College football doesn’t just give us touchdowns and tailgates—it gives us petty, unapologetic, generational hatred that fuels storylines you couldn’t script any better. Case in point: Dave Portnoy, Barstool Sports founder, Michigan alum, and professional pot-stirrer, being banned from Ohio Stadium ahead of Saturday’s season opener between Ohio State and Texas.
According to Front Office Sports, Portnoy is still set to make his official debut for Fox’s “Big Noon Saturday,” but he won’t be allowed inside “The Shoe.” Instead, Barstool’s College Football Show, which was supposed to run alongside Big Noon at select road stops, has been effectively booted from the premises.
https://t.co/iZtAt2rGDw pic.twitter.com/V5NotTorNy
— Dave Portnoy (@stoolpresidente) August 26, 2025
The reason? Ohio State boosters and administrators don’t want a loud-mouthed Wolverine strutting around their house, waving maize-and-blue energy all over the place. Former Buckeye linebacker Bobby Carpenter spilled the beans on his Columbus radio show, telling listeners flatly:
“There’s a legitimate conversation going if Big Noon thinks they’re finishing their show inside the Horseshoe. Dave Portnoy is not welcome.”
Translation: keep your Michigan man out of our fortress.
And honestly? It’s perfect. This is what makes college football different from the NFL. In the pros, you get trades, free agency, and “mutual respect.” In college football, you get pure, uncut spite—the kind that keeps Portnoy, decades removed from Ann Arbor, still persona non grata in Columbus.
Of course, this isn’t the first time Portnoy has leaned into rivalry heat. He’s made a career out of trolling fanbases, particularly Ohio State’s, knowing full well they’ll bite every time. But the fact that the Buckeyes were willing to draw a hard line here—no access, no stage, no airtime in The Shoe—proves that when it comes to Michigan-Ohio State, even network deals don’t override blood feuds.
So yes, Portnoy will still be on your TV this Saturday, but not from inside Ohio Stadium. And in a way, that makes the whole thing even funnier.
