The final week of the college football regular season is here. That part of the year is ending, but the hunt for a national championship is only beginning. This season has flown by, and now we have just one slate of games that will determine who will go on to all four power conference title games. There isn't one conference that has the title game locked. The Ohio State football team is in good position to earn a bid in the Big Ten, but to do so, they have to win The Game. The best rivalry in sports is here. It's Michigan-Ohio State week.
It doesn't get any better than The Game. Michigan and Ohio State absolutely hate each other, they always deliver some terrific football games. The Buckeyes haven't beaten the Wolverines since 2019, but they are big favorites this weekend. Will they end their skid, or will Michigan play spoiler?
Before we talk about more about predictions for this game, let's take a deeper look at both of these teams.
Michigan is having a down year
The Michigan football team won a national championship back in January, and now they are 6-5 with no hope of any postseason success. The Wolverines will head to a mediocre bowl game, but a win against Ohio State this weekend would make a down year feel a lot better.
This is year one for Sherrone Moore leading the Wolverines, and to be fair, he wasn't given much from last year's squad to work with. Michigan has lost everything from last season, and it has shown.
So far, however, Michigan has won all three of their rivalry games. They beat Minnesota to keep the Little Brown Jug in Ann Arbor, they beat Michigan State to keep the Paul Bunyan Trophy and they knocked off Northwestern last weekend to hold on to the George Jewett Trophy. However, this game against Ohio State is going to be a bit different than those three.
This has to be the year for Ryan Day and Ohio State
Ryan Day has been tremendous in the Big Ten since taking over at Ohio State. Well, against every team not named Michigan. Day has had an issue beating the Wolverines as he has lost three in a row, and if he can't do it this year, Buckeyes fans will be livid.
Day couldn't have asked for an easier setup this season. Michigan lost just about all of their star players from last season, they have a new head coach, an entirely new coaching staffand they will be coming to Columbus. It can't get any easier than this for Ryan Day and Ohio State.
Ohio State is a big favorite, but you can throw the records out the window for this rivalry. When Michigan was down during the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke era, the Buckeyes were up. There were still a lot of very close games in the rivalry. The one good year Michigan had during that stretch was a down year for Ohio State. That game was also close. This rivalry produces close contests.
This game doesn't have the stakes that it has had in previous years, but The Game is always a fun one. Here are three predictions for it:
Donovan Edwards will have a big game
The Michigan football team will definitely need to put up their best offensive performance of the year on Saturday if they are going to have any chance to win. Senior captain Donovan Edwards will need to have his best game of the year, and he will. He has risen to the occasion in Columbus before, and he will do it again. However, will it be enough?
Ohio State will win the turnover battle
Michigan needs a great offensive performance if they want to win, and they also need to win the turnover battle by a significant margin. Unfortunately, that won't be the case. Ohio State is rock solid at taking care of the football, and the Wolverines have had some issues with it. The Buckeyes will win in that area.
Ohio State will win 31-10
Michigan isn't going to have enough offensive fire power to win this game, and because of that, Ohio State will cruise to a 31-10 win. The Buckeyes have the much better team this year, and they will get their first win in the rivalry since 2019.
The Game will get going at 12:14 ET on Saturday from Ohio Stadium in Columbus, and it will be airing on Fox. Ohio State is currently favored by 20.5 points.
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