We love college football for many reasons — small school Cinderellas, trash-talking our rivals, the schematic and style differences, Dr. Pepper commercials, tailgating, the bands, betting — you get the picture.
But nothing gets the blood flowing quite like a matchup between two powerhouses with conference title and National Championship stakes — to say nothing of the personal and emotional investment riding on the outcome.
For a century, the Ohio State/Michigan rivalry has delivered quality football between two blue bloods. Winning or losing this game has shaped seasons, decades and careers for the people competing in it.
The past decade of this rivalry has set the table for Saturday’s massive collision, with both teams essentially playing for a Big Ten title, a College Football Playoff berth, a criticized head coach and pride.
Michigan will take the field as 3.5-point favorites at home but without head coach Jim Harbaugh. Ohio State will challenge it after having dropped “The Game” in the past two meetings, marring head coach Ryan Day’s otherwise spotless resume.
Both teams are carrying top-three rankings, undefeated seasons and “us against the world” narratives into the most-hyped game of the year — maybe the most-hyped game since LSU vs. Alabama in 2019.
All eyes, and plenty of betting tickets, will be on this game, so we polled our staff of 14 college football experts to try to find a consensus.
Our staff loves the Buckeyes and the under, plus we have a few other ways to play this game. Let’s get into the analysis.
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