\n Welcome to the Skull Session. <\/p>\n
\n\tJack Nicklaus can still be as good once as he ever was \u2014 especially as an honorary starter at the 90th Masters.\n<\/p>\n
\n\t\tSome of the best who’ve ever done it. #themasters<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/hn9T3sIIFd<\/a>\n\t<\/p>\n \t\u2014 The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \n\tHave a good Friday.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0OHIO STATE\u2019S BEST JERSEYS? I\u2019ll return to the Cam Heyward podcast<\/a> a final time this week to share Ryan Day\u2019s answer to the following question: What is Coach Day\u2019s favorite Ohio State uniform?\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI like the grays. I like the grays. Yeah, I do,\u201d Day answered. \u201cThe whites are good. I like going on the road. All the recruits like the black ones, but, like, nah, I like the grays man. There\u2019s just something about those. They\u2019re just sharp. I\u2019d go with those.\u201d\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u201cI like those, too,\u201d Heyward responded. \u201cI\u2019ve always been jealous, like, \u2018Damn, I wish I had those black jerseys. I wish I had those grays.\u2019 Those are sharp. I am very jealous when it comes to those.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tThoughts?\n<\/p>\n \n\tI like all of the alternates. The all-blacks. The all-scarlets. The all-whites. But I\u2019m a uniform traditionalist when it comes to the Buckeyes. I love the \u201cstandard\u201d scarlet home uniforms. The scarlet jersey, the gray pants and the chrome helmets with Buckeye leaves are an iconic, timeless look.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0KEVIN! <\/a>NBC wanted the Big Ten Championship Game \u2014 until it didn\u2019t.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAccording to The Wall Street Journal\u2019s Joe Flint<\/a>, NBC is set to sell its rights to the game back to FOX for somewhere between $45 million and $55 million. As part of the deal, NBC will receive additional regular-season games<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn doing so, NBC quietly cleans up a mess that never should have existed in the first place \u2014 one created by former Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren.\n<\/p>\n \n\tBack in 2023, Warren awarded NBC the conference title game without FOX\u2019s approval, despite FOX holding the conference\u2019s primary rights. ESPN\u2019s Pete Thamel <\/a>reported at the time that the Big Ten had to pay FOX $40 million to smooth things over.\n<\/p>\n \n\tNow, FOX is\u00a0reacquiring\u00a0the championship game it arguably never should have lost \u2014 though it will still have to shell out an extra $5 million to $15 million to get it back.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhether NBC ever paid FOX as part of the original blunder remains unclear, per Sports Media Watch\u2019s Jon Lewis. But if it did, this deal more than makes up for it. As Lewis noted, \u201cAt the high end, selling that single Big Ten football game could pay back a full quarter of NBC\u2019s annual Major League Baseball rights fee.\u201d\n<\/p>\n \n\tThat said, NBC can thank its lucky stars for Warren.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe rest of us?\n<\/p>\n \n\tNot so much.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0ROAD WORK AHEAD. Jake Diebler has a massive offseason ahead<\/a> of him.\n<\/p>\n \n\tYes, Diebler needs to respond<\/a> after Dusty May led Michigan to a national title. But the Wolverines\u2019 success shouldn\u2019t be his only source of urgency \u2014 the entire Big Ten should be.\n<\/p>\n \n\tESPN <\/a>and The Athletic<\/a> both released way-too-early top 25 polls for 2026-27 after Michigan beat UConn on Monday. Neither included Ohio State, but they did include many other Big Ten teams.\n<\/p>\n \n\tNote: These rankings are largely based on returning talent and incoming 2026 recruiting classes. The transfer portal will inevitably reshape the picture.\n<\/p>\n \tESPN<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 1 Michigan<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 6 Michigan State<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 8 Illinois<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 14 Purdue<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 17 USC<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 18 Nebraska<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 25 Iowa<\/p>\n \tThe Athletic<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 1 Illinois<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 2 Michigan<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 7 Michigan State<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 10 Nebraska<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 11 Iowa<\/p>\n \t\tNo. 13 Purdue<\/p>\n \n\tTake the ESPN poll, and Ohio State is no better than eighth in the conference entering next season. Take The Athletic poll, and the Buckeyes are no better than seventh.\n<\/p>\n \n\tBut (!) Diebler and his staff have an opportunity to change that narrative with a strong offseason in the transfer portal.\n<\/p>\n \n\tPoint guard.\n<\/p>\n \n\tCenter (preferably over 250 pounds!).\n<\/p>\n \n\tDepth.\n<\/p>\n \n\tGet the job done, Coach.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0THE BIG TEN\u2019S BEST. Ohio State has the Big Ten\u2019s top athletics program.\n<\/p>\n \n\tYou don\u2019t need convincing \u2014 but here\u2019s the proof anyway.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe Buckeyes sit at No. 5 in the Learfield Directors\u2019 Cup<\/a> standings following the winter season, the highest mark of any Big Ten school.\n<\/p>\n \tTop Five<\/p>\n \t\tNorth Carolina \u2014 781.5 points<\/p>\n \t\tStanford \u2014 746.25 points<\/p>\n \t\tVirginia \u2014 696.75 points<\/p>\n \t\tPrinceton \u2014 679.5 points<\/p>\n \t\tOhio State \u2014 664 points<\/p>\n \n\tOhio State piled up points across the board: 50 from women\u2019s basketball, 25 from men\u2019s basketball, 69 from women\u2019s fencing, 60 from men\u2019s fencing, 90 from women\u2019s hockey, 64.5 from women\u2019s swimming, 63 from men\u2019s swimming, 21 from men\u2019s indoor track and field and 75 from wrestling.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAnd yet, somehow, that total doesn\u2019t include pistol \u2014 where Ohio State just won its sixth straight national title<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhy?\u00a0\n<\/p>\n \n\tBecause pistol doesn\u2019t have an NCAA-sponsored championship.\n<\/p>\n \n\tYes, really.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThat\u2019s a chunk of points left on the table, and it still didn\u2019t matter. Ohio State leads the Big Ten with Penn State (No. 6) and Michigan (No. 9) trailing behind.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe rest of the conference? A step further back: Minnesota (No. 18), Nebraska (No. 20), UCLA (No. 22), Oregon (No. 23) and Indiana (No. 26).\n<\/p>\n \n\tIn short: top five nationally, No. 1 in the conference \u2014 and still room to argue the Buckeyes deserve even more.\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0SONG OF THE DAY. “Georgia On My Mind” – Ray Charles.\n<\/p>\n<\/p>\n \n\t\u00a0CUT TO THE CHASE.\u00a0Xander Schauffele\u2019s shot lands in a viewer\u2019s merchandise bag. It didn\u2019t stop him from making par<\/a>… Bryson DeChambeau is playing\u00a0the Masters with a 5-iron that he fabricated himself with a 3D printer<\/a>…\u00a0A Buffalo-area man ends his fight to reclaim Albert, his 12-foot alligator seized in 2024<\/a>…\u00a0Scientists say the world\u2019s oldest octopus fossil isn\u2019t an octopus after all<\/a>…\u00a0Big Ten earns $69.4M in revenue from NCAA basketball tournaments<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n