Welcome to the Skull Session.
DeShaun Thomas has got jokes.
After 16 seasons, Ill officially be returning to The Ohio State University with 1 year of eligibility left.
— DeShaun Thomas (@Deshaunthomas_0) May 21, 2026
Man after a great conversation with Coach Diebler, Im excited to announce Ill be coming back home to suit up for the Buckeyes one more time. After a long career pic.twitter.com/krRt8QL3NF
Have a good Friday.
100 99 DAYS AND COUNTING. Thursday marked 100 days until the 2026 college football season. ESPN’s writers celebrated with an article on the top storylines and predictions for this fall, and it’s no surprise that the World Famous Ohio State Buckeyes were prominently featured in the piece.
First, three Ohio State matchups were among the top-10 must-see games:
No. 6 - Oregon at Ohio State
Oregon has lost only to eventual national title finalists over the past three seasons -- Washington in 2023, eventual champs Ohio State in 2024 and Indiana in 2025. If this is the season Dan Lanning's Ducks finally take that last step, this trip to Columbus will be awfully telling.
No. 3 - Ohio State at Indiana
Ohio State's second huge road trip of the season takes the Buckeyes to Bloomington to face Hoover, Turbo Richard and the new-look Indiana offense. Curt Cignetti & Co. will have already traveled to Nebraska and Michigan, but this is the biggest game of the year for the defending champs.
No. 2 - Ohio State at Texas
Ohio State is the No. 1 team in Mark Schlabach's Way-Too-Early Top 25, and the Buckeyes play three other teams in the top six. This one will serve as a measuring stick, both for Ohio State's remodeled defense and for Manning and the new weapons he has been given.
Next, two Buckeyes were among the top-10 Heisman contenders. Want to guess who those Buckeyes were? It’s super difficult!
No. 6 - Julian Sayin
In his first season as the starter, Sayin beat Texas, snapped the losing streak to Michigan, quarterbacked the Buckeyes back to the playoff, nearly broke the FBS record for completion percentage in a season and became a Heisman finalist. With a season of experience and wideout Jeremiah Smith returning alongside him, Sayin could be in for a dominant second season.
No. 5 - Jeremiah Smith
Whether he wins the Heisman or not, Smith remains the best player in college football. In just two seasons, he has 163 receptions, including 27 touchdown grabs. He could become the third receiver to win the Heisman this decade, joining Travis Hunter and DeVonta Smith.
Next, Ohio State’s latest five-star wide receiver appeared among the top-10 freshman to know.
No. 9 - Chris Henry Jr.
The No. 6 prospect and top receiver in the class, Henry has rare physical tools at 6-foot-5 with surprising fluidity after the catch. His blend of size and movement skills evokes Tee Higgins comparisons. Ohio State's loaded receivers room could slow his early production, but he projects as the program's next star wideout once Jeremiah Smith moves on.
And last but not least, the Buckeyes were among the top teams expected to receive a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff.
No. 2 - Ohio State
The Buckeyes will have one of the nation's top offenses, but their schedule is daunting, with trips to Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC and Nebraska. Ohio State should be a playoff team, but a top-four seed won't be easy with that lineup.
Just 99 days, folks. Just 99 days.
SAVE THE GAME. One of the more interesting arguments against a 24-team College Football Playoff came this week from The Athletic’s Joe Rexrode, who framed the debate through the lens of the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.
The central point: The Game became college football’s greatest rivalry because losing carried catastrophic consequences.
The article points back to 1969, when first-year Michigan coach Bo Schembechler stunned Woody Hayes and No. 1 Ohio State, costing the Buckeyes a national championship. That moment helped elevate the rivalry into something bigger because the stakes were enormous — and for decades afterward, they usually stayed that way.
That’s why Rexrode believes a 24-team playoff would fundamentally weaken the rivalry.
Under the proposed format, Ohio State and Michigan would often enter the game already safely in the field, perhaps even locked into first-round byes regardless of the result. The article used the 2021, 2022 and 2023 matchups as examples: Michigan won all three top-five meetings, but Ohio State still would have comfortably made a 24-team playoff every season.
In other words, some of the biggest editions of The Game ever would not have truly been elimination games.
The piece also notes that expanded playoffs have already softened the impact of rivalry losses. Ryan Day and the Buckeyes lost to the Wolverines in 2024, faced intense criticism from Ohio State fans, and then turned around to win a national championship in the 12-team format weeks later. A 24-team field, the argument goes, would dilute the stakes even further.
Another concern is the possibility of increasingly meaningless rematches. If both teams are playoff locks, “The Game” could shift from winner-take-all drama into little more than a seeding battle before a second meeting in December or January.
The article ultimately argues that while 12 teams may already be a major compromise from the old system, 24 risks crossing the line from expanding access to devaluing the regular season — especially for rivalries that helped build the sport in the first place.
“THE HATRED I HAD FOR THAT SCHOOL.” Urban Meyer was a maniac when it came to The Game.
During his seven seasons as Ohio State’s head coach, he hated The Team Up North with every fiber of his being. He considers his 7-0 record in the rivalry game one of, if not the crowning achievement of his coaching career. Meyer discussed his distaste for the Wolverines during his appearance on The Script with Cardale Jones and Beanie Wells this week.
.@CoachUrbanMeyer hated TTUN and went undefeated against them for a reason @CJ1two @BeanieWells26 @DaveHolmesTV @3xOptionShow pic.twitter.com/XznuAc552E
— THE SCRIPT (@TheScriptOSU) May 20, 2026
“When you’re the head coach at Ohio State, and you’re an Ohio guy, grew up in the 10-year war, the 7-0 is something that — please don’t touch that one, man — I mean, that’s something I’ll take with me the rest of my life,” Meyer said. “The hatred I had for that school, and notice I said ‘had,’ you know, I’m not in that chair anymore. When you’re in that chair, you feel it every day.
“Part of it was my fault. I mean, I made that whole facility all about that game. We never went more than a week without talking about The Game, practicing for The Game. I would have Tim Hinton, one of our assistant coaches, that’s all he would do — he would watch film, and I would be working on (another) game, and I’d walk in and spend some time watching (TTUN). I’m talking about September or even spring practice. What are they doing? What are they doing? What are they doing?”
To be clear, Meyer’s hatred for TTUN hasn’t ended — it’s just settled to a level where it doesn’t make him collapse, which is probably a good thing. I guess that’s in the eye of the beholder, however. Some fans carry that kind of hatred without ever having been in Meyer’s shoes, and that’s what makes this rivalry the greatest in all of sports.
NO GRIEVANCE HERE. Urban Meyer has been in the news more than once this week. On Monday, On3’s Brett McMurphy reported that Meyer lost his grievance against the Jacksonville Jaguars regarding whether he should receive the remaining balance of his contract following his 2021 firing. (The irony that the persona non grata was the person to report the news is not lost on me).
According to McMurphy, an independent arbiter ruled the Jaguars were able to fire Meyer with cause and would not have to pay him more than $30 million for the final four years of his contract.
The Jaguars fired Meyer on Dec. 16, 2021, ending an 11-month tenure that included a 2–11 record, multiple off-field incidents, and kicker Josh Lambo’s allegation that Meyer kicked him in the leg while he was stretching during warmups before a practice.
Lambo filed a lawsuit against Meyer and the Jaguars in May 2022, alleging Meyer created a hostile work environment and that the team did nothing to stop it. Lambo voluntarily dismissed all claims against the franchise with prejudice on Feb. 20, but his case against Meyer is still pending, according to documents obtained by ESPN’s Michael DiRocco. A trial date has been set for Aug. 3.
Meyer’s tenure in Jacksonville included many missteps.
He hired Chris Doyle, who had been accused of making racist remarks and bullying Black players at Iowa, as his director of sports performance. Doyle later resigned.
Meyer also didn’t fly back to Florida with his team after a Thursday night game in Cincinnati, drawing widespread criticism. That weekend, videos went viral showing him at a Columbus bar with a woman who was not his wife. Jaguars owner Shad Khan reprimanded him for his behavior, and Meyer later apologized to the organization.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Money for Nothing" - Dire Straits/Sting.
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