College Gameday reveals final regular-season destination
College Gameday, ESPN’s traveling college football show, announced its final regular-season destination Sunday, as it will travel to Ann Arbor, Michigan for Michigan-Ohio State.
Week 13 of the regular season features a myriad of intense rivalries across the country, but perhaps no rivalry is more heated than Michigan and Ohio State. Plus, the matchup has some added excitement, given that Ohio State is 10-1 and ranked No. 2 in the country, while Michigan, also 10-1, comes in at No. 6 in the latest AP Poll.
College Gameday labeled the game “one of the greatest rivalries in sports” on Twitter.
Admittedly, the rivalry has hardly been much of a competition in recent years, as the Ohio State Buckeyes have dominated the Michigan Wolverines, and Ryan Day will look to continue that trend Saturday. Jim Harbaugh has yet to beat Ohio State since taking over at Michigan in 2015. In fact, Ohio State’s winning streak extends even further; the Buckeyes have not lost to the Wolverines since 2011, when Michigan won 40-34, and Ohio State has won 17 of the last 20. Day hopes to extend that streak next weekend, but the stakes are even higher this season than in years past.
Traditionally, it’s been a lot closer — in fact, the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry, which has transpired for over a century, actually favors Michigan. The Wolverines have won 58 matchups all time, while Ohio State has claimed 51 and six games have ended in ties. Since the year 2000, however, Michigan has won a mere three times: 2000, 2003 and 2011.
Ohio State has mounted a miraculous run down the stretch of the season, putting the team in position to compete for a College Football Playoff spot. In Week 2, after an all-too-close win over Minnesota in the season opener, Day’s Buckeyes lost at home to then-No. 12 Oregon, a loss that looked like a stain on Ohio State’s resume. However, Ohio State went on a nine-game winning streak, placing the Buckeyes firmly in postseason contention.
Michigan, on the other hand, has had by far and away its best season of the Jim Harbaugh era, and the Wolverines can spoil Ohio State’s College Football Playoff hopes — and perhaps even make a case for their own resume — with one win. Worth noting, however, that Michigan’s only loss of the season came against Michigan State, a game in which the Spartans won in come-from-behind fashion. Meanwhile, Ohio State comes into Saturday’s contest fresh off a 56-7 beatdown of Michigan State.
Ohio State and Michigan kick off in The Big House at 12:00 p.m. ET on Saturday afternoon.