The first year of the expanded Big Ten produced a season where the conference saw four teams make the College Football Playoff with Ohio State eventually winning a national title while Oregon won the conference.

We saw some teams rise to the top while others who often benefited from the old Big Ten structure fell to the bottom in this new world. There are still plenty of months between now and the start of 2025, but we've reached the point of the year where we can take a way too early look at how things might shake out.

On this Monday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik do just that by separating the 18 teams into six tiers. See who they think comes into the season with 'Natty or bust' expectations while others are trying to rebuild.

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Has Ryan Day established a philosophy regarding how he fills out his staff as Ohio State's head coach?

On this Friday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik discuss how they feel about Day’s most recent hire of Matt Patricia as OSU’s next defensive coordinator. They look at the decision from a micro level regarding what it means for the 2025 defense. But also have a discussion at the macro level about Day, his hiring practices and why he’s well on his way to establishing something that could one day be on the same level as Nick Saban.

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Ryan Day has found Ohio State's next defensive coordinator completing his 2025 coaching staff.

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis give their instant reaction to the news of Day hiring Matt Patricia. Then they get into the real reason why this episode exists.

It's time to wrap up two days of drafting rosters based on players from the Ryan Day era by letting the Subtext subscribers decide who the best GM was. A hint...a certain veteran member of the crew dominated the field.

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It’s been a while since Buckeye Talk dedicated a few shows to getting their competitive juice flowing.

Over the next few episodes, that’s exactly what they plan to do: draft teams and ask the Subtext subscribers who did it best.

That starts with this Wednesday pod where Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis drafted an 11-player defense of Ohio State players strictly from the Ryan Day era. Only players who’ve gone through a season as Buckeyes can be drafted so members of the 2025 recruiting class or recent transfer additions don’t qualify.

What positions will be valued early? Who can get creative with where they put players in the starting lineup? How many currently Buckeyes make the team?

Listen to this 11-round draft to find out which 3 players between 2019-2024 made the cut.

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It’s been a while since Buckeye Talk dedicated a few shows to getting their competitive juice flowing.

Over the next few episodes, that’s exactly what they plan to do: by drafting teams and asking the Subtext subscribers who did it best.

That starts with this Tuesday pod where Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis drafted an 11-player offense made up of Ohio State players strictly from the Ryan Day era. Only players who’ve gone through a season as Buckeyes can be drafted so members of the 2025 recruiting class or recent transfer additions don’t qualify.

What positions will be valued early? Who can get creative with where they put players in the starting lineup? Who will end up with Garrett Wilson?

Listen to this 11-round draft to find out which 3 players between 2019-2024 made the cut.

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College football entered a new era in 2024 with 'Expansion' being the season's theme.

The Big Ten and SEC expanded, adding both traditional and new-age powerhouse programs to their conferences, one of which won the league in Year 1. The College Football Playoff expanded from four to 12 teams, producing the longest season ever. All of those things lessened the consequences for some and weighted the rewards for others.

No team fit that description more than Ohio State as it won a national title despite losing to its rival and failing to even make the Big Ten Championship Game.

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik discuss the 2024 season, sharing highlights, challenges, and everything else in between.

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Ohio State's coming off a national title where plenty of things went the way you'd expect while a few others didn't.

Now that the season is behind us, it's time to look back on all those predictions and decide who was right about what. On this Friday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis revisit their Mark It Down Monday statistical leaders prediction episode from last summer.

It's a long conversation about a few things we got right and a lot of things we got wrong,.

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Ohio State is coming off a national title which means also having to replenish its coaching staff as people leave for other responsibilities.

Ryan Day has done just that by promoting Brian Hartline to being a play-calling offensive coordinator, Billy Fessler to quarterback coach and hiring Tyler Bowen as the new offensive line coach. Bring that together with running back coach Carlos Locklyn and tight end coach Keenan Bailey and you have one of the youngest staffs in college football.

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis break down the new hires and what it says about what Day might be creating in Columbus.

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As a way to put the final punctuation on Ohio State football's 2024 season, it felt right to put together one last player ranking.

On this Tuesday episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik, and Andrew Gillis examine the roster and decide on the top 20 players. Some spots seemed like no-brainers, while others required a conversation to reach a consensus.

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Ryan Day has to replace a few valuable pieces of his coaching staff as he heads into Year 7 running the Ohio State football program.

On offense, he must find a new offensive coordinator and offensive line coach after Chip Kelly and Justin Frye left for the NFL. On defense, must hire a defensive coordinator following Jim Knowles' departure for Penn State.

On this episode of Buckeye Talk, Stephen Means, Stefan Krajisnik and Andrew Gillis discuss the impact of those losses. Plus, give a description of who Day should hire in their place.

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