As top-ranked Texas prepares for an early marquee matchup with No. 3 Ohio State, the focus has shifted to the pregame festivities.
FOX's Big Noon Kickoff will be in Columbus for Saturday’s top-five matchup. But they'll be missing one of the network's newly-acquired talents inside Ohio Stadium. As first reported by Front Office Sports' Ryan Glasspiegel, Barstool Sports' Dave Portnoy was “barred” from the Horseshoe. He'll do the show on campus and won't be allowed to follow the rest of the crew inside during the game.
However, Ohio State AD Ross Bjork tells a different story in the matter. "FOX decided Portnoy would not be on the main desk of Big Noon Kickoff and those not on the desk do not normally appear on the field," Bjork told Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger. This was a decision made by the network and not by the university.
Portnoy broke his silence early Tuesday morning in a scattered NSWF rant. The founder of Barstool Sports went right at Ohio State and asked for them to be held accountable for barring him.
I want Michigan vs Ohio to mean something again. And I love the people of Columbus outside the football team they root for. Good clean hardworking people. So I am going to give Buckeye Nation free advice. Stop pointing the finger. Look in the mirror. Get better. Get tougher. https://t.co/ZltE91GVtn pic.twitter.com/MLmnMkZI4q
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 26, 2025
"Stop pussyfooting," Portnoy said. "Stop making excuses. Stop crying about planting flags. Stop crying about the hammer and Connor Stalions... Just own up. Be like, you know what, Michigan is a bully and they beat the piss out of us. And when they walk down the street, we cross to the other side. And we got to get better. And you know what, we did ban Dave. We did ban Dave because we're so hateful against Michigan."
Portnoy has been one of Ohio State’s biggest rivals. The avid Michigan supporter has taken several shots at OSU over the years with this being the latest. He helped the program land five-star QB Bryce Underwood with a reported $12.5 million NIL deal, some of which came out of his own pocket. To say this is personal for Portnoy is an understatement.
Texas travels to meet Ohio State on Saturday for the Noon kickoff on FOX.
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