Welcome to the Skull Session.
Tim Walton’s latest rhymes are about my last name:
Have a great Friday.
BIG TEN’S TIME TO SHINE. Over the past four days, SEC Media Days have brought an endless barrage of current and even former SEC coaches talking about how great their conference is.
One of the last examples came from Nick Saban on Thursday, who said he doesn’t think the Big Ten’s three straight national championships should be used as a measure for which conference is college football’s best. Although the SEC hasn’t even made a national championship game in the last three years, Alabama’s former coach thinks his former conference still reigns supreme because of its depth.
“Whoever wins the national championship doesn’t define who has the best conference. I think the best conference is defined by how many good teams you have from top to bottom, and I think the SEC has a lot of good teams from top to bottom,” Saban said during an appearance on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
“I do think that the Big Ten has had three really, really good football teams. I mean, Michigan had a great team, beat us in overtime in the playoffs three years ago. Ohio State, Indiana, they had really, really good teams. Last year, we had five teams in the playoffs as an SEC conference, which says that there's pretty good depth in this league. A couple other teams, Vanderbilt and Texas, could have got in. So there's a lot of good teams in the SEC.”
"Whoever wins the National Championship doesn't define who has the best conference."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) July 23, 2026
"I think the best conference gets defined by how many good teams you have from top to bottom."
Nick Saban weighs in on the Big Ten surpassing the SEC pic.twitter.com/0LFGccJPxv
Now that SEC Media Days have concluded, however, the national spotlight shifts to the Big Ten, which holds its own media days next Tuesday through Thursday in Chicago. And the annual conference showcase will serve as a great display of just how much depth the Big Ten has, too.
Curt Cignetti and the defending national champion Indiana Hoosiers will be there, and Cignetti’s sure to have a one-liner or two ready to throw back at the SEC. Ryan Day and Dan Lanning tend to let their football teams do the talking, but their Ohio State and Oregon squads are expected to be two of the nation’s best alongside the Hoosiers this season.
Kyle Whittingham and Matt Campbell will make their first Big Ten Media Days appearances as they look to rebuild Michigan and Penn State into powers. Lincoln Riley’s already expressed confidence (though I’m personally more skeptical) that his USC Trojans are ready to be a national championship contender this season. Iowa and Washington will both likely be preseason top-25 teams, and Illinois likely won’t be far off. UCLA and Michigan State will generate some buzz as Bob Chesney and Pat Fitzgerald enter their first seasons at their new schools, while Northwestern will surely garner some attention in its home city following the offseason arrival of former Ohio State offensive coordinator and NFL head coach Chip Kelly as its new OC.
Big Ten Media Days are usually more anodyne than their SEC counterpart, and frankly, the Big Ten doesn’t need to say anything to stake its claim for being the best conference; its three straight national championships say plenty on their own. But as the conference enters 2026 with several legitimate contenders to win the Big Ten’s fourth straight national title, there’s never been a better time than right now for the Big Ten to stick its chest out a bit.
BEST PROGRAM IN COLLEGE FOOTBALL. Speaking of Big Ten vs. SEC supremacy, USA TODAY unveiled its annual ranking of the top programs in college football this week, and there’s a new king at the top.
While Alabama led USA TODAY’s list of the sport’s top programs a year ago, Ohio State is now recognized as the premier program in college football – not only for the upcoming 2026 season, but for its enduring longevity of success that doesn’t appear likely to end any time soon.
From USA TODAY’s Paul Myerberg, Blake Toppermeyer, Jordan Mendoza and Eddie Timanus:
1. Ohio State
We are witnessing one of the greatest runs in college football in Columbus. The Buckeyes are 165-21 since 2012. In 2024, Ryan Day became the program’s third full-time coach in a row to win a national championship. What else is there to say? Ohio State has won at least 10 games in every full season but one since 2005. It is simply the Bowl Subdivision gold standard and the envy of every program in the country in and out of the Big Ten.
It’s worth taking another moment to think about just how consistently great Ohio State has been. In the past 20 years, the Buckeyes have had only one actually bad season (2011, when they went 6-7), and that came after Jim Tressel was forced to resign just three months before the season. Other than that, Ohio State has consistently been one of college football’s elite programs. Since the dawn of the 21st century, Alabama is the only program that’s won more national championships (LSU also has three, but one of LSU’s was a split title with USC) – and the Crimson Tide, who are still ranked second on USA TODAY’s list, have yet to achieve the same success under Kalen DeBoer as they did under Saban.
To paraphrase a former Ohio State rival: Who’s got it better than the Buckeyes? Nooooooo-body.
Ohio State and Alabama are joined in the top 10 of the rankings by Georgia, Notre Dame, Texas, LSU, Michigan, Oklahoma, Miami and USC. Oregon and Penn State are ranked 11th and 12th – giving the Big Ten and SEC five programs each in the top 12 – while Indiana, a school that was never known for football success until Curt Cignetti’s arrival two years ago, is ranked 17th after winning its first-ever national championship.
The SEC leads all conferences with 10 teams in the top 25 (No. 14 Florida, No. 15 Texas A&M, No. 16 Tennessee, No. 21 Auburn and No. 24 Mississippi), but the Big Ten is just behind with nine, also including Nebraska (20th), Washington (22nd) and Iowa (23rd).
A BLUE JACKET JOINS THE BUCKEYES. Ohio State women’s hockey added a 19-year NHL veteran to its coaching staff on Thursday.
Jack Johnson, who played for the Columbus Blue Jackets from 2012-18 and again for his final NHL season in 2024-25, is joining Nadine Muzerall’s program as associate head coach.
“We're really excited to have a new member join our family here at Ohio State,” Muzerall said in a news release. “To bring in Jack Johnson is going to continue to make our program better, both on the ice and really contribute to recruiting. When we talk about Ohio State, we talk about family and how we're all united. I think it's very important that he exemplifies that. He's going to bring that to our program and I think our recruits are going to see that and I know our girls are going to feel that.”
Excited to announce the addition of Jack Johnson to our coaching staff! #GoBucks | https://t.co/5oFdT25DlS pic.twitter.com/8roxzA4WDC
— Ohio State Women's Hockey (@OhioStateWHKY) July 23, 2026
Johnson, who played in 1,228 career NHL games and won a Stanley Cup with the Colorado Avalanche in 2022, is crossing rivalry lines to join the Buckeyes, as he played collegiately for Michigan from 2005-07 before starting his NHL career.
“It's such a privilege and honor to be involved with the best women's college hockey program in the country,” Johnson said. “I can't wait for the season to start and to continue Ohio State's pursuit of national championships.”
ANOTHER YEAR IN HOUSTON. Former Ohio State men’s basketball star Jae’Sean Tate is returning to the Houston Rockets for a seventh season.
The Rockets announced the re-signing of Tate to a one-year deal on Thursday. Per Hoops Hype’s Michael Scotto, it’s a one-year deal worth $3.07 million, the veteran minimum for a player with six years of NBA experience. The deal is partially guaranteed for $1.04 million.
Across six seasons with the Rockets, Tate has averaged 7.5 points, 3.8 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game. His role has gradually diminished over the course of his Rockets career, as he averaged a career-low 2.8 points and 8.8 minutes per game last season, but he’s the team’s longest-tenured active player.
Tate is set to become just the 16th player in Rockets history to play seven or more seasons with the team. He’s played the third-most games (342) by any undrafted player in franchise history, behind only Matt Bullard (538) and Chuck Hayes (426).
With the re-signing of Tate, Houston will now have two former Buckeyes on its 2026-27 roster, as Tate joins No. 31 overall NBA draft pick and all-time leading Ohio State scorer Bruce Thornton.
WATCH THE BUCKEYES AT FIELD LEVEL – IF YOU’VE GOT THE CASH. A new premium seating option at Ohio Stadium this season will allow fans to get closer to the action than ever before.
Nine field-level luxury suites in the south end zone of the Shoe will debut this fall. Each suite will have room for 12 to 15 people. Another 400 chairback seats have been placed on top of the suites. All of those seats will include access to Ohio Stadium’s new 1922 Club, a new private club inside Ohio Stadium with all-inclusive food and drinks. Despite a hefty price tag of $6,000 per seat for the season, all of those tickets have sold out for 2026, though Ohio State is still accepting interest forms for the suites.
Sports Business Journal highlighted the new suites in the Shoe as part of a series this week titled “Great Ideas in Temporary and Modular Structures.” The suites, which are made of steel structural framing with engineered aluminum components and fully insulated walls, take about three weeks to install and can be removed for non-football events, allowing more flexibility for Ohio State to host concerts and other events inside the Shoe during the offseason.
Temporary and modular structures are helping college football capture unmet premium demand ️
— Sports Business Journal (@SBJ) July 22, 2026
Ohio Stadium's new South End Zone Premium Seating was added without renovation in roughly three weeks and can be removed for non-football events.
MORE: https://t.co/wEiLMqUQcj pic.twitter.com/t67HtXBn0E
Ohio State football is a hot ticket entering the 2026 season, as the Buckeyes sold 57,304 non-student season tickets this year – the most since at least 2009 – according to the Columbus Dispatch. The Buckeyes’ home slate this year includes marquee November home games against Oregon and Michigan, three additional Big Ten games against Illinois, Maryland and Northwestern and a pair of September non-conference tilts against MAC schools Ball State and Kent State.
SONG OF THE DAY. “On the Hunt” – Lynyrd Skynyrd.
HOPE YOU’RE STILL READING. Baltimore Ravens waive Heisman runner-up Diego Pavia before training camp … Morgan Wallen fans allege ticket, VIP scam by Michigan tailgate organizer … Ravi Bellamkonda wants Ohio State to be the most business-friendly university in the nation … Inside ESPN’s decision to tell Ryan Clark he’d be laid off during live show … NCAA has “no plans” to change age-based eligibility rules despite lawsuits.
