\n\tHow will you be celebrating this weekend? Personally, I\u2019m looking forward to my favorite 4th of July tradition: Watching Joey Chestnut eat an obscene amount of hot dogs.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\n\tHowever you choose to spend the holiday weekend, we\u2019re grateful you\u2019ve chosen to start it with Eleven Warriors. Have a great Friday.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\u00a0COLLEGE FOOTBALL\u2019S TOUGHEST SCHEDULE?\u00a0Ohio State\u2019s schedule is full of tough opponents this season, and national college football analysts are taking notice.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tAs part of On3\u2019s rankings this week<\/a> of the toughest schedules in each major conference, Ari Wasserman ranked Ohio State\u2019s schedule as the hardest in the Big Ten, putting the Buckeyes\u2019 slate above Michigan, Northwestern, Oregon and USC as the conference\u2019s most challenging. In an X post, Wasserman took his assessment of Ohio State\u2019s schedule a step further, saying it might be the hardest schedule in all of college football this year.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tI think Ohio State may have the toughest schedule in the country this year. https:\/\/t.co\/BnE6S39MQ8<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Ari Wasserman (@AriWasserman) June 30, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tOhio State\u2019s regular-season slate includes road games against Texas and Indiana and a home game against Oregon \u2013 all of whom rank among the top five teams in national championship odds entering the 2026 season. Michigan and Northwestern, who will each play Ohio State, Indiana and Oregon, are the only other teams that will face three preseason top-five opponents according to the betting odds.\n<\/p>\n \t\t2026 Ohio State Football Schedule<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tDate<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tOpponent<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSept. 5<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tBall State<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSept. 12<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tat Texas<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSept. 19<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tKent State<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tSept. 26<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tIllinois<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tOct. 3<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tat Iowa<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tOct. 10<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tMaryland<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tOct. 17<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tat Indiana<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tOct. 31<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tat USC<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tNov. 7<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tOregon<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tNov. 14<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tNorthwestern<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tNov. 21<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tat Nebraska<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tNov. 28<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tMichigan<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tProjected preseason top-25 teams<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\u00a0<\/p>\n \n\tThe Buckeyes\u2019 challenging games don\u2019t stop there, though, as they also face road games against Iowa and USC and a home game against Michigan, each of whom is also likely to be ranked in the preseason top 25. Matchups with Illinois and Nebraska also have trap game potential. Outside of September tune-ups against Ball State and Kent State, the only games that could be considered \u201ceasy\u201d wins for Ohio State are Maryland and Northwestern, and even they aren\u2019t total pushovers.\n<\/p>\n \n\tMaking matters even more difficult, Ohio State will have to travel 4,422 miles<\/a> for its five regular-season road games (Texas, Iowa, Indiana, USC, Nebraska)\u00a0 \u2013 the second-most miles the Buckeyes have ever had to travel during a regular season.\n<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State benefited from a forgiving schedule last year on its way to a 12-0 regular season, but the Buckeyes will face far more challenges just to make the College Football Playoff this season. Fortunately, their well-recognized strength of schedule should put them at the top of the bubble conversation if they lose a couple of games \u2013 and assuming they make the CFP, they\u2019ll be far more battle-tested entering the postseason than they were a year ago.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0MONEY, MONEY, MONEY, MONEY\u2026 MONEY! (Since Chase didn\u2019t use this title earlier this week, I felt like I had to today.)\n<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State will have to make a significant financial investment\u00a0to win the battle for its top remaining target in the 2027 recruiting class, five-star running back David Gabriel Georges.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to a report this week by On3\u2019s Pete Nakos<\/a>, Gabriel Georges is expected to be the first-ever running back recruit to receive an NIL deal worth more than $1 million.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tNEW: 5-star RB David Gabriel Georges is expected to be the highest-paid RB recruit in history, @PeteNakos<\/a> reports<\/p>\n He is in line to become the first RB prospect with a $1M deal.https:\/\/t.co\/VYimDXkSTG<\/a> https:\/\/t.co\/YOsiVd9la1<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/WZzTe6GKEq<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 On3 (@On3) July 1, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tWhile Ohio State is cautious about how much money it promises to recruits, all indications are that the Buckeyes are willing to make a larger-than-usual financial investment to land Gabriel Georges. The Canadian-born running back has been Carlos Locklyn\u2019s top recruiting target for well over a year, to the point that the Buckeyes have focused nearly all of their running back recruiting efforts in the 2027 class on landing Gabriel Georges.\n<\/p>\n \n\tTennessee is also a major contender to land Gabriel Georges, who\u2019s ranked as the No. 2 running back and No. 10 overall prospect<\/a> in the 2027 class, and the battle between the Buckeyes and Volunteers will continue all the way up until his commitment on July 22. But one thing is for certain: No matter which school Gabriel Georges chooses in the end, he\u2019ll be one of the highest-paid freshmen in college football next season.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0HEY NOW, YOU\u2019RE AN ALL-STAR.\u00a0Former Ohio State women\u2019s basketball star Kelsey Mitchell has been selected as a WNBA All-Star starter for the first time.\n<\/p>\n \n\tMitchell, who\u2019s averaging a career-high 21.6 points per game for the Indiana Fever this season, was one of 10 players named Wednesday as starters for this year\u2019s WNBA All-Star Game.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tYour official 2026 AT&T WNBA All-Star starters<\/p>\n Aliyah Boston | @IndianaFever<\/a> \t\u2014 WNBA (@WNBA) July 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tNow in her ninth season of professional basketball, Mitchell has firmly established herself as one of the WNBA\u2019s top scorers, ranking second in the league in points per game this season. A first-team All-WNBA selection last year, Mitchell \u2013 Ohio State\u2019s all-time leading scorer with 3,402 points \u2013 will make her fourth consecutive WNBA All-Star appearance when the game is played later this month on July 25 (8:30 p.m., ABC) in Chicago.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0SAVE MAN GETS PAID. Former Ohio State men\u2019s hockey goaltender Jakub Dobes is cashing in after leading the Montreal Canadiens to the NHL\u2019s Eastern Conference finals in this year\u2019s playoffs.\n<\/p>\n \n\tDobes received a three-year contract extension with an average annual salary of $5,357,575 from the Canadiens on Wednesday.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\tLes Canadiens s’entendent sur les termes d\u2019une prolongation de contrat de trois saisons (2027-2028 \u00e0 2029-2030) avec le gardien Jakub Dobes.<\/p>\n The Canadiens have agreed to terms on a three-year contract extension (2027-28 to 2029-30) with goalie Jakub Dobes.#GoHabsGo<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Sa8xdANqt6<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 Canadiens Montr\u00e9al (@CanadiensMTL) July 2, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tDobes was the NHL\u2019s top rookie goaltender this past season, earning wins in 29 of his 43 regular-season appearances with a 2.78 goals against average and a .901 save percentage. He followed that up by earning nine wins with a 2.66 GAA and .908 save percentage in the playoffs, leading the Canadiens to series wins over the Tampa Bay Lightning and Buffalo Sabres before they lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes in the conference finals.\n<\/p>\n \n\tDobes, who played two seasons for Ohio State from 2021-23 before going pro, is now the 24th-highest-paid goaltender in the NHL, signifying the Canadiens\u2019 commitment to the former Buckeye as their starting goaltender for the next three years.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0SONG OF THE DAY. \u201cHow Forever Feels\u201d \u2013 Kenny Chesney.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\tBONUS COVERAGE: You may recognize a few familiar faces in these pictures that are\u00a0being shown in the photo montage before Kenny Chesney\u2019s concerts at the Sphere this summer.\n<\/p>\n \t \n\t\u00a0HOPE YOU\u2019RE STILL READING. The 30-year-old who fooled Texas and played for the Longhorns under a fake name<\/a> \u2026 2023 NBA draft pick James Nnaji transfers from Baylor to George Mason<\/a> \u2026 Climber couple arrested after scaling Empire State Building antenna<\/a> for apparent marriage proposal \u2026 The not-so-simple logistics<\/a> behind Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce\u2019s wedding … United States\u2019 World Cup win over Bosnia-Herzegovina was the most-watched English-language soccer telecast in U.S. history<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n
Paige Bueckers | @DallasWings<\/a>
Caitlin Clark | @IndianaFever<\/a>
Natasha Howard | @minnesotalynx<\/a>
Olivia Miles | @minnesotalynx<\/a>
Kelsey Mitchell | @IndianaFever<\/a>
Jessica Shepard | @DallasWings<\/a>
Breanna\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/oBXdSaugBK<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n![\"Luke](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_1087.jpg\" "\\"Luke")
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