Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning

The way Ohio State and every other Big Ten team reports injuries is getting a major overhaul for the 2026 college football season.

Now, instead of one availability report that's released two hours prior to kickoff, every Big Ten team will be releasing updated versions every Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday of a game week... but only for conference games.

Tony Gerdeman of BuckeyeInsiders.com joins host Tom Orr to break down what this means for Big Ten teams this fall, why the league is making the change, and what they could do to make it all make a whole lot more sense. 

Today's episode is presented by Jeff Ruby's Columbus, proudly offering nationally-acclaimed U.S.D.A. Prime steaks, seafood & sushi, impeccable service, live entertainment, and an attention to detail that is simply unmatched. Just go to JeffRuby.com/Columbus to check out the menu and make a reservation today.

Ohio State WR Jeremiah Smith has been honored as an all-conference player, an all-American, an Iron Buckeye, a player of the week, and much more. But when he was named one of the captains of the 2026 Ohio State football team, he got emotional. So why was that such a big deal to him?

In this special bonus episode, you'll hear the answer to that and much more directly from Smith.

Ralph Russo, formerly of the Associated Press and now at The Athletic, researched how many teams from the preseason AP Top 25 would have made the College Football Playoff in each of the 10 years before the playoff expanded in 2024. Here's what he found. On average, the CFP field would have consisted of: 

• 4 of the top-5 teams in the preseason AP Poll
• 2 of the teams ranked from 6-10 in the preseason AP Poll
• 2 of the teams ranked from 11-20 in the preseason AP Poll
• 1 of the teams ranked from 21-25 in the preseason AP Poll
• 3 teams not ranked at all in the preseason AP Poll

Tony Gerdeman of BuckeyeInsiders.com joins host Tom Orr to use these guidelines to pick the 2026 College Football Playoff field, and they come up with some very different answers. Want to try your hand at it? The categories are listed below.

AP Preseason Top 5 (Pick 4 of these): Ohio State, Georgia, Oregon, Notre Dame, Texas


AP Preseason 6-10 (Pick 2 of these): Indiana, Miami, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Oklahoma 


AP Preseason 11-20 (Pick 2 of these): LSU, Texas Tech, Alabama, BYU, USC, Michigan, Washington, Penn State, SMU, Tennessee 


AP Preseason 21-25 (Pick 1 of these): Utah, Iowa, Houston, Louisville, Missouri 


Unranked in the preseason AP Poll (pick 3 teams not listed above)

Payton Pierce is going to be the man in the middle of almost everything for the Ohio State defense in 2026. He's the middle linebacker, the guy with the green dot who runs all of the helmet radio communications, and, now, a team captain. 

In this special bonus episode, you'll hear from Pierce about how he earned such a big role, what he said to the entire defense after a disappointing start to fall camp, and more.

Austin Siereveld was a second-team all-conference player at left tackle in 2025, and so it would have been perfectly reasonable to expect him to play another year on the blind side this fall. But from all indications, he's going to be moving to right guard for 2026. 

Initially, Siereveld wasn't necessarily thrilled about the move, so what changed that got him on board with the move? 

In this special bonus episode, you'll hear the answer to that and much more directly from Siereveld.

In this special bonus episode, you'll get a chance to hear directly from Ohio State captain, wide receiver, and Block O jersey recipient Brandon Inniss about why that last honor gave him a momentary pause, why he thinks new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith has a plan to get him the ball, how QB Julian Sayin has taken over the offense, and why true freshmen wide receivers Chris Henry, Jr. and Brock Boyd are poised for big things this fall.

Ohio State QB Julian Sayin was a Heisman finalist in his redshirt freshman season and put up one of the most statistically impressive seasons in program history as a first-time starter. Now, he has much bigger plans for the upcoming 2026 season. 

In this special bonus episode, you'll hear directly from Sayin about the honor of being named one of the team's captains, how quickly he and new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith have gotten on the same page, the new responsibilities that he's expecting to have on the field this fall, and much more. 

One of the most consistent things we've heard this preseason about new Ohio State offensive coordinator Arthur Smith is that he does a great job taking simple concepts and building on them to create confusion for opposing defenses. 

One great example that Buckeyes fans will likely see on the field this fall is Duo, and related concepts that build off it it, like Windback.

In this episode of the Buckeyes TomOrrow Morning podcast, Michael Pettit, one of the Scheme Insiders at BuckeyeInsiders.com, joins host Tom Orr to break down how those plays fit together, and why they can be so effective in tandem.

Today's episode is presented by Jeff Ruby's Columbus, proudly offering nationally-acclaimed U.S.D.A. Prime steaks, seafood & sushi, impeccable service, live entertainment, and an attention to detail that is simply unmatched. Just go to JeffRuby.com/Columbus to check out the menu and make a reservation today.

You can watch this episode on our YouTube channel to see footage of all of the plays he's describing here: https://youtu.be/9NA2v64rEMo

With the start of the 2026 Ohio State football season now a little over a week away, we're cramming a few extra bonus shows into your feed to help you fill the time between now and kickoff. 

In this special bonus episode, you'll get a chance to hear directly from Ohio State head coach Ryan Day, and his thoughts on some of the bigger-picture items in the news right now, including former NFL players trying to return to college football, how the recruiting process has changed for high school quarterbacks, and how they decided to have seven captains this season.

If you enjoy this show, you'll love BuckeyeInsiders.com. That's where Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr are your Team Insiders, Juck Miletti is your Recruiting Insider, Ross Fulton and Michael Pettit are your Scheme Insiders, and Marcus Hartman is your Basketball Insider. 

Check out BuckeyeInsiders.com today, and join us on the Insiders Board: https://buckeyeinsiders.com/community/forums/the-insiders-board.5/

With the Ohio State football season now just over a week away from kicking off, it's the perfect time to welcome back BuckeyeInsiders.com's Scheme Insider Ross Fulton to break down what he's expecting to change this year with new offensive coordinator Arthur Smith in charge. 

Will the Buckeyes' base run scheme be different?

How will that impact personnel groupings?

And will a new OC mean a more up-tempo attack from the Ohio State offense?

Today's episode is presented by Jeff Ruby's Columbus, proudly offering nationally-acclaimed U.S.D.A. Prime steaks, seafood & sushi, impeccable service, live entertainment, and an attention to detail that is simply unmatched. Just go to JeffRuby.com/Columbus to check out the menu and make a reservation today.