Ohio State’s tradition of playing Michigan in its final game of the regular season dates back more than 80 years, but Ryan Day believes there should at least be a conversation about playing The Game earlier in the season.
During his breakout interview session at Big Ten Media Days on Wednesday, Day said that while he is pleased Ohio State will continue to play Michigan every year under the Big Ten’s new scheduling format, he isn’t sure that game should continue to be played during the final week of the regular season, citing the possibility that the Buckeyes could play the Wolverines in back-to-back weeks.
“I’m glad we still have the rivalry game. I do think we should consider when we play it, just because you may end up playing them back-to-back weeks, which would be awkward,” Day said. “I know that we need to consider the tradition, but I think it’s worth a conversation on when because I think that’s significant just on how the season plays out.”
While Day didn’t specifically say that he thought The Game should be moved up in the regular-season schedule or where exactly he thinks it should be slotted into the schedule, Day said he believes it is a conversation that needs to be had now that the Big Ten is going divisionless in 2024.
Ohio State and Michigan would have played each other in back-to-back weeks in the last two seasons had the Big Ten already been divisionless. Now that the Big Ten Championship Game will take the top two teams across the entire conference, it’s possible that Ohio State and Michigan could both earn Big Ten Championship Game berths before they even play each other if The Game continues to be played in the final week of the regular season. There’s even the possibility that Ohio State and Michigan could play each other in three straight games in the future, with the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams in 2024.
“I think it’s worth a long discussion about where that game should be placed. If it was the same way it was this past year, we’d be playing back-to-back games and then who knows, maybe even playing again in the playoffs,” Day said. “I think that needs to be taken into consideration.”
Day believes moving The Game back even one week on the schedule would make a difference in terms of ensuring that Ohio State’s regular-season meeting with Michigan will still matter even if the Buckeyes and Wolverines meet again in the postseason.
“The game could not have an impact on a whole bunch in terms of if both teams are in the Big Ten Championship Game already, then could it minimize The Game? That’s my concern,” Day said. “Even if you played it Week 11, Week 10, no matter what, it’s gonna matter. But if you know you’re playing them in the Big Ten Championship Game already, it could be something we haven’t experienced before. So I think it’s worth a discussion.”
Even in a scenario where Ohio State and Michigan would go into The Game already knowing they would play each other again one week later, there’d still be plenty of incentive for both teams to win as it would have an implication on the College Football Playoff race and eventual playoff seeding even if both teams were safely in the top 12. But Day knows those stakes wouldn’t be the same as they are right now.
“You’re ultimately gonna want to get into the final. You want to be in the top four, so you have a bye in that first week. So it would matter, but just not the way that you and I know The Game,” Day said. “So boy, it’s gonna be a new experience.”
Day said there have already been conversations about potentially changing where The Game is on the schedule but that he doesn’t anticipate any decisions to be made in the immediate future.
“I know that they’re talking about it. I just don’t think that any hard decisions have been made. I don’t think they’re gonna be made here real soon,” Day said. “So I just want to be part of those conversations.”
Ohio State has not played Michigan before the final week of the regular season since 1942, when the Buckeyes hosted the Wolverines on Nov. 21 and played the Iowa Seahawks one week later.
While the Big Ten has not yet announced dates for its 2024 conference games, leaving open the possibility that The Game could be moved up in the schedule as soon as next year, Ohio State does know it will play Michigan in the final week of the regular season this year, when the Buckeyes will travel to Ann Arbor to play the Wolverines on Nov. 25. Ohio State and Michigan cannot meet in the Big Ten Championship Game this year, as both teams remain in the East Division and the Big Ten East champion will meet the Big Ten West winner in the conference title game for one more year.
