Newsstand: Oregon, not Ohio State, named Michigan's top Big Ten game in 2024
The Michigan Wolverines head into the 2024 season as three-time defending Big Ten Champions and a College Football Playoff National Champion, which makes them the gold standard in the conference. Ohio State is gunning for U-M after being stuffed in a locker for three years, but might there be a bigger fish to fry?
On3’s Jesse Simonton on Tuesday named the Oregon Ducks, not the Ohio State Buckeyes, as the biggest conference game on Michigan’s schedule in 2024.
Here’s what Simonton said about the Wolverines:
How can Michigan’s most important Big Ten game not be against Ohio State? Well, the Wolverines will be playing with house-money in a rivalry showdown at the Shoe to end the 2024 season. All the pressure will be on Ryan Day to not lose four straight games to the Team Up North.
But if Sherrone Moore is able to exceed expectations and return Michigan back to the Big Ten title game, winning at home against a Top 5 Oregon team could prove pivotal for tie-breaker situations. Both teams are eying a run to the CFP, and the early November matchup will be strength-on-strength with the Ducks’ high-octane offense against Michigan’s still-loaded defense.
However, The Game still means everything to Ohio State. The Buckeyes have bet everything on getting the job done this year, and their showdown with Michigan is their most important tilt.
The Buckeyes could win the national title in 2024, but another loss to Michigan — especially this Wolverines team with a first-year head coach and a roster in transition — would still be held against Day, who otherwise has had a flawless 2024. Lose ‘The Game’ and not make (or win) the championship and who knows what’s in store for Day’s future at Ohio State — a rather unthinkable possibility considering all his other successes.
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Michigan quote of the day
“The culture that’s built now is the guys understand that, and they understand that it doesn’t really matter who’s in that seat, who’s in that chair, who’s in those uniforms, that the standard stays the same. When you wear the block ‘M,’ you wear it with pride and you go attack it and try to go win championships. That’s what we’re gonna try to do. We know there’s a process to it, and we’ll keep attacking that process.”
– Michigan football head coach Sherrone Moore on the culture heading into the upcoming 2024 season
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