buckeyemania11 said:

Some very bad ones too though like thinking Nico at UCLA and Josh Hoover (a turnover machine) should be ranked ahead of Sayin

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I didn't pay much attention to Hoover, but I did watch a bit more of Nico. To be fair, Max did say it was difficult to evaluate Sayin.

It almost feels like Julian is that rich kid who has everything at his disposal and was only asked not to screw up. I think he did a great job with that.

Players like Nico were kinda like Dennis Rodman, who was knocked down so many times and had to rise up and try something different.

Will Howard wasn't that impressive at KSU and turned into a very good one at tOSU. Check out how many 1st downs he got for the team in the NC game. The question for Julian, which is a fair one to me, is whether he will, not can, carry the team to victory when they are in tough situations like Mendoza did last season. I have no doubt he has that ability, and I just need to see it on the field. This schedule is set up perfectly for it.

That's a great thought. A fifth year for every sport.....but most people look to the football players. Although believe Diebs has access to a bunch of Athletic Department lawyers to do that research, cannot see any roadblock there. Not certain if he signed some sort of pro contract, which might make him ineligible. But spend a few minutes. PS, anyone know if there's a spare basketball schollie available? Thought there might be one.

Just a thought...Miami could save a bunch of money, simply get rid of their recruiting department, but plant a bug in the Woody, and go after those kids the Buckeyes want. With the money they save, they can outbid tOSU, for these players. Or somesuch.

Nope, never taught at any HS. But I attended one, therefore am an expert! (at least that's what Board members said to me).

Tyler Bowen has a chance to land his first blue-chip recruit at Ohio State​

The Ohio State offensive line coach looks like he's on his way to getting an elite recruit in the 2028 class.

At almost every position on the field, Ohio State has been able to recruit five-star recruits. The one exception to that in the last few years has been the offensive line. It has been a while since they have been able to bring in a blue-chip recruit up front, even since adding Tyler Bowen to the coaching staff.

Bowen has a plethora of offensive linemen coming in the 2027 recruiting class. Right now, the Buckeyes have six offensive linemen in the class. That accounts for almost one-third of the entire recruiting class right now. Bowen looks poised to land his first blue-chip recruit in next year's class, though.

Tyler Bowen gets early crystal ball prediction for two offensive line recruits in 2028​

While the Buckeyes are still trying to round out the 2027 recruiting class, they already have their eyes on some prospects from the 2028 class. Bowen has a crystal ball prediction from Allen Trieu of 247Sports to land two different offensive line prospects. One of them is Kavon Blackman.

Blackman is ranked in the top 25 nationally by Rivals and would be the first blue-chip recruit that the Ohio State Buckeyes have landed on the offensive line since Paris Johnson Jr. Right now, he is listed as a four-star recruit from Springfield, so he's an in-state guy.

The other recruit Trieu has a prediction for is John Paul Carrico. He is a four-star recruit from Kentucky. Of course, it is very early in the class to think that these recruits are sewn up in any way for the Buckeyes. There is too much time between now and when those recruits would sign to think that.

If Bowen were able to land both recruits, it would be a heck of a start to the 2028 recruiting class. Next year's class likely won't see Ohio State add as many offensive linemen as it does in this class, though. That could allow Bowen to focus more on the top recruits.

Tyler Bowen needs to prove he can develop on Ohio State's offensive line​

Bowen's MO when he was hired was that he was a good recruiter. However, there are questions about whether or not he can actually develop some talent up front. He hasn't been able to get the top-rated recruits in the country, so he needs to show that he can develop some lesser-rated recruits.

Those questions will start to be answered this season. Bowen needs to get his unit to play much better at the end of the year than it did last season. The failure up front in the last two games was a big reason why they lost the Big Ten Championship and the Cotton Bowl.

In those final two games, the Buckeyes allowed 10 sacks. That simply is not going to get it done when playing the best competition at the end of the year. Bowen has to show that he can get his guys to protect Julian Sayin as he tries to lead the team to a national championship.

This is Pure *ichigan...

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The weather got worse at exactly the wrong time. Abbott about to walk in a bunch of runs...

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This week’s question: Where will Ohio State men’s basketball finish in the Big Ten this season?​

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Connor: 7th​

I think Ohio State has the opportunity to move up from last season’s 8th-place finish in the conference, but there’s still enough questions about this team that I’m not super confident that they will do that.

Who starts at center, and how effective will they be at that spot? Can Justin Pippen improve his career field goal percentage of 36% as a heavy minutes type of guy?

Will Anthony Thompson jump right in and dominate like he’s expected to, or will it take some time for the freshman to adjust to the speed and physicality of college basketball? How much of a step will Amare Bynum take as a sophomore — are we looking at a potential All-Big Ten type of guy, or an 11-point, five-rebound per game guy (so a marginal uptick from last season)?

If all of those things pan out in Ohio State’s favor, you’re looking at a Buckeyes team that could absolutely finish in the top four of the Big Ten and compete for both a triple-bye in the Big Ten Tournament and a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than they got last year.

Also, there are several teams that I think are more trustworthy/have fewer questions surrounding them than Ohio State.

Right off the top, Illinois, Michigan State, and Nebraska all feel like safer bets than Ohio State. Michigan and USC both have very talented rosters, although I think (for different reasons) I trust them less than the top three.

On paper, Purdue’s roster is nowhere close to as good as it has been over the past decade or so, but Matt Painter always seems to take a group of guys and make the sum greater than its parts.

Illinois, Michigan State, Nebraska, Michigan, USC, Purdue….. and then Ohio State.

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Justin: 6th​

I pretty much just turned this question into a “Will Ohio State finish in the top six of the Big Ten?” and my answer is yes.

As of right now, Illinois, Michigan State, and Michigan are the top three teams in the conference. UCLA, USC, Maryland, Indiana, Purdue, and Ohio State are all in the second tier to me, and the Buckeyes can fall anywhere from fourth to ninth, depending on what the other teams do.

USC and Indiana have great teams on paper, but they will have to gel and find team chemistry they didn’t find last year. Purdue has the question mark of replacing Braden Smith, Fletcher Loyer, and Trey Kaufman-Renn. The Boilermakers have not played without that trio in four years and, even though they are talented, will have to learn to play without Smith, Loyer, and Kaufman-Renn.

Obviously, the Buckeyes have questions too, as Mobley and Bynum have to take the next steps, the bench has to be wildly better, and the

Buckeyes are relying heavily on a freshman to be one of their best players.

But I love the transfers and the addition of the freshmen, and I think this is a top six team in the conference.

BuckBackHome said:

I’m assuming the bat they received in the trade can’t actually hit.

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You'd be absolutely correct.

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Just sayin': Could Iowa be the "trap game" in 2026?

If they had a good QB he'd be insane

MD Buckeye said:

Go ahead and sign up. Worst case, we'll just expand to 12 teams.

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Boundary Screen on 4th and 22 reporting for failure

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Captain Buckeye said:

Go get Curry back lol

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Other Ohio State scholarship players who exhausted their eligibility last season that would have had a fifth year of eligibility under the new rule change were running back CJ Donaldson, defensive end Caden Curry, linebacker Sonny Styles and cornerback Davison Igbinosun

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Just sayin': Needless to say, none of the "other four players" are coming back........

CJ Donaldson signed a 3 year $3,123.000 undrafted contract with the New Orleans Saints on May 8, 2026. The deal includes a $20,000 signing bonus and $90,000 in total guaranteed money.

Caden Curry signed a 4 year rookie contract with the Indianapolis Colts worth $4.586,532. The deal includes an average annual salary of $1,146,633 and $206,532 in total guaranteed money, coming from a fully guaranteed signing bonus.

Sonny Styles signed a 4 year fully guaranteed rookie contract worth $37,211,582 with the Washington Commanders after being selected 7th overall in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Davison Igbinosun signed a 4 year, $7,949,010 contract with the Buffalo Bills, including $2,241,096 signing bonus, $5,738,907 guaranteed, and an average annual salary of $1,987,253.

pnuts34 said:

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This is right up there with Matthew Perry’s photo. He’s going to be a freaking problem.

I wouldn’t be shocked if he has a role in this years defense. I’d love to see him cut loose on passing situations. Just go get the QB.

Neal shot a 3-under 67 today and is tied for 48th at -6 before the final round of the Rocket Classic in Detroit.

Big Ten, SEC support college sports bill, reviving Senate chances​

The Big Ten and SEC agreed Friday night to support a Senate bill that seeks to regulate college sports, ending a breakneck week of negotiations and pulling the bipartisan measure out of what looked like a certain death spiral.

School presidents from both conferences voted to back the bill after receiving last-minute concessions over language regarding third-party name-image-likeness deals and the so-called "associated entities" that often broker those arrangements between players and schools.

More details need to be worked out, but the bill still has a chance to earn the 60 votes it needs to halt debate and head to an up-or-down vote before the Senate heads for summer break next Friday.

The summer recess is increasingly looking like an intractable deadline for the Protect College Sports Act, a bipartisan effort headed by Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, and Maria Cantwell, D-Wash.

After the conferences, which had balked at large sections of the bill, put out a short release announcing they supported the act "as currently drafted," Cruz put out a short statement on social media thanking the leagues and saying: "Let's save college sports."

Cantwell said: "Good. Now progress can be made in protecting women and Olympic athletes and moving the legislation closer to the President's desk."

President Donald Trump, who has also been seeking fixes for an industry that now pays its players millions, got involved late Thursday, which helped push the parties back to the negotiating table.

Cody Campbell, the Texas Tech regent who has played a big role in shaping this policy, called the SEC and Big Ten support "a major breakthrough that moves us closer to a Senate vote -- and a better future" for college sports.

Increased salary cap, new language entice holdout leagues
The most groundbreaking part of the reworked deal is the $27.5 million that schools would be allotted to retain players, in addition to the $21.3 million cap that already exists.

It could represent a major reworking of the House settlement -- the groundbreaking agreement that governs paying players. The idea is that the extra money will take the place of payments from "associated entities" that were allowed above and beyond the $21.3 million cap. It was those payments that, many schools complained, obliterated any idea of a cap or controlled cost.

The SEC and Big Ten sought stronger language in the bill to guarantee that any third-party deals are truly outside deals and not coming from the schools' multimedia-rights partners, which currently arrange the majority of those deals.

Among the questions still unanswered are whether the new cap will comport with the House settlement, which had specific instructions about the hard cap (22% of a certain part of athletic department revenues, which equals $21.3 million this season).

Also, what would happen to the College Sports Commission, the main NIL enforcement arm that spends the bulk of its time analyzing third-party NIL deals that would be greatly reduced under this arrangement?
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Compromise comes on a day where NCAA loses two more court rulings

Almost everyone involved in college sports agrees that the status quo isn't working.

The news broke only hours after the NCAA lost a pair of key court cases involving its new rule that would give most Division I athletes five years to complete five seasons of eligibility.

Using those losses as another chance to urge for passage of the bill, NCAA president Charlie Baker said: "It is long past time leaders across college sports call for the immediate passage of the bipartisan Protect College Sports Act."

Two-time national champion hoops coach Dan Hurley of UConn used social media to outline the stakes in more colorful terms: "Somebody please come and fix College Sports. It's a complete [expletive] show," he said, using an emoji where the expletive would go.


Following the preliminary injunction issued by U.S. District Judge Charlotte Sweeney on Friday, a host of athletes whose college careers ended last year have declared that they will seek the opportunity to play another year of college sports

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Jaxbuck said:

https://www.al.com/sports/2026/07/nick-saban-explains-why-he-still-doesnt-think-big-ten-is-better-than-sec.html

Funny I don't recall this being the official company line from ESPN when Saban was winning NC's from a very top heavy SEC.

In fact, if we look back on 2025 through the lens of Disney/ESPN official transitive property doctrine it would have to work like this:
-IU won the NC and beat Alabama 38-3
-IU barely survived Penn State 27-24
-PSU only went 3-6 in conference
-Therefore, according to established precedent, the following must be true: Oregon, UCLA, Northwestern, IU, OSU and Iowa are all better than anyone in the SEC
-Under the codicil of "close losses count against the transitive property too" : Penn State only beat Rutgers by 4. Penn State stayed with 3 of IU. IU beat Bama by 35 therefore Rutgers is also better than Bama.

Just trying to stay on point and show why it's ok for Purdue and Sparty fans to be pounding their chest and chanting "B-I-G" after Indiana won the title last year.

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The math scans. Good work.

Mike80 said:

View attachment 92509

There is no way in hell this is going to last

I'd bet I'll end up losing by the same score....

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Not so sure about that. Looks like I have the dildoes this week…

ScriptOhio said:

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Best hype video of them all.

That one was different.

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Catching Heat in New York and Normandy: Yogi Berra at D-Day

ScriptOhio said:

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The Internet Has Turned On The Savannah Bananas​

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I don't remember exactly when the Savannah Bananas rose to internet fame. It feels like it happened overnight. One day they just appeared on our feeds and everybody immediately understood what the Savannah Bananas were. A baseball team that does wacky bits geared toward children and are good for viral internet clips. They're the Harlem Globetrotters of baseball. In my opinion, they're much better than the Globetrotters, because at least the Savannah Bananas are actually competing. The rules of Banana Ball are fluid, but it's still a competition between two teams who are trying to win a game. It's actually possible for the Savannah Bananas to lose. That's far more compelling to me than the Harlem Globetrotters beating the Washington Generals by 100 points every night.

I don't know if it's fair to say everybody loved the Savannah Bananas at first. But I don't think they invoked any extreme negative reactions out of anyone. I've always thought I'd like to catch a game someday. If the stars aligned and I happened to be in the right city at the right time. Some of their rules actually sound pretty fun. Banana Ball Rule #8, for example - If a fan catches a foul ball, it's an out.

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That's pretty fun. I'd be pretty fired up if I were sitting along the 3rd base line and I suddenly had an opportunity to make a big play for the home team. I believe your ticket comes with a free beer as well. From everything I've heard, the Savannah Bananas put on a great show in real life, and the fan experience is well worth the price of admission. I know the tickets are still highly sought after. You have to enter your name in a lottery just for the opportunity to purchase them. Which I also think is nice, because it keeps their prices reasonable. I had only ever seen positive things about the Savannah Bananas. I'm sure they weren't everyone's cup of tea. I'm sure the baseball pursuits out have probably thought all along that the Savannah Banana's are a plague on America's greatest pastime. But overall, the Bananas weren't hurting anybody. They are what they are, they know who their audience is, and by all accounts they do a phenomenal job of catering to them.

But that clip at the top the blog... The lengthy choreographed dance on the pitchers mount that culminated in an 80 mph fastball 3-feet off the plate. That was the tipping point. What happens to every good thing on the internet finally happened to the Savannah Bananas. People finally woke up and realized that they're fed up with the Bananas' bullshit gimmicks, and they couldn't stay silent any longer.

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