Daily briefing: On Michigan-Ohio State, Mike Leach and the coaching carousel

Ivan Maisel’s “Daily Briefing” for On3:

Ohio State has the momentum and better players

Where does No. 2 Ohio State’s visit to No. 5 Michigan rank in the history of one of the sport’s great rivalries? No one is arguing that it’s the best since 2016, when the No. 3 Wolverines lost to the No. 2 Buckeyes on the most famous first-down measure in recent history. Then you skip to 2013, when the unranked Wolverines nearly upset the No. 3 Buckeyes 42-41. Or the hallowed 2006, when, on the day after Michigan coaching legend Bo Schembechler died, No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 2 Michigan 42-39. Or 2003, the rivals’ most recent top-five matchup at the Big House. The truth is, we won’t know the full impact until Saturday, when the Wolverines try to break an eight-game losing streak, not to mention (in Ann Arbor) 15 of the past 16. Ohio State has momentum and the better players. That should be enough.

Mike Leach has it tough in rivalry games

Mike Leach brought his brand of passing offense to Mississippi State and picked up where he left off at Washington State. The Bulldogs beat teams they shouldn’t (Texas A&M, Kentucky and Auburn, all ranked), just as the Cougars did in Leach’s eight seasons. But Leach is high on the Harbaugh Scale in terms of his program’s archrival. Washington State won the Apple Cup in 2012 in Leach’s first season in Pullman, then lost seven in a row by an average of 21 points. After Mississippi State lost 31-21 at home to Ole Miss on Thursday night, Leach is 0-2 in the Egg Bowl. Winning games is important. Winning the right games is more important.

ADs help fuel outlandish coaching market

In the week after Michigan State lost 56-7 at Ohio State, the school and Mel Tucker come to a $95 million agreement. In the week after SMU got shut down by Cincinnati 48-14, TCU is ardently wooing Mustangs coach Sonny Dykes. It’s nothing more than awkward timing, of course, but it does speak volumes about the outlandishness of the current college football coaching market. No one has ever come up with a legal way to slow down the market. Antitrust law is in the way. So is the passion of college football fans who view their program as an extension of their self-worth. They will chip in money for a coach at the slightest whim, prudence be damned. You can blame agents for taking advantage of the market. But what would happen if athletic directors learned to say no?