Dave Portnoy found a way to turn Ohio State’s 53-point season-opening win into a grievance, and naturally, Michigan was involved.
The Barstool Sports founder and longtime Michigan superfan ripped Ohio State for moving Senior Day to Week 1. He criticized the Buckeyes’ bizarre move to move the traditional late-season ceremony to the first game… before any senior had played a snap in 2026.
Dave Portnoy Rips Ohio State’s Week 1 Senior Day
“Ohio State should be kicked out of the conference for having Senior Day in week 1,” Portnoy wrote.
Ohio State should be kicked out of the conference for having Senior Day in week 1 pic.twitter.com/hO03m0tMHU
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) September 7, 2026
Portnoy expanded on the complaint on “Wake Up Barstool,” calling the decision “one of the strangest, dumbest things” he had seen.
“I honestly wouldn’t even let them stay in the conference if I was the commissioner,” Portnoy added. “That’s how dumb they made everybody else look.”
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His criticism eventually circled back to the Michigan rivalry. Portnoy argued that Ohio State should have kept the ceremony in its traditional late-season spot instead of moving it after head coach Ryan Day supported the administration’s proposal to reduce distractions before facing the Wolverines.
“You’re such a bad coach, you can’t do Senior Day before your last game because you can’t get your team to focus on Michigan? Ridiculous!” Barstool Sports host Brandon Walker said, supporting Portnoy’s take.
CBS Sports reported in August that the administration first raised the idea of changing the date and that Day viewed moving the ceremony as a way to minimize distractions before The Game. Ohio State hosts Michigan on Nov. 28.
Ohio State’s Senior Day Change Did Not Slow Down the Buckeyes
Whatever Portnoy thought of the optics, the football portion of Senior Day went smoothly.
Ohio State honored 31 seniors before kickoff and then crushed Ball State 56-3. The Buckeyes piled up 671 total yards, including 434 through the air, while allowing just 165.
Julian Sayin threw for 320 yards as Ohio State opened its season ranked No. 1.
Sayin also entered 2026 at No. 6 in PFSN’s current QB rankings. In Week 1, he posted a 92.0 QB Impact Score, which ranked third among all quarterbacks in the country.
The result did not impress Portnoy enough to soften his stance on the ceremony itself.
Ohio State honored its seniors, removed one potential distraction from Michigan week, and won by 53 points. Portnoy still found plenty to hate, which is probably the least surprising part of this entire Senior Day debate.
