Ohio State is the defending national champion despite losing to its rival in the regular season.
From now until preseason camp starts in August, Land-Grant Holy Land will be writing articles around a different theme every week. This week is all about unpopular opinions. You can catch up on all of the Theme Week content here and all our “Unpopular Opinion” articles here.
Ryan Day once said that the Ohio State Football program always has one eye on what That Team Up North is doing. If that’s not a clear indicator of how serious the rivalry is between Ohio State and Michigan then I don’t know what is.
We hear head coaches all the time talk about how they’re solely focused on their team’s next opponent, so to hear Day say that they always have one eye on what Michigan is doing is not only different, but also succinct, honest and noteworthy.
In the Woody Hayes Athletic Center, there is a clock that counts down to the next game against Michigan. As soon as that game against the Wolverines ends, the clock resets and begins counting down to the next edition of “The Game.”
The on-field melee after Ohio State lost to Michigan 13-10 in Ohio Stadium this past November showed just how much it means to the Buckeyes players to beat the Wolverines. Frustration was very evident amongst the players. Fans took to social media to voice their frustrations and anger.
What could have been a disappointing ending to the season instead lit a fire within the Buckeyes, as they ultimately won four straight College Football Playoff games to win the National Championship. It got me thinking about what’s more important: beating Michigan or winning the national championship?
Rivalries are a huge part of what makes college football so beloved in America. There is no rivalry in the sport that best exemplifies this than Ohio State and Michigan. Everywhere that there is a letter “M” on Ohio State’s campus gets a big red “x” put through it the week leading up to “The Game.” There’s a greater sense of intensity and urgency the week leading up “The Game” than there is leading up to any other game during the season.
In Kirk Herbstreit’s autobiography “Out of the Pocket,” he described that the Buckeyes game against Michigan was taken very seriously in his house growing up. It wasn’t a game for fun, even for the Herbstreits as fans.
But now in the 12-team College Football Playoff era, a loss to Michigan is not the end of the world. It felt like that in 2021 and 2023 when losses to the Wolverines ended any chance the Buckeyes had to get into the Playoff, and it was almost that way in 2022. But that was when just four teams made the Playoff.
After Ohio State’s loss to Michigan last November, they still had the College Football Playoff in front of them. Fans, though, were still angry even the day of the First Round game against Tennessee. But as Ohio State crushed the Volunteers and started advancing further in the Playoff, fans started getting excited about the possibility of the Buckeyes just maybe winning the National Championship.
The feeling of losing to Michigan back in November had also started to dissipate. Perhaps Buckeyes fans were realizing that winning a national championship is what, ultimately, really mattered and more so than beating Michigan.
Here’s the thing: Beating your rival is always a great feeling. But unless that comes in the National Championship, it shouldn’t be the ultimate goal for a season. The ultimate goal, especially at a school like Ohio State, should be to win the national championship.
I’m not taking away any ounce of importance of Ohio State beating Michiagn. It still means everything to the program and Buckeyes fans to beat The Team Up North. But it’s not the only thing, especially in the 12-team CFP era.
Tradition is gradually dissipating as the new landscape of college football continues to evolve. While “The Game” still holds immense significance to Buckeyes fans, the Buckeyes should always have a shot to win three or four Playoff games to win a national championship regardless of what happens against The Team Up North.
Beating Michigan is still a huge goal every season, but there’s now, almost, a guaranteed second chance and shot at a bigger, ultimate prize if the Buckeyes get upset by the Wolverines. That’s what happened this past season, and it’s made me question what’s more important for the Buckeyes.
Is beating The Team Up North more important than winning the national championship?