Everyone associated with the Ohio State football program hates Michigan. The coaches, players, and fans all despise TTUN and have for generations. That's what makes it the best rivalry in college football. Not just that, but it's the best rivalry in all of sports.
There has been a topic of discussion around this rivalry recently. ESPN's Mike Greenberg believes that if a 24-team College Football Playoff is instituted, we could see the Buckeyes or the Wolverines sit their starters in that final game. That would be unprecedented.
While the Big Ten Commissioner is trying to brainwash fans into thinking expansion is a good idea, this would still likely not happen if the CFP expanded. One college football pundit actually believes that doing so from either side of this rivalry would get the head coach fired.
CFB pundit believes sitting starters in Ohio State vs. Michigan would warrant a firing
While speaking on The Next Round, Andy Staples of On3 believes that if a coach from either side were to do this, he would be fired.
"I think a coach would get fired for sitting starters in the Michigan-Ohio State game. If you sat a starter and you lost that game, you might get fired. Even if you're competing for the national championship. That's how much the rivalry means to both those schools."
Ryan Day would certainly get run out of town if he pulled that stunt with the Ohio State Buckeyes. Fans want to watch TTUN lose every possible game at any cost, especially to the Buckeyes. Fans of TTUN would likely say the same thing about new coach Kyle Whittingham.
A 24-team College Football Playoff would further devalue The Game. That is not the question. A 24-team CFP is not what's best for Ohio State, and Staples mentioned that Ryan Day also said that. However, the Big Ten wants to line its pockets with as much money as possible.
Ohio State could have a stranglehold on the rivalry moving forward
It seems that TTUN is in shambles. After the Buckeyes crushed them in Ann Arbor last year, Michigan fired Sherrone Moore. Moore then went crazy and torpedoed any shot he had of ever coaching in college football again. Whittingham is there trying to pick up the pieces.
Meanwhile, the Buckeyes seem to have finally gotten the monkey off their back when it comes to this game. Day finally won The Game with his own players, something that Ohio State fans have knocked him for. It was the last blemish on his coaching resume, and he won a national championship before being able to accomplish that.
This season, The Game is in Columbus. It will be a rowdy atmosphere, as it always is. Ohio State seems to have confidence that it will never lose this game again. They seem to have a stranglehold on this rivalry again now that the cheating scandal is in the rearview mirror.
Day will work hard every day to make sure that Ohio State is prepared for that game at the end of the year.
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