All season, I keep hearing $20 million roster. And it seems with every loss, every failed drive on offense, and every failure of our defense to make the opposition go 3-and-out, someone gets on the soap box and bemoans the output we are seeing from a $20 million roster. Maybe this is just so radically new to fans seeing players get paid in the open instead of behind the bushes in a Wal Mart parking lot in Tuscaloosa, via a McDonald's bag in East Tennessee, or through a new car to Ron Dayne's aunt in New Jersey that just happens to frequently be parked in Wisconsin, that our fans think we should be getting greater performances than ever.

That begs the question - "Is Ohio State's NIL across the roster even the highest this year?"

And regardless, where do other programs stand?

Articles like this would suggest Oregon, not us, should be the top performer:

https://www.si.com/college/oregon/football/nil-money-built-oregon-ducks-...

Texas is paying over $5mil this year on just ONE position - QB.

Given the repeated emphasis on this total, one would be led to think that no other program out there even eclipsed $14 mil.

Do we know for a fact that Oregon, Texas, UGA, Bama, ND, etc. are not even close....or date I ask...higher?

And last question... "Who gives a damn what the total NIL is?" Just because Joe from Ashland donated $100 to the collective doesn't suddenly make Joe the joint owner of the Buckeyes program who sits in the press box next to Archie or Ross each week.

And let's not pretend titles can even be bought with confidence. Franchises like the Mets and Knicks have been at the top of their sport in spending for decades, yet don't have any rings since the internet became a household staple.