Ohio State without its best player vs. the only team it lost to last year

¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Defensive end Joey Bosa and three offensive contributors will all miss Ohio State’s season opener against Virginia Tech due to suspension. The suspensions are related to “marijuana and academics” according to ESPN’s Joe Schad.

Potential No. 1 NFL Draft pick Bosa will be hard to replace, but Ohio State’s depth should hold up against an offense that probably won’t be blowing the doors off anyone. The bigger losses are Jalin Marshall and Dontre Wilson on offense, especially against a VT defense that might be the country’s best, but there are still plenty of weapons, including new H-back Braxton Miller.

Speaking of the Buckeyes. They grabbed 97 percent of the first place votes in the preseason Coaches Poll. No. 2 TCU and No. 3 Alabama each got one, and Baylor and Oregon round out the top five.

Excitement! Get caught on on everything that happened on day one of Big Ten Media Days. The main takeaway:

Also happening is Pac-12 Media Days, where the defining image is probably Jim Mora sipping Diet Coke outdoors while chatting with beat writers.

MAH GAWD. Listen to Jim Ross call the Kick Six from the 2013 Iron Bowl. I think he could’ve sold it more, but it’s still good.

Can we stop now? For some reason, Notre Dame’s status as an independent has become a problem for other coaches. They want them to join a conference, but Playoff executive director Bill Hancock threw water on that, saying, “They’re in the same boat as everyone else.” It’s a silly argument, so hopefully people will stop woofing.

Seems ACC football coaches want the Irish to join, but ... could the goal be to get Texas, too?

Keep building. Kentucky football will always struggle in the shadow of basketball, but a couple good recruiting years have the Wildcats thinking bowl game this year.

Speaking of ... Five-star wide receiver Jermaine Eskridge committed to Kentucky. He’s a 2018 prospect, so he’s a long way from Lexington, but that’s a big get for Kentucky.

Swiping from a rival. Four-star Jordan Stevenson expected to play this year at Wisconsin, but he’ll wind up at Nebraska.

The highest-rated 2016 commit of the day goes to Tennessee: running back Carlin Fils-Aime.

Soon. The decision on the Northwestern unionization bid should be coming down by the end of August. The players were granted the right to unionize by the regional board, but the University appealed to the national board.

Double up. Washington landed a pair of commits in defensive back Kentrell Love and offensive lineman Nick Harris.