Chase is still on a well-earned vacation, so today, we bring you the Skull Session by committee (carefully planned to avoid individual blame for typos or wild takes).
SILVER AND BLACK. Ohio State’s all-black uniforms are back – and they’re spectacular.
ICYMI on Monday evening, Ohio State revealed its new “Tunnel Vision” uniforms – an updated version of its all-black uniforms with several new features, including silver sleeve stripes.
The beloved gray sleeve stripes are expected to return to all of Ohio State’s football uniforms in 2026, though the new scarlet home jerseys and road whites haven’t been unveiled quite yet.
But they may look even better on the black uniforms. Even on the quarterbacks’ practice jerseys in a mid-afternoon spring game, the metallic silver sleeves popped off the screen – now imagine how good they’ll look on an actual game uniform under the lights (if the TV networks cooperate).
DOBES HAS THEM THINKING '86 (AND '71). You're forgiven for not knowing who Jakub Dobes is, but after today, you're not.
Dobes, for those who don't know, is the starting goalie for the Montreal Canadiens, and right now, he's the king of that city, which – apologies to Toronto, Moscow, and Stockholm – is the hockey capital of the universe.
Look at this postgame. Insane fandom. pic.twitter.com/fdTduWKOdm
— Paul Bissonnette (@BizNasty2point0) May 11, 2026
Jakub Dobes is also a Buckeye.
And he was damn good while in Columbus for two seasons, finishing with a 2.29 goals-against average and .926 save percentage in 74 starts on the way to capturing Big Ten Goaltender of the Year, co-Freshman of the Year, First-Team All-Big Ten and several other awards.
But that was then. Now, the rookie goaltender is getting glow-ups from The Athletic.
With his team's 6-2 win over a very good Buffalo Sabres team in Game 3 of the Eastern Conference Second Round Sunday night, Dobes passed Carey Price for the most wins by a rookie goalie in a single playoff in the cap era. The Habs now own a 2-1 series lead, and a closeout of the Sabres would make Dobes just the fifth rookie goalie to reach eight postseason wins since 2006.
Montreal has a special relationship with rookie goalies who have won the Stanley Cup. Ken Dryden did it in 1971. Patrick Roy pulled it off in 1986. Both of those goalies are Hockey Hall of Famers and both have retired jersey monuments outside Montreal's Bell Centre.
With his 2.13 goals-against average and .918 save percentage in the postseason, he might be on his way to that kind of status, as well.
KAYDEN McDONALD IS THINKING BIG. The Ohio State All-American and now-Houston Texans defensive lineman spoke with the media at the first day of rookie minicamp and shared what his goals were for Year 1 in the NFL.
“Win a Super Bowl, Rookie of the Year, All-Pro first year."
One of the more beloved Buckeyes in recent memory is not shy about setting a high bar for himself. And while those goals might be lofty, McDonald landed in a great spot alongside Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter on that Texans defensive front.
BUCKEYE TENNIS IS ELITE. Only one school in the country has both its men’s and women’s tennis in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Tournament, and that school is Ohio State.
Buckeye Tennis is ELITE.
— Ohio State Buckeyes (@OhioStAthletics) May 11, 2026
The only school in the country with both tennis programs in the NCAA Quarterfinals #GoBucks | #DevelopedHere pic.twitter.com/hhoGpBJZPI
The Ohio State men, seeded third in the NCAA Tournament, will face No. 6 seed TCU in the quarterfinals at 1 p.m. Thursday after beating Buffalo, California and Illinois in the first three rounds of the 64-team tournament. If the Buckeyes beat the Horned Frogs, they’ll advance to the Final Four of the NCAA men’s tennis tournament for the fourth time in five years.
The Buckeye women, also seeded No. 3 overall, are in the quarterfinals for the first time since 2017 and just the third time in program history. They’ll be seeking to earn their second semifinal berth ever when they face No. 11 seed Pepperdine in their quarterfinal match at 1 p.m. Friday.
Both the men’s and women’s NCAA tennis tournaments are being played at the Dan Magill Tennis Complex in Athens, Georgia. The semifinals for both genders are set for Saturday, while the championship matches will be played Sunday.
SURELY, THIS WILL HUMBLE HIM. Just what America needed: a Lane Kiffin profile in Vanity Fair. You know, the magazine dedicated to giving us 4,000 words of "cultural significance" behind every slightly awkward celebrity photo.
In mid-April, sitting in his spacious new office at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, where a picture window overlooks four practice fields, Kiffin still seems a bit shaken by his exit from Oxford five months earlier. This is surprising, because Kiffin is as well-known for his brashness as he is for his success on the field: “Smoke weed, talk shit like Lane Kiffin,” as Lil Wayne put it in “Banned.”
It's worth a curious read, if you're interested in what Kiffin thinks of himself as college football's villain, or insight into his messy departure from Ole Miss while they were in the midst of a deep College Football Playoff run.
Or for asides like this:
After four hours of talking with Kiffin, I’m stumped: Is he endearingly sincere or so full of shit that it’s an art form?
SPEAKING OF LANE KIFFIN. Charlie Baker and the NCAA badly want Congress to step in to "secure the future of college sports." So far, that's meant the SCORE Act, which is now on the docket for a floor vote for the third time.
In between the last time it was on the docket and now, it's undergone a few small changes and Ross Dellenger is all over it.
A summary of changes to SCORE: (1) requires coach pay to be funded by athletic revenue; (2) limits coach buyouts to donations; (3) mandates disclosure of public funds used for athletics; (4) prevents recruitment of coaches while coach/team are in-season (Lane Kiffin Rule https://t.co/DtOhzDGLib pic.twitter.com/1S3VoEWmsz
— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 11, 2026
I don't think any of us know the future of this bill, but all four of those changes seem like pretty big changes.
(This is not an invitation for you to talk politics on Eleven Warriors aside from the specifics of this act.)
SONG OF THE DAY. “Touch of Grey” – Grateful Dead.
CUT TO THE CHASE (ON VACATION). NCAA baseball committee chastises coaches for non-weather cancellations ... SEC commissioner Greg Sankey isn't budging on more than 16 teams for the CFP field… Missouri running back Ahmad Hardy shot, in stable condition ... The secret to counterfeiting is to only make singles, evidently… UCLA discovers first stroke rehabilitation drug to repair brain damage (B1G!)… You can see a central Ohio high school teacher on 'Jeopardy!' this week… Is this the greatest shot in television history?
Jakub Dobes photo: Ohio State Athletics
