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2026 Polls

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THEY ARE (STILL) NO. 1! Ohio State remains No. 1 in ESPN’s latest preseason top 25.

The Worldwide Leader updated its poll following news that Texas Tech quarterback Brendan Sorsby has declared for the NFL supplemental draft.

“While the next step of his NFL journey is still to be determined, there’s no doubt it will have a huge impact on college football in 2026,” Mark Schlabach wrote. Even so, the development had little to no impact on Ohio State’s standing as the top team in the sport entering the fall.

“With quarterback Julian Sayin, tailback Bo Jackson and all-world receiver Jeremiah Smith returning, the Buckeyes should be back in the national championship hunt,” Schlabach wrote. “Ohio State’s offense is going to be difficult to stop, especially if its offensive line improves. Coach Ryan Day hired former NFL head coach/offensive coordinator Arthur Smith to replace offensive coordinator Brian Hartline. That recipe worked on defense, as former NFL defensive coordinator Matt Patricia has turned Ohio State’s unit into one of the sport’s best. Ohio State will have to navigate one of the most demanding schedules in the FBS, including games at Texas, Indiana, Iowa, Nebraska and USC.”

The Buckeyes rank No. 1 ahead of Oregon, Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas in the top five. Indiana, Miami, Ole Miss, Texas A&M and LSU round out the top 10.

Ohio State’s 2026 schedule features six ranked opponents, beginning with matchups against Oregon, Texas and Indiana. The Buckeyes will also face Michigan, ranked No. 14 in Schlabach’s poll, as well as Iowa and USC, which check in at Nos. 19 and 20.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly’s SP+ (more on this in the next section) ranks Ohio State’s strength of schedule No. 4 in the nation. The Buckeyes will have plenty of opportunity to prove it. I’d expect this slate to better prepare them for the postseason than last year’s schedule, which lacked the same level of punch as the 2026 slate.

ESPN'S PRESEASON TOP 25
RANK TEAM CONFERENCE
1 Ohio State Big Ten
2 Oregon Big Ten
3 Georgia SEC
4 Notre Dame Independent
5 Texas SEC
6 Indiana Big Ten
7 Miami ACC
8 Ole Miss SEC
9 Texas A&M SEC
10 LSU SEC
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2027 CA DL Marcus Fakatou (Verbal Offer)

I watched his YouTube video. Maybe it was just the way that it was edited, but in the video he says something like "...I hope to continue the defensive lineman tradition here at Ohio State." Sounded like a major tell to me. He also weighed in at 264, and so I lean to thinking that he's on the defensive end path to playing time. He really looks up to J.T. Tuimoloau. So in short, I think he's ours, he'll be a D-End, and hopefully we get on the ball and find one or two big and bad D Tackles for 2027 (maybe portal?). Just my opinion.
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The Ohio State University Marching Band (TBDBITL)

Login to view embedded media So, Youtube brought me to a rabbithole where I listen to some British blokes talk about their time in the US. It's not great. Not terrible. But I guess they were convinced to go see a college football game. Makes sense. They went to Oklahoma at Tennessee. That starts around 15:55 of that video. At 16:18 some nerd calls Tennessee's band "The Best Damn Band in the Land." Where did they get that?
I Googled "The Best Damn Band in the Land" and all it comes up with is Ohio State. I even Googled "The Best Damn Band in the Land Tennessee" and Google just laughed at me.
Anyway, I feel vindicated for pointing out when other people are wrong.
I don’t speak jive.
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Future Football Schedules (Updated 1/20/2026)

On the topic of future schedules since UGA/FSU cancelled the home and home (series) and instead moved the game to Nashville.
I am increasingly leery of our games in 30 and 31 being moved to the Benz and the Browns new stadium.

Not that there is any appetite to do so - but money always wins in these scenarios.
My worry meter is a 6/10 right now.
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Florida State Seminoles (official thread)

That's why I figured they need the ticket sales and vending. Every game we play away from Ohio Stadium we lose a crap load of money. F$U isn't a MAC school or Sun Belt, and I know comparing them to is also ridiculous but their school doesn't pay all the bills from football revenues does it? Maybe I'm just looking at every thing through first world football glasses.


They're like 200MM in the hole. They have way way way overextended themselves on upgrades to Doak and other athletic facilities.
Getting 6-8mm upfront to play in the Titans new stadium is a win for them rather than waiting two years for a potential ticket sales and/or concessions bucks.

From our perspective, we wanted the premium (heh) opponent and FSU had the leverage. Either play the game at a Neutral site or cancel it and reschedule with TAMU or Troy or some other paycheck game.
Kind of cool we get to play in the new titans stadium and Nashville is always a party.

titans-stadium-enh.jpg
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WR Kyle Parker (Official Thread)

Former LSU WR Kyle Parker is standing out for Ohio State this summer​

“Down the stretch in April, it felt like Parker was beginning to surge a bit ahead in the bid to take a first-team job alongside Jeremiah Smith and Brandon Inniss — and the summertime buzz suggests not only was that the case then but that the workouts in June have helped solidify that,” Ward wrote. “Parker arrived with big-game experience at LSU and an existing relationship with new Ohio State wide receivers coach Cortez Hankton, and both of those seem to have eased his acclimation period into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center.”
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