Skull Session: Ohio State Could Have College Football’s Toughest Schedule in 2026, David Gabriel Georges Could Be The First Million-Dollar Running Back Recruit and Kelsey Mitchell is A WNBA All-Star Starter

America celebrates its 250th birthday this weekend. There’s already been plenty of fireworks in Columbus over the past week thanks to Jett Harrison, Marcus Fakatou and Caden Moss.

How will you be celebrating this weekend? Personally, I’m looking forward to my favorite 4th of July tradition: Watching Joey Chestnut eat an obscene amount of hot dogs.

However you choose to spend the holiday weekend, we’re grateful you’ve chosen to start it with Eleven Warriors. Have a great Friday.

 COLLEGE FOOTBALL’S TOUGHEST SCHEDULE? Ohio State’s schedule is full of tough opponents this season, and national college football analysts are taking notice.

As part of On3’s rankings this week of the toughest schedules in each major conference, Ari Wasserman ranked Ohio State’s schedule as the hardest in the Big Ten, putting the Buckeyes’ slate above Michigan, Northwestern, Oregon and USC as the conference’s most challenging. In an X post, Wasserman took his assessment of Ohio State’s schedule a step further, saying it might be the hardest schedule in all of college football this year.

I think Ohio State may have the toughest schedule in the country this year. https://t.co/BnE6S39MQ8

— Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) June 30, 2026

Ohio State’s regular-season slate includes road games against Texas and Indiana and a home game against Oregon – all of whom rank among the top five teams in national championship odds entering the 2026 season. Michigan and Northwestern, who will each play Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon, are the only other teams that will face three preseason top-five opponents according to the betting odds.

The Buckeyes’ challenging games don’t stop there, though, as they also face road games against Iowa and USC and a home game against Michigan, each of whom is also likely to be ranked in the preseason top 25. Matchups with Illinois and Nebraska also have trap game potential. Outside of September tune-ups against Ball State and Kent State, the only games that could be considered “easy” wins for Ohio State are Maryland and Northwestern, and even they aren’t total pushovers.

Making matters even more difficult, Ohio State will have to travel 4,422 miles for its five regular-season road games (Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC, Nebraska)  – the second-most miles the Buckeyes have ever had to travel during a regular season.

Ohio State benefited from a forgiving schedule last year on its way to a 12-0 regular season, but the Buckeyes will face far more challenges just to make the College Football Playoff this season. Fortunately, their well-recognized strength of schedule should put them at the top of the bubble conversation if they lose a couple of games – and assuming they make the CFP, they’ll be far more battle-tested entering the postseason than they were a year ago.

 MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY… MONEY! (Since Chase didn’t use this title earlier this week, I felt like I had to today.)

Ohio State will have to make a significant financial investment to win the battle for its top remaining target in the 2027 recruiting class, five-star running back David Gabriel Georges.

According to a report this week by On3’s Pete Nakos, Gabriel Georges is expected to be the first-ever running back recruit to receive an NIL deal worth more than $1 million.

NEW: 5-star RB David Gabriel Georges is expected to be the highest-paid RB recruit in history, @PeteNakos reports

He is in line to become the first RB prospect with a $1M deal.https://t.co/VYimDXkSTG https://t.co/YOsiVd9la1 pic.twitter.com/WZzTe6GKEq

— On3 (@On3) July 1, 2026

While Ohio State is cautious about how much money it promises to recruits, all indications are that the Buckeyes are willing to make a larger-than-usual financial investment to land Gabriel Georges. The Canadian-born running back has been Carlos Locklyn’s top recruiting target for well over a year, to the point that the Buckeyes have focused nearly all of their running back recruiting efforts in the 2027 class on landing Gabriel Georges.

Tennessee is also a major contender to land Gabriel Georges, who’s ranked as the No. 2 running back and No. 10 overall prospect in the 2027 class, and the battle between the Buckeyes and Volunteers will continue all the way up until his commitment on July 22. But one thing is for certain: No matter which school Gabriel Georges chooses in the end, he’ll be one of the highest-paid freshmen in college football next season.

 HEY NOW, YOU’RE AN ALL-STAR. Former Ohio State women’s basketball star Kelsey Mitchell has been selected as a WNBA All-Star starter for the first time.

Mitchell, who’s averaging a career-high 21.6 points per game for the Indiana Fever this season, was one of 10 players named Wednesday as starters for this year’s WNBA All-Star Game.

Your official 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star starters

Aliyah Boston | @IndianaFever
Paige Bueckers | @DallasWings
Caitlin Clark | @IndianaFever
Natasha Howard | @minnesotalynx
Olivia Miles | @minnesotalynx
Kelsey Mitchell | @IndianaFever
Jessica Shepard | @DallasWings
Breanna… pic.twitter.com/oBXdSaugBK

— WNBA (@WNBA) July 2, 2026

Now in her ninth season of professional basketball, Mitchell has firmly established herself as one of the WNBA’s top scorers, ranking second in the league in points per game this season. A first-team All-WNBA selection last year, Mitchell – Ohio State’s all-time leading scorer with 3,402 points – will make her fourth consecutive WNBA All-Star appearance when the game is played later this month on July 25 (8:30 p.m., ABC) in Chicago.

 SAVE MAN GETS PAID. Former Ohio State men’s hockey goaltender Jakub Dobes is cashing in after leading the Montreal Canadiens to the NHL’s Eastern Conference finals in this year’s playoffs.

Dobes received a three-year contract extension with an average annual salary of $5,357,575 from the Canadiens on Wednesday.

Les Canadiens s'entendent sur les termes d’une prolongation de contrat de trois saisons (2027-2028 à 2029-2030) avec le gardien Jakub Dobes.

The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension (2027-28 to 2029-30) with goalie Jakub Dobes.#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/Sa8xdANqt6

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) July 2, 2026

Dobes was the NHL’s top rookie goaltender this past season, earning wins in 29 of his 43 regular-season appearances with a 2.78 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. He followed that up by earning nine wins with a 2.66 GAA and .908 save percentage in the playoffs, leading the Canadiens to series wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres before they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals.

Dobes, who played two seasons for Ohio State from 2021-23 before going pro, is now the 24th-highest-paid goaltender in the NHL, signifying the Canadiens’ commitment to the former Buckeye as their starting goaltender for the next three years.

 SONG OF THE DAY. “How Forever Feels” – Kenny Chesney.

BONUS COVERAGE: You may recognize a few familiar faces in these pictures that are being shown in the photo montage before Kenny Chesney’s concerts at the Sphere this summer.

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