscal 2025.
Regardless, Ohio State remains one of the most valuable brands in college athletics, and that reality isn’t changing anytime soon.
“IT'S JUST VERY STRANGE AND DIFFERENT.” Six coaches — Tulane head coach Pat Sumrall, James Madison head coach Bob Chesney, Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein, Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein, Oregon defensive coordinator Tosh Lupoi and Ohio State offensive coordinator Brian Hartline — have worn or are wearing multiple hats during the College Football Playoff. Sumrall at Florida, Chesney at UCLA, Klein at Kansas State, Stein at Kentucky, Lupoi at Cal, and Hartline at South Florida.
Klein spoke with ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg last week about what it’s like to juggle two roles while helping Texas A&M prepare for its first-round game against Miami.
"It's just very strange and different," Klein told ESPN. "The difference of hats is pretty stark. One day, you're doing one job. The next day, you go to the next one. You're like, 'Wait a minute. Is this even real?'"
Rittenberg’s piece also quotes current Maryland coach Mike Locksley, who led Alabama to the 2018 national championship game while simultaneously taking over Maryland.
"I made the conscientious decision that I was going to work for the Bama job more than I was going to worry about the Maryland job until I got [there]," Locksley said. Maryland signed just two recruits during that early period, and Locksley hired only one or two assistants to help him with the new program. He deferred the bulk of staff and roster construction until after Alabama’s championship game against Clemson on Jan. 7, 2019.
Locksley explained that going all-in on the national championship would ultimately benefit both Alabama and Maryland.
"I don't think there's a perfect way to do it, other than my mantra was work for the job I have, and not for the one I'm going to. Because what will help me at the place I'm going is if I win and take advantage of being on TV and the things that being a part of a championship run can do for your future program," he said.
Reflecting on the double-duty challenge, Locksley added:
"Somewhere, there's a fine balance between what I did compared to maybe what I saw Lane and Jeremy, kind of hiring coaches and having to do both, wear two hats. For me, it obviously didn't work that great in the championship game. Probably played the worst game we played. But I wouldn't say it was because of me taking the Maryland job, because I actually didn't do very much work on Maryland while I was preparing."
He acknowledged that today’s environment would make his approach harder, given how quickly coaches can influence future rosters through the transfer portal. Staff hires they make, even while finishing their coordinator duties, can bring players with them.
The realities of the calendar require double-duty coaches to devote parts of their days — or late nights — to the future, even as they remain focused on the next game.
This excerpt confirms one thing to me: Ryan Day’s decision to take over as Ohio State’s play caller is the right one. When Hartline accepted the USF job, his world split in two. Now it’s Day’s turn to prove once again that he’s one of the best offensive minds in the sport. With clear eyes and a full heart, the Buckeyes cannot, and will not, lose.
DAILY DUBCAST. The first Eleven Dubcast of the week welcomes back show founder and guru of Wolverine hatred Johnny Ginter to discuss Michigan hiring Kyle Whittingham to replace Sherrone Moore shortly after Biff Poggi made a confusing podcast appearance ahead of the Citrus Bowl against Texas.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Easy Does It" - Goldford.
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