Skull Session: Ohio State Ranks No. 1 in Preseason SP+, Buckeye Nation Motivates Ryan Day to Win Another Title and Urban Meyer Picks Jeremiah Smith to Win the Heisman

Welcome to the Skull Session.

The Buckeyes are running the NFL Combine.

Buckeyes running the show
— Ty Hamilton (@tyhamilton__) February 27, 2025

Also, cheers to Sammy Sasso on an incredible career. The Savage is one of Ohio State's all-time greats!

Four-time All-American and two-time Big Ten champion Sammy Sasso has retired from collegiate wrestling, Ohio State head coach Tom Ryan announced Thursday. https://t.co/LGDvdkYRcU
— Eleven Warriors (@11W) February 28, 2025

Have a good Friday.

THE BEST TEAM IN AMERICA. Oh, man. Oh, man, oh, man.

The SP+ is back!

This week, Bill Connelly of ESPN released a preseason SP+ for all 136 FBS teams, prioritizing returning production, recent recruiting and recent history. Here’s how he explained each of those factors in his article:

1. Returning production. The returning production numbers are based on rosters I have updated as much as possible to account for transfers and attrition. Combine last year's SP+ ratings and adjustments based on current returning production numbers, and you're pretty far down the projections road. In fact, this factor accounts for more than 60% of the overall projection at this point.

2. Recent recruiting. This piece informs us of the caliber of a team's potential replacements (and/or new stars) in the lineup. It is determined by both the past few years of recruiting rankings and the quality of incoming transfers, and it accounts for about 14% of the current projection.

3. Recent history. Using a chunk of information from previous seasons gives us a good measure of overall program health. It stands to reason that a team that has played well for one year is less likely to duplicate that effort than a team that has been good for years on end (and vice versa), right? This factor accounts for a little more than 20% of the projection, and it focuses only on what happened within the past three seasons. I used to use a weighted history stretching back five years, but that's a less effective approach now with the changes in the sport.

And here are the initial top 10 SP+ rankings for the 2025 season:

No. 1 Ohio State: 28 overall, 38.6 offense (6), 10.6 defense (2) and 0.3 special teams (11)
No. 2 Alabama: 26.1 overall, 39.1 offense (5), 13 defense (5) and 0.2 special teams (20)
No. 3 Penn State: 25.3 overall, 39.1 offense (4), 13.8 defense (7) and 0.1 special teams (58)
No. 4 Georgia: 24.5 overall, 37.9 offense (7), 13.3 defense (6) and 0.6 special teams (1)
No. 5 Notre Dame: 23.4 overall, 37.3 offense (10), 13.9 defense (8) and -0.2 special teams (106)
No. 6 Oregon: 22.6 overall, 39.5 offense (3), 16.9 defense (15) and 0.5 special teams (3)
No. 7 Texas: 21.9 overall, 32 offense (28), 10.1 defense (1) and -0.5 special teams (135)
No. 8 Tennessee: 21.3 overall, 33.6 offense (22), 12.3 defense (4) and 0.2 special teams (21)
No. 9 Ole Miss: 20.2 overall, 34.5 offense (19), 14.3 defense (9) and 0.3 special teams (7)
No. 10 LSU: 19.5 overall, 39.7 offense (2), 20.2 defense (26) and 0.1 special teams (48)

Some other notables:

No. 13 TTUN: 17.7 overall, 28.7 offense (51), 11 defense (3) and 0.2 special teams (22)
No. 21 Iowa: 12.5 overall, 27.5 offense (64), 15 defense (10) and 0.3 special teams (12)
No. 25 Illinois: 11.2 overall, 30.5 offense (38), 19.3 defense (23) and 0.2 special teams (30)

Ohio State... THE best team in the nation.

I repeat... THE best team in the nation.

"IT'S MORE MOTIVATION TO DO IT AGAIN." After Ohio State won the national championship, Ryan Day went on a media tour to end all media tours. Appearances on Jimmy Fallon, Kelly Clarkson and Joel Klatt's shows were a few of what felt like a dozen media appearances for the head coach.

In an interview with The Columbus Dispatch – another media appearance, technically – Day said the runaround has been somewhat tiresome. However, Day said reminders of Buckeye Nation's love for their favorite team has encouraged him on the journey.

The trips spawn inevitable public interactions with fans eager to recount where they were when the Buckeyes reached the pinnacle of college football in late January.

“They come right up to you,” Day said in an interview with The Dispatch. “They can’t wait to tell you.”

The stories move Day. He hears about families driving to playoff games or watching together on their couches. He remembers one who took a flight just to be with their father for the Buckeyes’ title run.

His office inside the Woody Hayes Athletic Center includes a stack of letters as well. They express their thanks.

“It just makes you realize how bigger it is than any of us,” Day said, “and what it means to be a Buckeye. It’s more motivation to do it again.”

Yes... Ha Ha Ha... Yes!

Do it again!

JJ, FUTURE HEISMAN. Before, during and after his record-breaking freshman season at Ohio State, Jeremiah Smith has been the talk of college football.

That talk continued this week at the NFL Combine. It also continued on The Triple Option, where former Ohio State coach Urban Meyer picked Smith to win the Heisman Trophy in 2025 while discussing the BetMGM odds for Smith, Texas quarterback Arch Manning and more.

“Well, the best player in the country in maybe the last decade is Jeremiah Smith. He’s the best player,” Meyer said. “It’s only +1200 (odds). Arch Manning’s No. 1 at +700 as far as the betting. I’m gonna say Jeremiah Smith’s gonna be the first receiver in a while to win the Heisman Trophy.”

We can ignore that last part.

Colorado cornerback and wide receiver Travis Hunter won the award in 2024, and Alabama wide receiver DeVonta Smith won the award in 2020.

But still, it’s the thought that counts.

If Smith is to win the Heisman next season, Meyer said whoever becomes Ohio State’s quarterback – whether it be Julian Sayin, Lincoln Kienholz or Tavien St. Clair – needs to deliver him on-time and accurate throws all fall. Meyer added that another pass-catcher like Carnell Tate, Brandon Inniss or Max Klare must also take some of the defense’s attention off of Smith during games.

“As important as a quarterback is, that’s number one, but who’s the Emeka (Egbuka) on the other side? You can take away a good receiver. You can’t take away two,” Meyer said. “When I had Louis Murphy and Percy Harvin, when I had Terry McLaurin and Michael Thomas, you can’t take away two because you can’t rotate the coverage. So, will Carnell Tate develop enough to take the heat off Jeremiah?”

Again, I don’t mean to be the, "Ackchyually!" person here, but McLaurin and Thomas’ Ohio State’s careers overlapped for one season: 2015. That season, Thomas recorded 56 catches for 781 yards and nine touchdowns, while McLaurin recorded zero catches for zero yards and zero touchdowns.

Maybe he was thinking about Jalin Marshall? Braxton Miller? Curtis Samuel?

I don’t know.

But still, it’s the thought that counts.

Smith had 76 catches for 1,315 yards and 15 touchdowns this past season and earned first-team All-American honors as well as Big Ten Freshman and Receiver of the Year accolades. With talents like Hunter, Egbuka, Arizona’s Tetairoa McMillan and Missouri’s Luther Burden off to the NFL, Smith is without question the best returning receiver in college football in 2025. As such, he will be in the Heisman conversation as long as he continues to produce week in and week out for the Buckeyes.

THAT’S WHY HE’S THE GOAT. My glorious king, LeBron James. He is so tuff.

This month, students from Akron-area schools and James’ I PROMISE program spent an afternoon at Ohio State attending classes, speaking with students and touring campus. Part of their experience also included a conversation with James, who joined the Ohio State course, Public Affairs 5120, also known as “Social Change Advocacy: Organization, Mobilization and Activism,” to discuss his passion for bettering the Akron community through community and philanthropic work.

“I knew I always wanted to give back to my community,” James told the students, per Franny Lazarus of Ohio State News. “We took a deep dive into what we actually needed to do to create societal change. Being around families, being around the kids, listening to our community, they let us know and gave us the spearhead on what’s needed. It was our job to listen, implement and apply things that were needed to create that societal change.”

The highlight of the day, for high school and college students, was when the four-time @NBA champion @KingJames joined the class @OhioState via Zoom https://t.co/sHWTfyau4q
— Ohio State News (@OhioStateNews) February 26, 2025

James believes utilizing his platform has been crucial in seeing those changes occur.

“I have too much of a platform and too many resources to not give back in order to create a change that’s long-term,” he said.

After answering questions from students, James – who will receive an honorary doctor of public service degree from Ohio State this spring, pending approval from the school’s Board of Trustees – encouraged the class to use their platform for the betterment of others.

“It starts with you guys, at your age or even younger. You guys are the future,” James said. “You guys have big outreach and you guys are at The Ohio State University, one of the most prestigious colleges in the world. You guys are highly respected. People see that (Ohio State) badge. They see that name. People respect that.”

Look at LeBron, man.

So inspirational.

That’s why he’s the GOAT!

SONG OF THE DAY. "OCEAN" - John Butler.