Real Pod Wednesdays

In our annual Ohio State football team draft, Eleven Warriors’ Dan Hope and Andy Anders went head-to-head to draft dueling lineups from OSU’s 2025 roster for a hypothetical game of Buckeyes vs. Buckeyes. Each beat writer drafted 22 players – 11 on offense and 11 on defense – with the goal of building a lineup that would defeat the other writer’s team in a head-to-head game. Each player could only...

We’re less than 24 hours away from the start of preseason camp at Ohio State. As the Buckeyes prepare to start their 25-practice preseason slate on Thursday, we’re previewing all of Ohio State’s top position battles entering camp on a Real Pod Wednesdays-style episode of Press Coverage. We start by sharing our thoughts on the headlining competition of camp, Julian Sayin vs. Lincoln Kienholz for th...

Even we beat writers who typically prefer noon games believe Ohio State vs. Texas should be a night game. With how spectacular the atmosphere was for Ohio State’s home night College Football Playoff game against Tennessee, we want to see another primetime showcase for the Buckeyes’ season opener against the Longhorns. That doesn’t seem to be in the cards, however – unsurprisingly – with FOX set to...

While there’s not a ton happening with Ohio State football right now, there’s a lot to look forward to over the next eight months. Right now, the most anticipated event of the summer for Buckeye fans might be Michigan’s Committee on Infractions hearing that’s set to take place in one month as the Wolverines could finally face punishment from the NCAA this summer for their impermissible scouting sc...

Ohio State’s quarterback competition is real, as is Austin Siereveld’s surge on the offensive line. Those two things were made clear by Ryan Day on Tuesday, when he revealed that Lincoln Kienholz led Ohio State’s quarterback competition entering the spring game – until Julian Sayin evened it up with his spring game performance – and that Siereveld has already earned a starting job this offseason e...

The 2025 NFL draft is just one day away, and there are at least 15 reasons to be excited if you’re an Ohio State fan. Ohio State is projected to have 15 players drafted, which would break its school record and tie Georgia’s record for the most players selected in a seven-round NFL draft. It’s not out of the question that Ohio State could have as many as 17 players drafted, and we talk about all 17...

Spring practice is in the books and the transfer portal has reopened, which means it’s time to assess where Ohio State stands in its quest to compete for another championship in 2025. While only one of us would say we’re more confident in Ohio State’s championship chances coming out of spring than we were going in, Eleven Warriors ‘ Dan Hope and Andy Anders both agree that there’s a lot to like ab...

Ohio State’s starting quarterback competition will be in the spotlight during Saturday’s spring game at Ohio Stadium. After Ryan Day said Monday that Julian Sayin and Lincoln Kienholz are “pretty much neck-and-neck” in their competition to be Ohio State’s No. 1 QB this season, the biggest storyline on Saturday will be the performance of the Buckeyes’ top two quarterbacks as each of them look to ma...

Ohio State is now past the halfway point of spring practice, and it became more apparent this week how Ryan Day is feeling about all 10 of the Buckeyes’ position groups. Day had lots of positive things to say on Monday about Ohio State’s running backs, tight ends, linebackers, cornerbacks and safeties, but indicated the Buckeyes are still looking for more than what they’ve seen so far this spring...

Spring practice is in full swing at Ohio State, and Buckeye fans will get their opportunity to watch the team in Ohio Stadium in two-and-a-half weeks. Ryan Day said Monday that Ohio State will have a spring game after all this year, and that’s a decision that should be celebrated at a time when other colleges are canceling their spring games. The spring game can be a great opportunity both for fan...

Ohio State’s first two days of spring practice are in the books, and we already have plenty of thoughts. The first two days at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center allowed us to watch the first hour of each of Ohio State’s initial two practices as well as talk to Ohio State coach Ryan Day , each of the Buckeyes’ scholarship quarterbacks and running backs and each of their respective position coaches, g...

The spotlight will be on Ohio State’s defense as the Buckeyes begin spring practice next week. Yes, the quarterback competition will draw plenty of attention too, but it’s the defense that we’ll be watching most closely this spring as we seek to get an idea of what Ohio State’s defense will look like in 2025 with eight new starters and a new defensive coordinator. While we know the defense will be...

The NFL Scouting Combine gave us an opportunity to not only watch some of Ohio State’s 2025 draft prospects work out for NFL scouts, but to learn more about some of OSU’s returning players in the words of last year’s Buckeye stars. Garrick Hodge joined Dan Hope in Indianapolis to cover the combine last week, so Garrick joins us on this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays as we talk about both th...

Ohio State’s historically deep 2025 draft class will be in the spotlight at this week’s NFL Scouting Combine. 15 members of Ohio State’s national championship team are in Indianapolis for the combine – the most players from any school – and all 15 of them are expected to be drafted, which would tie Georgia’s record for the most picks from one school in a seven-round NFL draft. With media interview...

Now that Ohio State has new coordinators on both sides of the ball, one of the biggest lingering questions entering this spring is how the Buckeyes’ offense and defense will operate under Brian Hartline and Matt Patricia.  We aren’t expecting any drastic changes on the offensive side of the ball – Ohio State’s offense is still Ryan Day’s offense, and Brian Hartline’s promotion comes in part becaus...

With Ohio State’s offensive coaching now set for 2025, the Buckeyes’ focus on that side of the ball turns toward trying to build another championship-caliber unit this season. Offensive coordinator Brian Hartline, co-offensive coordinator Keenan Bailey, run game coordinator and offensive line coach Tyler Bowen, running backs coach Carlos Locklyn and quarterbacks coach Billy Fessler have plenty of...

You may have forgotten, but today is National Signing Day. From Ohio State’s perspective, the real signing day happened two months ago, as the Buckeyes signed 26 high school players during the early signing period. Ohio State isn’t expected to add any more scholarship players to its high school recruiting class for 2025, making the traditional February signing day a non-event for the Buckeyes. Tha...

After recapping Ohio State’s national championship run on last week’s show, we’re beginning to look ahead to the 2025 season on this week‘s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays. Ohio State’s 2025 roster is set for the spring now that the winter window for players to enter the transfer portal has closed. With that in mind, we spend the entirety of this week’s RPW taking a first look at Ohio State’s 2025...

Ohio State is a national champion once again after one of the most impressive championship runs we’ve ever seen. The Buckeyes’ four-game run to the national title was one we won’t soon forget as Ohio State beat four of the nation’s best teams in the College Football Playoff – all by double digits – to turn what could have been one of Ohio State’s most disappointing seasons ever into one of its gre...

Ohio State is one game away from accomplishing the biggest goal we thought the Buckeyes would achieve when the season began. The Buckeyes didn’t always look like a national championship team during the regular season, but they sure have in the College Football Playoff. While they weren’t as dominant against Texas as they were in their first two CFP games against Tennessee and Oregon, the CFP semif...

As well as Ohio State’s played so far in the College Football Playoff, it feels like the only team who can beat the Buckeyes is themselves. But that doesn’t mean a win over Texas will come easily. The Longhorns are in the CFP semifinals too for a reason, the biggest of which is its defense, which leads the nation in passing yards allowed per attempt. We’re not sure if anyone in college football ca...

With the Buckeyes set to play the Ducks on a Wednesday in the College Football Playoff quarterfinal at the Rose Bowl, this week’s episode of Real Pod Wednesdays comes one day early as we discuss the keys to the game and make our final predictions for how the game will play out. The full rundown for our Rose Bowl preview edition of RPW: 0:00 Setting the Stage for What Should Be A Classic Game 2:44...

Ohio State fans got their Christmas present four days early. In front of a raucous Ohio Stadium crowd that gave the Buckeyes plenty of energy despite a Tennessee takeover attempt, Ohio State gave its fans everything they could have asked for in a 42-17 dismantling of the Volunteers that reestablished the Buckeyes as a national championship contender and punched their ticket to the College Football...

Three days away from the first-ever College Football Playoff game at Ohio Stadium, our confidence level that Ohio State will beat Tennessee sits at around 60%. Ohio State’s interior offensive line remains a major concern as the Buckeyes have opted not to commit to a set trio of starters inside, and we think Tennessee is a well-rounded team capable of challenging Ohio State in all phases of the gam...

Ohio State’s College Football Playoff opener is just 10 days away. While there have historically been more than three weeks between Selection Sunday and the marquee bowl games, the wait for games that matter is much shorter this year as the College Football Playoff begins on Dec. 20 and 21. Ohio State will host the last of four first-round games as it welcomes Tennessee to Columbus for an 8 p.m. g...