We’re one day away from one of the most highly anticipated versions of The Game this rivalry has ever seen.
Ohio State and Michigan will both enter the matchup undefeated for only the third time in the past 20 seasons. The Wolverines are mired in an unprecedented sign-stealing scandal that’s left their head coach suspended and the results of the rivalry from the last two years called into question.
Saturday’s winner is going to the College Football Playoff. The loser is all but eliminated barring a complete chaos scenario.
In a rivalry that’s thrived since 1897, there’s always been plenty of venom from both parties toward the other. But it’s hard to argue there’s ever been more toxicity than now.
Ohio State legendary coach Woody Hayes, famously known for his refusal to ever waste a cent of his money buying gas in the state of Michigan, visited rival Bo Schembechler after the Michigan coach suffered a heart attack. Schembechler in turn eulogized Hayes after his death in 1987. Meanwhile, current coaches Jim Harbaugh and Ryan Day would probably think twice before extending a hand to save the other from drowning given both couldn't say they had any respect for the other when given the chance to.
Nobody will have more motivation nor pressure to win than Day, the most publicly scrutinized coach who has a career record of 56-6. A win would be a career-defining moment for the OSU coach, erase the stench of the past two years given the circumstances and give the Buckeyes a legit chance to win a national championship. A loss, and well, let’s just say the John Cooper narratives are only going to get louder from Ohio State fans.
“I think every year you just learn more and more,” Day said Tuesday when asked when in his career he learned the magnitude of The Game. “This will be my sixth time in The Game, so you learn quickly when you’re here. Each year you learn more and it has more of a significant impact on you as a person. All of our guys, when they come here, whether it’s a coach or a player, they’re here for one reason. To win that game. My youngest daughter doesn’t know any other place other than Ohio, so this means the world to me and my family.”
The Game has always been about earning bragging rights for a full 365 days over your archrival. You’ve got one chance to beat Michigan yearly, and the coaches and players prepare for that game for an entire year because of it.
Saturday’s game, which will likely draw TV ratings resembling an NFL contest, feels like it has even more magnitude around it, though. Considering the stakes, Saturday’s heavyweight clash has the feel of a contest that the winning party will be bragging about 10 years from now, with arguments ranging from “you can’t win on an even playing field” to “we had an interim coach and still kicked your ass.” After all, fans of both teams still remember the 2006 matchup like it was yesterday.
Over the next 24 hours, savor it all. Savor the hate, the anticipation, the high stakes, hell, even the anxiety a tightly-contested matchup brings all while watching the game that likely made you fall in love with college football in the first place.
Because with the new era of college football coming next fall, I’m not sure we’ll see a regular-season game of this magnitude again for quite some time.
If we kept everything the same about this year’s matchup except factored the newly expanded CFP rules into the equation, this game would just feel less important than it does now. With two undefeated teams this late into the season, both would be guaranteed a CFP berth regardless of the result.
Even stranger, with the Big Ten eliminating divisions starting next season, both of these teams would turn around and face each other again for the second straight week in the Big Ten Championship. Would that change how coaches from either side prepare for the game, maybe not showcasing their best stuff the first time around to save it for the rematch? Who knows, but it’s possible. And instead of savoring a win over your archrival for an entire year, you have six days before the script can turn in an instant.
Of course, none of that will stop fans from ferociously demanding wins over their nemesis, and if Ohio State’s schedule consisted of nothing but Michigan for 12 straight weeks the scarlet and gray faithful would still be out for blood every single time.
“I don’t know if that will be the case,” Day said Tuesday on if the rivalry will diminish a bit when next year’s rules take effect. “I’m sure there’ll always be just as much on the line when these two teams play. And certainly, it’ll be different. But I don’t think it will change anything, just on the format. The format will certainly change next year, but I don’t think the rivalry will ever be anything less than it is right now.”
To Day’s point, the desire for victory over the Ann Arbor Astros will never be less than it is right now. But there’s no denying the rivalry is going to have a different feel with the potential for multiple matchups in one season.
Maybe we won’t notice it right away. With USC, UCLA, Oregon and Washington entering the conference and some future messy tiebreakers — not to mention Michigan likely getting further punishment from the NCAA this offseason — there’s no guarantee OSU and Michigan will be in the Big Ten title game year in and year out. But it’s not that hard to envision, is it?
Not that the expanded playoff is all terrible. It leaves open a very real possibility of OSU and Michigan matching up in a potential playoff game, which is probably the only scenario where a future game in the rivalry could surpass the anticipation level of Saturday’s contest. Even if that would be at least the second time OSU and Michigan faced off that season.
But the first time Michigan and Ohio State turn around and clash for a second time in one year, we’ll know the old guard has officially changed.
Not Saturday, though.
