\n Welcome to the Skull Session. <\/p>\n
\n\tBuckeye Stripes are\u00a0in the game.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\tBuckeye Stripes in EA Sports College Football 27 pic.twitter.com\/h0YDJSBBb9<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Eleven Warriors (@11W) June 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tHave a good Friday.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0HOW YA FEELIN\u2019? Each offseason, I looked forward to The Athletic\u2019s Ohio State fan survey. It puts a hand on the pulse of Buckeye Nation, which sometimes \u2014 but not always \u2014 differs from that of the Eleven Warriors audience.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThis year, The Athletic\u2019s Cameron Teague Robinson<\/a> tackled \u201cthe state of the program, the Michigan rivalry, the 2025 season, potential College Football Playoff expansion and more.\u201d I\u2019ll pass along some of his survey results in this section. Let me know how you would answer them in the comments below.\n<\/p>\n \tHow would you grade Ryan Day\u2019s performance in seven years as Ohio State\u2019s head coach?<\/p>\n \t\tA \u2014 81.7%<\/p>\n \t\tB \u2014 16.7%<\/p>\n \t\tC \u2014 1.2%<\/p>\n \t\tD \u2014 0.4%<\/p>\n \t\tF \u2014 0%<\/p>\n \tWhat would constitute as a successful season for Ohio State?<\/p>\n \t\tWin the national championship \u2014 25.3%<\/p>\n \t\tBig Ten championship, national title appearance \u2014 34.3%\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tBig Ten championship, CFP appearance \u2014 21.5%<\/p>\n \t\tWin a playoff game \u2014 10.9%<\/p>\n \t\tPlayoff appearance \u2014 0.8%<\/p>\n \t\tJust beat Michigan \u2014 7.3%<\/p>\n \tWith 51 new players on the roster, which newcomer are you most excited to see?<\/p>\n \t\tChris Henry Jr. 68.4%\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\tTerry Moore 3%<\/p>\n \t\tEarl Little Jr. 13.4%<\/p>\n \t\tChristian Alliegro 4.2%<\/p>\n \t\tJa\u2019Kobi Jackson 5.5%<\/p>\n \t\tOthers: 5.5%<\/p>\n \tWhat are you most worried about regarding Ohio State this season?<\/p>\n \t\tOffensive line \u2014 47.3%<\/p>\n \t\tReplacing eight starters on defense \u2014 32.6%<\/p>\n \t\tArthur Smith as the offensive play caller \u2014 9.1%<\/p>\n \t\tSpecial teams \u2014 5.5%<\/p>\n \t\tSchedule \u2014 0.6%<\/p>\n \t\tDefensive line \u2014 0.3%<\/p>\n \t\tOthers 4.6%<\/p>\n \tWhich game are you most excited about?<\/p>\n \t\tat Texas (Sept. 12) \u2014 20.8%<\/p>\n \t\tat Iowa (Oct. 3) \u2014 0%<\/p>\n \t\tat Indiana (Oct. 17) \u2014 29%<\/p>\n \t\tat USC (Oct. 31) \u2014 1.9%<\/p>\n \t\tOregon (Nov. 7) \u2014 6.5%<\/p>\n \t\tMichigan (Nov. 28) \u2014 41.7%<\/p>\n \tWhat will Ohio State\u2019s regular-season record be?<\/p>\n \t\t12-0 \u2014 9.6%<\/p>\n \t\t11-1 \u2014 48.1%\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t10-2 \u2014 38.1%<\/p>\n \t\t9-3 \u2014 4.1%<\/p>\n \t\t8-4 \u2014 0%<\/p>\n \tWill Ohio State win the national championship?<\/p>\n \t\tYes \u2014 42.2%<\/p>\n \t\tNo \u2014 57.8%\u00a0<\/p>\n \tMy answers to these questions are…<\/p>\n \t\tA<\/p>\n \t\tWin the national championship (anything less is tolerated, not celebrated)<\/p>\n \t\tOther, Legend Bey<\/p>\n \t\tAfter last season? Offensive line by a mile<\/p>\n \t\tI\u2019m choosin\u2019 Texas<\/p>\n \t\tHeart says 12-0, brain says 11-1<\/p>\n \t\tYes, of course<\/p>\n \n\tYeah, I like those answers.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0\u201cI DON\u2019T TAKE BACK WHAT I SAID.\u201d Eric Weddle has doubled down: Michigan\u2019s Bryce Underwood is a no-good, very-bad quarterback.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOK, that\u2019s not exactly what he said, but it\u2019s close.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cDon\u2019t be surprised if the backup\u2019s playing early because that Underwood kid, I don\u2019t think he can throw or play quarterback,\u201d Weddle said on a podcast<\/a> last month.\n<\/p>\n \n\tDuring a Tuesday appearance on The Rich Eisen Show<\/a> \u2014 which came after he revealed on another podcast that Michigan fans had sent death threats to him and his family over his criticism of Underwood \u2014 Weddle stood by his original comments about the Wolverines\u2019 $10 million man.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI don\u2019t take back what I said,\u201d Weddle told Eisen. \u201cHearing it doesn\u2019t come off very well, but the point is, you have to play quarterback a certain way to win a national championship. My understanding of Michigan is that they expect national championships. These kids are paid to play a certain way. What I saw from two games last year, and (when) I went out to spring ball, I saw not very good QB play.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tWeddle got an up-close look at Underwood during a visit to Ann Arbor with his son, Gaige, a top-100 prospect in the 2028 class (and an Ohio State target!). His assessment remains that Underwood is athletic and immensely talented but far from a finished product.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIs he talented? Yes. Is he a freak of nature? Yeah. No one\u2019s denying that,\u201d Weddle told Eisen. \u201cI\u2019m not naive to that, but I do know what high-level championship quarterback play looks like. I tried stopping these guys my whole career. My expectation when I watch quarterbacks is, \u2018Can he lead this team to a championship or not?\u2019\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tWeddle played at Utah from 2003-06, overlapping with Michigan coach Kyle Whittingham, who served as his defensive coordinator for two seasons and head coach for two more. If Weddle is willing to make these comments publicly, I wonder what he\u2019s saying privately to one of his longtime mentors.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn his interview with Eisen, Weddle shifted responsibility for Underwood’s shortcomings away from Whittingham and Michigan quarterbacks coach Jason Beck, who coached under Whittingham at Utah before joining the Wolverines’ staff.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI know the coaches that are coaching (him) and doing the best they can,\u201d Weddle said. \u201cI don\u2019t know (Underwood) from anything. I just go off what I see, and what I saw was not good.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tOh, this does put a smile on my face<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0JEREMIAH SMITH, COVER STAR. Jeremiah Smith will grace another magazine cover in 2026.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOne year after Smith and Alabama’s Ryan Williams appeared as cover athletes for EA Sports College Football 26, the record-breaking Ohio State wide receiver has landed on the Midwest\/Northwest edition of ESPN’s College Football Preview magazine<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n\tUnfortunately, Smith isn’t alone.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe 128-page season preview also features Notre Dame quarterback CJ Carr and … Bryce Underwood.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tESPN launches ’26-’27 #CFB<\/a> preview magazine<\/p>\n Special edition features 128 pages, 3 different regional covers More: https:\/\/t.co\/KVtfuZnYz3<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/b1xhZCDOv3<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 ESPN PR (@ESPNPR) June 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tA shame, really.\n<\/p>\n \n\tMaybe you can cover Underwood up with some Wite-Out.\n<\/p>\n \n\tBetter yet, grab a pair of scissors and cut him out entirely.\n<\/p>\n \n\tEither option works!\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0THE UNGOVERNABLE COLLEGE FOOTBALL. In fall 2025, MAC commissioner Jon Steinbrecher shared his growing resentment <\/a>toward the Big Ten, SEC, Big 12 and ACC for calling all the shots in college football.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cMoving forward, it is becoming more and more clear that the path to success is less fragmentation, more collaboration among all of us \u2014 certainly among the 10 FBS (conferences), and certainly among the five or six non-autonomous FBS (conferences),\u201d Steinbrecher said at a MAC football kickoff event.\n<\/p>\n \n\tLess than a year later, college football feels like a pipe bomb<\/a> with a lit fuse.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard<\/a> has essentially dared the Big Ten and SEC to break away from the rest of the sport and create a Super League. Georgia coach Kirby Smart<\/a> seemingly wants to do it, with or without the Big Ten.\n<\/p>\n \n\tEssentially, it\u2019s every conference for itself \u2014 and every school for itself.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe House v. NCAA settlement was intended to bring stability by limiting how much schools could spend on their rosters and by creating a new entity, the College Sports Commission, to vet third-party NIL deals and ensure compliance with the settlement terms.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tApparently, that wasn\u2019t enough to make the wealthiest schools play by the rules they helped create, so the chaos continued. Maybe \u2014 just maybe \u2014 the Protect College Sports Act <\/a>can rein it in, but don\u2019t count on it.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cIf you look up the term \u2018ungovernable,\u2019 I am convinced a handful of conference logos pop up, and they\u2019re all autonomy logos,\u201d Steinbrecher said.\n<\/p>\n \n\tFed up with what he called a \u201cconsistent and persistent power grab\u201d by the biggest conferences, Steinbrecher turned to country music to describe the state of college sports. The song, a duet between Kacey Musgraves and Willie Nelson, is called \u201cUncertain, TX,\u201d about a place where \u201cnobody ever makes up their dusty old love-bombin\u2019, snake charmin\u2019, bull-s\u2014in\u2019, heart-breakin\u2019, god-forsaken, dumbass mind.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tAs the leaders mull over decisions, the fuse gets shorter.\n<\/p>\n \n\tSteinbrecher doesn\u2019t want to see the bomb go off.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAt this rate, college football may not have much choice.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0CONCERT OF THE DAY.\u00a0Jon Bellion Live at Forest Hills Stadium.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0CUT TO THE CHASE.\u00a0What it\u2019s like to go inside New York City\u2019s dank, dangerous, bug-filled sewers<\/a>…\u00a0Two fans get lifetime bans over selfie quest at NBA Finals Game 1<\/a>…\u00a0Google plans on releasing mosquitoes by the millions. See why and how<\/a>…\u00a0ESPN braces for more layoffs<\/a>… 82-0 <\/a>is the most addicting game on the internet… 15-0 is pretty good, too<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n
Available on newsstands & Amazon (https:\/\/t.co\/QjKHmJ6z3v<\/a>)<\/p>\n