Welcome to the Skull Session.
Caleb Downs.
That's it.
That's the sentence.
BIA x @jimthorpeaward
— Ohio State Football (@OhioStateFB) February 11, 2026
#GoBucks pic.twitter.com/2Ys6XEXpbn
Have a good Wednesday.
BANDING TOGETHER. The Big Ten Student-Athlete Issues Commission (SAIC) sent a letter to Charlie Baker on Tuesday, urging the NCAA president and his colleagues to continue pushing for limitations or outright elimination of prop betting involving student-athletes.
Here’s the letter in full:
Dear President Charlie Baker,
As members of the Big Ten Student-Athlete Issues Commission, we are writing to share our concerns about the growing use of proposition (“prop”) betting in college athletics and the threat it poses to student-athletes. We are advocating on behalf of our teammates, competitors, and student-athlete peers across the Big Ten and NCAA.
While we understand that sports betting is becoming increasingly more common across the country and allows for states to generate increased tax revenue, prop betting presents unique risks at the college level. These bets focus on individual and team actions and performances, leaving student-athletes directly at the center of gambling outcomes and exposed to potential backlash.
One major concern is the threat prop betting poses to the integrity of college sports. When bets are tied to individual statistics or plays, it creates pressure and suspicion around student-athletes’ performance. Even when no wrongdoing occurs, prop betting can raise doubts about effort, decision-making, and fairness. This damages trust in competition and puts student-athletes in a vulnerable position.
Given the amateur status of student-athletes, external pressures associated with prop betting can be magnified. These athletes are often young and more susceptible to influence, including financial incentives that may encourage them to perform in a certain way or affect specific outcomes. Prop bets are relatively easy to influence on the part of the player, should they be involved or influenced by the wrong people, but eliminating prop bets would help protect the integrity of college sports and reduce the external pressure on student-athletes.
Just as importantly, prop betting exposes student-athletes to increased and aggravated social media pressure and harassment. Many student-athletes receive angry messages, threats, or public criticism from bettors when wagers do not hit. This kind of treatment is harmful, unnecessary, and often relentless. It negatively affects mental health and distracts from both athletic and academic responsibilities. Student-athletes should not be blamed or attacked for the outcome of someone else’s bet.
There are fans that sit behind the bench yelling horrible things when expectations are not met, and the keyboard warriors not in attendance send cruel DMs to players when bets do not cash out. Prop bets are a direct avenue to the overwhelming number of death threats that student-athletes receive if they “ruin a parlay” or cause a fan to lose their bet. Sports betting does not give anyone the right to dehumanize athletes. We are human beings over everything else - more than a jersey number, a stat line, or someone else’s wager.
We believe protecting student-athletes must be a priority. Limiting or eliminating prop betting on college athletes would be a meaningful step toward reducing harassment, protecting mental well-being, and preserving the integrity of college competition.
Thank you for your leadership and continued commitment to student-athlete welfare. We appreciate the opportunity to share our perspective and welcome further conversation on this issue.
Kind regards,
Big Ten Student-Athlete Issues Commission
Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti voiced his support for the SAIC in a Tuesday statement.
“The Big Ten Conference is proud to support our student-athletes in calling for the restriction or elimination of individual proposition wagers on college athletics,” Petitti said. "The Big Ten Conference appreciates the NCAA’s efforts to eliminate these wagers and will continue to assist student-athletes as they deal with the challenges that result from proposition bets in college sports.”
I don’t think the Big Ten — or I — need to convince you that harassing a student-athlete because they lost you a prop bet is deranged behavior that epitomizes a loser mentality. Still, I’m glad student-athletes, including Ohio State men’s lacrosse player Taji Flynn, have brought attention to an issue that somehow persists years after sports gambling became widely accessible across the United States.
I am hopeful Baker can take the necessary steps to eliminate this kind of behavior by cutting it off at the source: banning prop bets on NCAA student-athletes in their respective sports. Until that happens, the harassment will continue — and that kind of treatment is, in SAIC's words, “harmful, unnecessary and often relentless.”
BAMA SCARED? ESPN’s Paul Finebaum has floated the idea that Alabama is interested in canceling its home-and-home series with Ohio State in 2027 and 2028. If those games disappear, just know that it’s because the Crimson Tide are scared of the Buckeyes.
"I think playing high-level matchups, we should not be afraid of that here at Ohio State,” Ross Bjork told me when I asked him about the Buckeyes’ future matchups with Alabama and Georgia. “We need to embrace all opponents. We need to embrace high-level matchups.”
Earlier in the interview, Bjork shared that college football is “compelling content” for sports fans. He’s correct. College football is the second most popular sport in the United States, trailing only the NFL, as it frequently outpaces the MLB, NBA and NHL in television viewership and attendance.
“We’re driving value in this whole new era of college sports,” Bjork said. “Until somebody shows us a different model where those games are going to cost you either way, then we’ll look at it. But until then, these games are on the schedule. There are contracts in place that have been in place for a long, long time. We’re going to honor those contracts unless there’s another way, another model that somebody presents to us that says, ‘Hey, you shouldn’t play those games because it’s going to cost you in this category,’ then we're going to embrace these high-level games, these high-level matchups.”
Already standing on business, Bjork left me with this: “We need to go in and embrace these games and win. That’s the goal. Win all these games and make sure we come out on top.”
You hear that, Greg Byrne?!
A BOURBON FOR EVERY SITUATION. Another question I asked Ross Bjork this week was about his love for bourbon.
“I like to experiment every now and then, yeah,” Bjork said with a smile.
I was curious, what’s the bourbon he drinks most often, the bourbon he drinks occasionally, and the bourbon he owns but will never open?
“Anything by Buffalo Trace, you can’t go wrong, right?” Bjork answered. “I mean, that juice is just as good as everything.”
He’s right — if you can find any of their bottles in the Buckeye State. (For those unaware, Buffalo Trace products are notoriously hard to find in Ohio, especially in a city as populated as Columbus.) Still, from Weller Reserve to Pappy Van Winkle, Bjork is a Buffalo Trace fan through and through.
“And Pappy would be the answer to your last question,” Bjork said, referring to a bottle he owns but treats as a prized possession. “There are a couple of bottles, like, I don’t know if I’ll ever open it, because you may never get it back, right? So it’s that whole aura of a prized possession in a bourbon bottle.”
Some of Bjork’s occasional pours include Widow Jane, Augusta and Middle West, the last of which is distilled in Columbus. My wife and I took a distillery tour there, and I highly recommend it. The tour guides were informative, the spirits were smooth, and the food was great!
“If you need to relax on a nice night, especially when it’s five degrees outside, you look at the snow — you have a nice glass of bourbon,” Bjork said.
Mmmmmm.
Yes.
There’s a bourbon for every situation, and that’s one of them!
NO MIRACLES NEEDED. Ohio State women’s hockey has powered the United States to a 4-0 record in the preliminary round. The Americans — favored to win gold at 60%, according to The Athletic — have seen Hannah Bilka (2023-24) explode for three goals and one assist in four games. Meanwhile, Joy Dunne (2023-present) has added two goals and two assists during that stretch.
Buckeyes lead Team USA Olympic first-timers with four points in the group stage
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) February 11, 2026
Hannah Bilka - 3G, 1A@joyv_dunne - 2G, 2A#GoBucks | #OlympiansMadeHere pic.twitter.com/OyOYuDSrss
In a 5-0 win over Canada on Tuesday, Bilka led the United States with a pair of goals, the first of which sent the arena into a frenzy as Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Free Bird blared over the speakers.
Murphy drops it - Bilka BURIES it. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/1OR31sGzvz
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2026
Bilkas got the building rocking.#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/tP00b5DSLs
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2026
Hannah Bilka is IN HER BAG. Team USA is rolling. #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/tKGsoQXPAy
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 10, 2026
Bilka and Dunne are joined on Team USA by Cayla Barnes (2023-24). A handful of Buckeyes suit up for Team Canada, including Jenn Gardiner (2019-24), Sophie Jacques (2018-23), Emma Maltais (2017-23) and Natalie Spooner (2008-12). Mira Jungåker (2024-present), Jenna Raunio (2025-present) and Hilda Svensson (2025-present) are representing Sweden, while Sanni Vanhanen (2025-present) is competing for Team Finland and Andrea Bräendli (2018-22) for Team Switzerland.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Free Bird" - Lynyrd Skynyrd.
CUT TO THE CHASE. Olympic fans hunt for plushies of mascots Milo and Tina as they fly off shelves... Take a ride across frozen sea on Estonia’s ice road... Smelly, high-maintenance generators are out. Battery powered backups — which can keep fridges on for days — are in... Detroit becomes latest college football bowl game to shut down... "E-bike for your feet": How bionic sneakers could change human mobility.
