Will Michigan – OSU remain the last game of the year with the Big Ten additions? Warde Manuel weighs in
Michigan vs. Ohio State as the last regular season game of the season has been a tradition for longer than most of us have been alive. The schools flirted with the idea of moving it several years ago – that went over like the ‘halo’ at Michigan Stadium.
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Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel told Jon Jansen today on the In the Trenches podcast he’s talked about the future of the Ohio State series with OSU A.D. Gene Smith. They discussed both the potential for playing two or three times in a month as well as the game’s start time given there’s no longer a restriction on playing night games in November.
Don’t expect anything to change anytime soon, he said.
“Gene and I have had great conversations about both topics,” Manuel said. “The game will remain at noon in the regular season when we play. We have had great fan enjoyment of that game being at noon, great television response in terms of numbers of people that watch that game.”
In short — why mess with a great thing?
“I think there’s no need to move it to any other time,” Manuel continued. “It’s really become a part of that series. People set their calendars, their clocks to watch that game at noon on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.”
As for the potential of moving the game so they might not have to play in consecutive weeks — not happening, Manuel said.
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“We’ve had some conversations about the timing of being the last game with the knowledge we could play each other again in the conference championships. My reaction is, if we are fortunate enough to do that, I look forward to playing them again a week later,” Manuel added. “That brings the excitement … we had the potential to play them in the National Championship game last year. It didn’t work out that way, but that’s how the evolution occurs.
“Whenever Michigan and Ohio State can play each other in football, whether it’s the last game of the season or there’s another championship game where we play each other, there will be tremendous excitement by our fan bases, our teams, our fans, and from the nation. My attitude is as long as we get there, whoever we play is whoever we play. But it would be tremendous to play them again.”
As for other night games … Manuel said he’s all for them and loves the new contracts.
“I do want to add I’m excited to play night games on NBC,” he said. “I think it’s a great package that has been put together. I think they’re going to be a great partner for us. From my standpoint, I can’t wait until we have a night game on NBC. It will be tremendous.”
Thankfully, it just won’t be Michigan vs. Ohio State in November.
