On3 Roundtable: Potential for ‘dilution’ of Michigan-Ohio State rivalry in new era

While the inter-state vitriol will remain, the particular import of any one edition of The Game between Ohio State and Michigan might not be as hefty going forward. That will be in large part thanks to an expanded College Football Playoff.

Come 2024, 12 teams will be making the postseason field, and there’s a good chance that Michigan and Ohio State are both frequently in the hunt. Letterman Row’s Tim May joined On3’s Andy Staples for an On3 Roundtable to break down the topic further.

“So what I’m getting to here is, I think we’re getting to a dilution of The Game and it may come sooner, rather than later. Because you’re right, if Ohio State had figured out a way to make that last field goal or to stop Georgia once in the fourth quarter, when they were up over two touchdowns, the Michigan game would’ve been a big deal, only when we conversed about it in the preseason Big Ten meetings and then possibly that week of the game. Because they could’ve erased all the bad feelings, I truly believe that,” May said.

In the last two seasons, for instance, Michigan beat Ohio State in the last regular season game for each team. That catapulted the Wolverines in the Big Ten championship game both times and saw them in the CFP twice. In 2022, the Buckeyes still cracked the field of four teams.

With the likelihood that a loss to their arch-rival doesn’t send them careening out of playoff contention, the annual end-of-season matchup might not have quite as much juice. And with the Big Ten moving to a division-less format in 2024, they could play, theoretically, three games in a row.

“And you could say long shots, you know, but long shots sometimes come in,” May said, “where Ohio State could play Michigan three games in a row. Because they’re going to go to the Big Ten model of no divisions, which means the top two teams will play for the Big Ten championship. Which would be the week after The Game, Ohio State and Michigan. And then lo-and-behold, they could 6 and 11 or 5 and 12 in the final CFP rankings and play the next game. I mean, to say that’s out of the realm of possibility is ludicrous. It’s definitely there.”

Were that to be the case, as each game took on another level of importance, there likely wouldn’t be any shortage of energy or venom from the fans and teams — even if it means one of the games on its own means just a smidge less.

And in any regard, the state of Ohio will still be blocking out the letter “M” that whole game week while Michigan refers to its arch rival as, merely, “Ohio.”

The strict value of each edition of The Game might lose a little shine, but probably not for those closest to it.