No. 1 Ohio State heads into its 2026 opener vs. Ball State Saturday in Ohio Stadium bearing great expectations for the huge games to come, not the least of which is the trip to Texas next week.

Ryan Day understands how folks might be looking down the road, but he has challenged his team to stick to what's in front on that path, even if it is a 50-point underdog.

Day says success for him, besides a win, would be to see his team play a "clean" game in terms of penalties, mistakes, turnovers and the like.

He had other things to say, too, especially with regards to former OSU national championship coach Jim Tressel, whose name will go up on the stadium ring of honor, and former OSU national championship RB Maurice Clarett, who will ring the bell in the southeast tower pregame signifying a call to action.

Hut-Hut. HUT!!

Jim Tressel joins Tim to talk about the ceremony coming Sept. 5 that will unveil the coach's name up on the Ohio Stadium ring of honor, right where it belongs.

Matt Wilhelm goes in depth on the significance of it since he was a player at Ohio State when Tressel was named to replace John Cooper.

Wilhelm, former Ohio State All-America linebacker and Super Bowl winner with Green Bay, speaks of the resounding lift Tressel brought to the program that led to the 2002 BCS national championship upset win over Miami, and the legacy from Tressel's 10-year era that resonates to this day among his former players and OSU fans.

Rise and sing Carmen Ohio!

No. 1 Ohio State is a week away from is 2026 opener vs. Ball State, and the team's identity is rounding into form.

You can tell that by the seven elected captains, just the seventh time in program history there has seven or more.

Dillon Davis of DelGazette.com joins Tim to talk about those developments, zooming in on three of them in superstar receiver Jeremiah Smith, two-time captain and Block O jersey recipient receiver Brandon Inniss, and two-time captain right guard - yep - Austin Siereveld.

Good insight on the team is offered by all three, and that comes after Dillon offers his five must-deliver players on the team and Tim either agrees or disagrees.

For goodness sake, it's call conversation, not acclamation.