Dave Portnoy Joins Hands With ‘Friends’ at OSU to Fight Bigger Agenda Despite Ban

Dave Portnoy, a passionate Wolverines fan, whose animosity towards the reigning national champion, the Ohio State Buckeyes, is all the rage. Known for his sharp digs at Ohio State, he spent Saturday morning venting at Buckeye fans while belting out Michigan’s fight song, The Victors. “I want a moment of silence for all of you Ohio State morons who have been saying, ‘here comes the hammer. Michigan’s getting the death penalty,” piped in an enthusiastic Portnoy. Yet by the time Big Noon Kickoff rolled around, Portnoy had made a surprising pivot:“I’m taking the Buckeyes today.” What made the sudden change of heart?

Think about the bigger picture now. While Michigan and Ohio share one of the fiercest rivalries in college football, Portnoy’s allegiance to the Big Ten runs deeper than a single matchup. Tonight’s game at Ohio Stadium pits the SEC’s Texas Longhorns against the Buckeyes, and in a twist of rivalry logic, the Wolverines fan found himself rooting against the common foe. “People wrote in….. the SEC team as the national champion before the season started. That is all shifted. My friends in Columbus know, it started with Michigan winning the national championship last year.” He took to X and said, “Michigan and Ohio State may be rivals, but we can agree on one thing: The SEC’s time is over. College Football belongs to the Big 10.”

Portnoy had some strong opinions, which would surely give a burn to Paul Finebaum. As the Barstool Sports founder put it, the SEC’s clock has been ticking, and it’s the Big 10 now. He continued. “Ohio State killed Tennessee. Basically made them quit. Then they beat Texas. Michigan’s beaten Alabama the last two years out in the Midwest. This means something. I’m so sick of hearing about the SEC last year in the bulls. The Big 10 was 5-1 against the SEC teams. Yet you still hear SEC. SEC this. SEC that. Better down south. No Midwestern football,” he said as he wore a hoodie that read, ‘You can’t beat Michigan.’

The SEC and the Big 10 are considered the most competitive conferences in college football. Alabama and Georgia were the last SEC programs to clinch the natty. But in the last two years, the Big 10 has been rising fast. The 2023 season saw the Wolverines bring home the cup, and last season it was the Buckeyes. Didn’t Josh Pate put out a similar opinion? “It wasn’t the SEC that had a death grip; it was Alabama, led by Nick Saban. Ten of the last 11 SEC Championships were either won by Bama or Georgia,” he had said on Bussin’ With the Boys podcast.

Dave Portnoy continued. “The Big 10 is back in charge, man, football. And along those lines, these people may be surprised. I’m taking the Buckeyes today.” And certainly, the Arch Manning-led offense is lacking. The Buckeyes won 14-7 against Texas. Dave continued. “I think they’d be counted champions. I think Buckeyes take the horns down and bring another win for the Big 10.”

Dave Portnoy banned from the Ohio State Stadium

You know, you have earned the die-hard loyal Wolverine badge when the Buckeyes head coach himself bans you from the Horseshoe. But Dave Portnoy had his way. Clad in a white sweatshirt that read, ‘Big’, a fake moustache, and a hat that said ‘I (heart) Ryan’, he made his fashionable entrance to the Ohio Stadium on Saturday morning.

As per the deal struck between Barstool Sports and Fox, Portnoy is part of the network’s Big Noon Kickoff pregame show. He had also talked about the cancellation of the Barstool Sports’ pregame show planned for Saturday. “The AD has said no, and it’s a semantics game in the sense that, like, yeah, they banned us, but like, they’re saying, FOX did it,” Portnoy said per On3. “I was never going to be on the main desk, but I was going to be in the stadium,” he added.

Front Office Sports initially reported that OSU has banned the Barstool Sports founder from entering the stadium. But athletics director Ross Bjork stated that FOX made the decision.