The Ohio State Buckeyes are TTUN's fail-safe for the 2026 season, Kyle Whittingham's first in Ann Arbor. As CBS Sports' John Talty writes, the Wolverines' one way to save face this fall in the event they don't make the CFP would be beating the Buckeyes.
Talty believes that the team's shockingly high standard last season, relative to the off-field chaos Sherrone Moore's disgraced tenure had unfolding, should be the minimum Whittingam and Co. are shooting for with an overhauled roster that replaced 29 outgoing players this offseason.
"Whittingham was never able to get Utah into the playoff, but that'll be the expectation with his new job in Ann Arbor. Michigan was in the playoff hunt a year ago despite obvious issues involving former head coach Sherrone Moore percolating behind the scenes. Whittingham should bring toughness, discipline, and a more organized approach to a Michigan program that has big-time talent like Bryce Underwood," Talty wrote.
TTUN represents one of five games in which Ohio State is in moderate danger. Even though the game is in Columbus in Week 13, the Wolverines will feature a head coach who was able to take down the rival BYU Cougars four times in Provo as the Utah Utes' headman.
The other four come against the Texas Longhorns, the defending champion Indiana Hoosiers, the USC Trojans, and the Oregon Ducks. For all we know, the Illinois Fighting Illini, Iowa Hawkeyes, and Nebraska Cornhuskers could be just as dangerous in conference play.
It's definitely not getting easier for Ryan Day and Co., now over a full year removed from reaching the mountaintop and with changes coming to personnel on the coaching staff and across the depth chart.
Ohio State may need to beat Michigan to salvage 2026 season
It's okay to be scared of what the Buckeyes will face during the 2026 season. With a new play-caller being installed and a team that's losing at least five first-round NFL draft picks, things were already going to be tricky. But then you factor in the luck of the draw with the schedule, and avoiding three losses feels like a tough task, on paper.
Come rivalry week, beating TTUN may be what keeps Ohio State in the CFP picture. We know three losses will keep you out of the playoff picture. Finding two losses in the aforementioned set of games doesn't seem that hard.
It'd be a reverse 2025, when the Wolverines were an upset away from being a playoff team. Of course, that's just the imagination, and for all we know, the Buckeyes could be a wagon that runs through the Big Ten like a hot knife through butter.
Or maybe, "The Game" will be a saving-face game for Day.