The Ohio State football team has lost four straight games to TTUN. They have not been able to win, despite having a more talented team in almost all of those matchups. 2023 is the only year in which the talent is arguably in favor of Michigan, but that was also very close.
Ryan Day seems to have changed his philosophy after losing The Game last year. He changed how he wanted the offensive playcalling to go after that game, opting for more of an aggressive approach in the College Football Playoff. That worked out very well.
Now, the Ohio State Buckeyes feel confident that they can win this year, even though the game is in Ann Arbor. That run to the national championship has given them a lot of confidence. One CFB pundit doesn't believe that matters and thinks the Buckeyes will lose again this year.
One CFP pundit has no faith in the Ohio State football team beating Michigan this year
Van Lathan of The Ringer doesn't believe that the Buckeyes have any shot of winning The Game this year. He said so on Ringer Tailgate.
Take @VanLathan’s word: Ohio State is snakebitten and taking another L to Michigan this year pic.twitter.com/3gqS4WSD4z
— The Ringer (@ringer) August 21, 2025
"Michigan beats Ohio State again this year. Look, I'll tell you something right now...Ohio State's snake-bit. They're snake-bit right now with Michigan. I watched that game last year a couple of different times, and I told my friend Emeka that Ohio State would probably win the national championship...there's an intensity and an urgency surrounding that game that the Buckeyes are having trouble meeting the moment."
Ohio State has had some issues with the pressures of that game in recent years. That is undeniable, especially since Ryan Day took over. Now that they have won the national championship, the pressure is off Day. He can coach that game looser than he's ever coached it before.
That means that the Ohio State football team won't refuse to try to throw the ball to their excellent receivers as they did last year. The Buckeyes tried to win the rushing battle instead of getting the ball to the best player in college football, which is Jeremiah Smith.
Day will not let that happen again for the second straight game. He is ready to finally get this monkey off his back. This is the final hurdle that he needs to climb to be fully embraced by Ohio State football fans for the rest of his coaching career.