Paul Finebaum and other college football pundits have more than three months to preview the Nov. 30 matchup between Ohio State and Michigan.
Ryan Day is 56-8 as Ohio State’s head coach, but critics are far more focused on the losses. Particularly the three to Michigan in the last three years.
Paul Finebaum repeated a familiar talking point that Day is coaching for his job when facing his Big Ten nemesis to close the 2024 regular season.
ESPN’s college football analyst discussed Day’s status on Monday’s McElroy and Cubelic in the Morning. Finebaum called the Wolverines his “biggest hurdle” in a “complicated path” with so much pressure on the Buckeyes to snap their well-documented losing streak in The Game.
“If he beats Michigan and has a good run in the playoffs, maybe not a championship, I think most people move on,” Finebaum predicted. “But if he loses to Michigan and then suffers an early loss in the playoffs, I wouldn’t be surprised if he got fired, in spite of his record.”
Finebaum added that Day is “out of mulligans” against Michigan. Highlighting the importance of this rivalry matchup, he suggested that Kalen DeBoer would face similar scrutiny if Alabama faltered against Auburn.
It’s certainly not the first time this idea has surfaced this offseason. Last month, Finebaum said Day “ought to be gone” if he can’t win the biggest game of Ohio State’s season with a reloaded roster. He later called it “critical” to win the annual showdown and claimed that merely making the expanded College Football Playoff wouldn’t be enough to silence critics.
“You can’t survive as the Ohio State coach and lose four straight to Michigan,” Finebaum said last month on Get Up. “Especially when, this year, you clearly have the better team.”
Related: Paul Finebaum Doesn’t Hold Back On Pressure Ryan Day Is Facing In 2024