COLUMBUS – The Buckeyes and Wolverines head into their annual season-ending tilt in Ann Arbor Saturday with multiple championships on the line.
(2 CFP) Ohio State (10-1, 8-0 Big Ten) at (5) Michigan (10-1, 7-1)
The winner will be the East Division champ and will play the Wes Division champion in the conference title game Dec. 4 in Indianapolis. The winner of that game will almost certainly fin itself in the College Football Playoff semifinals.
This year’s 117th edition of The Game could come down to how well Michigan can slow down Ohio State’s explosive offense.
The Wolverines are in the top 10 in several defensive categories, limiting opponents to just over 300 yards per game.
Quarterback C.J. Stroud has the Buckeyes roaring. They’re averaging 560 yards per game.
Buckeyes No. 2 in CFP
Ohio State moved up to No. 2 in playoff rankings, behind top-ranked Georgia, with Alabama and Cincinnati third and fourth. Michigan is fifth with Notre Dame sixth
Bearcats in Top 4
A team from outside the Power Five conferences has never been selected for the semifinals in the previous seven years of the CFP but, heading into the final full weekend of games, unbeaten Cincinnati seems to have a realistic path to a playoff spot no matter what happens around them — as long as they win out.
Before this season, no non-Power Five team had ever been ranked better than seventh by the CFP selection committee.