Welcome to the Skull Session.
Look at Seth McLaughlin, man. So inspirational.
Seth McLaughlin, Rimington Trophy winner https://t.co/fm44K6D0Bk pic.twitter.com/mmdyiUiRz4
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) December 13, 2024
What an incredible honor for McLaughlin. Considering how his time at Alabama ended, it was awesome to see him have a season of redemption at Ohio State. He accomplished so much in 2024!
Have a good Friday.
BEST TEAMS IN THE CFP ERA. You all know how much I love SP+. You should also know how much I love Bill Connelly's annual article in which he ranks teams to make the College Football Playoff since 2014. This week, that article arrived, and Ohio State, whose six CFP appearances rank third in the FBS behind Alabama (eight times) and Clemson (seven), was featured prominently on the list. Here's where the Buckeyes' six teams ranked:
No. 38 — 2016 Ohio State
RECORD: 11-2
CFP RESULT: Lost to Clemson 31-0
After what might have been Urban Meyer's most talented Ohio State team missed the CFP in 2015, the most offensively limited one made it the next year. The defense was strong enough to limit Deshaun Watson and Clemson to just two touchdowns in the Tigers' first 10 drives in the semifinal, but the Buckeyes' offense, which ranked 20th in offensive SP+ (terrible by their standards), got embarrassed.
No. 27 — 2024 Ohio State
RECORD: 10-2
CFP MATCHUP: First round vs. TennesseeThe Buckeyes' offense has scored at least 31 points nine times. The defense has allowed more than 17 just once. From the perspective of pure star talent, no one can top them, and while they finished the regular season on a devastating note (losing to Michigan), the last time they reached the CFP after a frustrating loss, they nearly beat Georgia. This team starts the playoff 27th on this list, but it could end up anywhere between about 10th and 40th depending on how the next few weeks play out.
No. 24 — 2022 Ohio State
RECORD: 11-2
CFP RESULT: Lost to Georgia 42-41
After face-planting against Michigan for the second straight year, no team stood to gain more from a CFP bid than Ryan Day's Buckeyes. And they almost gained everything. Thanks to an incredible performance from quarterback C.J. Stroud, Ohio State held a 38-24 Peach Bowl lead on the champs heading into the fourth quarter. And even when Georgia charged back, the Buckeyes had a field goal try at the buzzer to win it. But it missed badly.
No. 17 — 2020 Ohio State
RECORD: 7-1
CFP RESULT: Beat Clemson 49-28; lost to Alabama 52-24
The Buckeyes played only eight games, but they won four by at least 21 points, including a 49-28 victory over Trevor Lawrence and Clemson in the semifinals. They lived up to most of their preseason hype and avenged their 2019 semifinal loss to the Tigers. They also lost the national title game by 28 points. Still, in a year of abbreviated schedules and limited two-deeps, Ohio State was a poster child of sorts, and the Buckeyes looked the part until the final act.
No. 13 - 2019 Ohio State (tied with 2019 Clemson)
RECORD: 13-1
CFP RESULT: Lost to Clemson 29-23; Clemson lost to LSU 42-25
It was overshadowed by LSU's late-season brilliance, but both the Buckeyes and Tigers were unreal for most of 2019. They went a combined 26-0 in the regular season; 22 of the wins were by at least 24 points, and only one was by single digits. And in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal, they played one of the most even and compelling games in recent college football memory.
Ohio State dominated the early proceedings, going up 16-0 but settling for field goals; that offered Clemson a lifeline, and the Tigers charged back. The second half featured three scores and three lead changes, and after controversy and countless plot twists, Nolan Turner's interception of Justin Fields made the difference. If they'd played 100 times, each team would have won 50.
No. 9 — 2014 Ohio State
RECORD: 14-1
CFP RESULT: Beat Alabama 42-35; beat Oregon 42-20
The ultimate "peak when you most need to" team. Ranked 16th in the initial CFP rankings, Ohio State kept getting better and rising down the stretch. Needing a huge statement in the Big Ten championship game, the Buckeyes unleashed the hugest statement, beating Wisconsin 59-0 to eke out the No. 4 CFP seed. They then proceeded to beat Bama with a 28-0 run and take down Oregon with a late 21-0 run. Late-arriving? Nope, just in time.
Man, it's hard not to be romantic about the 2014 Ohio State football team.
With Braxton Miller sidelined for the season, JT Barrett took the reins. The Buckeyes stumbled in a home loss to Virginia Tech in Week 2. Cue the doubters. But then, Ohio State found its stride, mowing through Big Ten competition with Barrett and Ezekiel Elliott at the forefront of a powerful offensive attack. When disaster struck for Barrett, Cardale Jones – the third-string quarterback! – led the Buckeyes to wins over Wisconsin, Alabama and Oregon to win the program's eighth national title.
It was a season of setbacks. It was a year of destiny.
Three quarterbacks.
One trophy.
A whole lot of Buckeye Pride.
"IT WASN'T ALWAYS FOX'S FAULT." Ohio State on Big Noon Kickoff: A Tale as Old as Time.
In the Thursday Skull Session, I poked fun at FOX when I looked at Ohio State's 2025 schedule. I said the Buckeyes would have a Big Noon Kickoff for all their home games next fall – save for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff with Grambling State because of course – while all road games would be at 3:30 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on CBS and NBC. (Some commenters pointed out that I didn't pick Ohio State's Annual Peacock Classic. What a blunder! It feels like Purdue is a lock for that one.)
However, according to Big Ten chief operating officer Kerry Kenny, FOX is not entirely to blame for Ohio State's endless noon kickoffs.
From Scott Dochterman of The Athletic:
Not everyone was thrilled with the Big Ten’s television package, which included a noon ET kickoff on Fox, a 3:30 p.m. game on CBS and a prime-time start on NBC. Ohio State, for instance, appeared six times on Fox’s Big Noon package, including five of the last six games. Penn State traditionally saves its “White Out” for its biggest home night game, but with Fox picking first on several weeks, multiple key Penn State games aired at noon, including the showdown with Ohio State.
It wasn’t always Fox’s fault, Kenny said. The network used its top choice on Ohio State four times, but it chose the Buckeyes’ game as the second or third pick in the lineup two other weeks. Games on the West Coast cannot air in the noon ET window, which limits Fox’s noon inventory.
“It’s going to be tough just given the three-network setup, from a broadcast perspective, for a network to pass on an Ohio State game that’s sitting there for them if it falls to the second or third pick in a week,” Kenny said.
Fox, which owns 61 percent of Big Ten Network, can shift one game to the mid-afternoon over the course of the season, so the network is not completely boxed out from airing West Coast games. It also can flip spots during the two weeks when NBC broadcasts its Notre Dame home games in prime time.
For Fox’s Friday night package, the Big Ten identifies multiple games that could appear in that window before choosing one for each week. Most of the league’s schools can appear in up to one home game and one road game on Fridays each year, although four schools have logistical issues that prevent them from hosting on that night. With Ohio State, Michigan and Penn State in high demand, it’s doubtful the league will schedule any of those three on Friday night.
“It is a tougher balancing act with the CBS and NBC piece, because they paid for the right to have the best three games available, along with Fox on Saturdays,” Kenny said. “It’s very rare that a Penn State or Ohio State game is not going to be in the mix for a top three unless it’s just a massive week where you’d have enough depth with USC or Oregon or other teams involved to really give CBS and NBC the feeling that they’re getting what they paid for.”
There's a lot to unpack there.
In fact, Dochterman's entire article is packed with information. It explains how the Big Ten addressed conflicts and issues – such as travel across time zones, marquee matchups and more – to create schedules for all 18 schools. The conference created over 130 versions (!) of the league's schedule before it became official on Wednesday.
On the one hand, I cannot blame FOX for choosing to broadcast Ohio State matchups when they're available to them. The network has Ohio State-Michigan and Ohio State-Penn State in most seasons, and it must be hard to pass on the Buckeyes when their games fall to them in the draft (as we'll discuss in the next section, Ohio State draws in more viewers than all college football programs besides Georgia). On the other hand, I can blame the Big Ten's network draft that has led to the Buckeyes becoming the poster child for Big Noon Kickoff. Alas, I'm not sure the draft process will ever evolve, so the Buckeyes could remain that for the foreseeable future.
At least Ohio State has been excluded from FOX College Football Friday!
... for now.
THAT'S A LOT OF EYEBALLS. I mentioned it above, but Ohio State had the second-most average television viewers per game in college football at 6.8 million. The Buckeyes ranked behind Georgia (8.6 million) and ahead of Alabama (6.6 million), Texas (6.4 million) and Tennessee (5.4 million) in the top five.
From Stewart Mandel of The Athletic:
Georgia, at 8.6 million average viewers per game, was No. 1 by a considerable margin over the second-highest school, Ohio State (6.8 million). The Bulldogs played in two of the three-most watched games of the season, against Alabama (12 million) on Sept. 28 and Texas (13.2 million) on Oct. 19, which both aired on ABC. The Nov. 30 Michigan-Ohio State game on Fox (12.3 million) was the other.
Rounding out the top five were Alabama (6.6 million), Texas (6.4 million) and Tennessee (5.4 million). They were followed by No. 6 Michigan (5.2 million), No. 7 Texas A&M (4.9 million), No. 8 LSU (4.8 million), No. 9 Kentucky (4.5 million) and No. 10 Florida (4.3 million).
With both Ohio State and Tennessee drawing top-five audiences week to week, it's no wonder the College Football Playoff placed the schools in the primetime, 8 p.m. window on Dec. 21. It's also no wonder the CFP chose to have the Buckeyes and Volunteers run free of NFL interference, as SMU-Penn State (Noon) and Clemson-Texas (4 p.m.) run parallel to Texans at Chiefs (1 p.m.) and Steelers at Ravens (4:30 p.m.). Expect Ohio State-Tennessee to do numbers that Saturday. SMU-Penn State and Clemson-Texas? Not so much.
OLYMPIC VILLAGE. Here we go, ladies and gentlemen. Here... we... go.
No. 1 seed Ohio State men's soccer will battle No. 13 seed Marshall in the 2024 College Cup semifinals at 7:30 p.m. on Friday (ESPNU). The winner will face either Vermont or No. 13 seed Denver in the national championship match on Dec. 16 (8 p.m., ESPN2).
OH-IO #MCollegeCup x @OhioStateMSOC pic.twitter.com/wBg7SWWAZd
— NCAA Soccer (@NCAASoccer) December 12, 2024
This week, Michael Arace of The Columbus Dispatch wrote that Nathan Demian's unfortunate incident has infused the Buckeyes as coaches and players prepare to face the Thundering Herd in Cary, North Carolina.
According to the CTV report, Nathan Demian nearly died on the operating table [after he sustained a gunshot wound on Ohio State's campus].
...
[Ohio State head coach Brian] Maisonneuve said that after surgery and before an intubation tube was removed from his throat, Nathan could communicate only by writing. Among the first words he scrawled on a piece of paper was “final four.”
“Someone told me that when he could talk, he was like, ‘Am I OK for Friday? Can I play?’ ” Maisonneuve said.
The thought of this brought a smile to the coach’s face. Nathan took a bullet in the gut, and by the end of the week he was hoping to be available for selection.
“It was unbelievable,” Maisonneuve said. “I mean, the kid is such a competitor. He was so focused on the guys, and I wanted to communicate to the guys that even though he’s going through everything he’s going through, he’s still focused on us.”
...
“What the guys have gone through, what the staff has gone through, what the team has gone through, it’s tough, I’m not going to lie,” Maisonneuve said. “Nate is such a huge part of this team – his character, his personality and what he brings to the field. Just not having him around is definitely difficult.
"But as I’ve mentioned, the guys have leaned on each other in some tough times, some tough moments. When it hits you, Nate’s not going to be with us. … How we get together and how we help each other is going to be the key.”
I think Ohio State will have some fire when it faces Marshall.
Bucks by a billion in this one.
SONG OF THE DAY. "Linger" - The Cranberries.
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