This feels weird.
For the first time in five years, Ohio State isn’t playing in the Big Ten Championship Game. In a week where we thought we’d be going to Indianapolis to watch the Buckeyes play for a fifth consecutive Big Ten title and compete for a berth in the College Football Playoff, we’re instead waiting to find out where the Buckeyes will finish their season in what will almost certainly be a non-playoff bowl game.
That’s because the Buckeyes suffered a 42-27 loss to Michigan in their final game of the regular season, their first loss to the Wolverines in 10 years, leaving them to watch from home this week while their rivals play for a Big Ten championship and a CFP berth.
We spend the first half of this week’s show discussing what went wrong for the Buckeyes against the Wolverines – and what might have contributed to that, including the tough second-half schedule, players being sick and a vanilla game plan on both sides of the ball – in a game where Michigan dominated the line of scrimmage and quite simply, appeared to be the tougher and more prepared team despite Ohio State’s insistence that it prepares for The Game all year. (Plus, at the 14:08 mark, Dan explains why it’s silly for anyone to be blaming the loss on C.J. Stroud.)
If you don’t want to relive the Michigan loss anymore, we discuss what’s coming next for Ohio State beginning at the 31:10 mark. The guys explore the potential scenarios for the Buckeyes’ bowl game – which likely will be a New Year’s Six game, though it’s highly unlikely to be a playoff game – and why it should still be important for the Buckeyes to finish the season with a win. Plus, we discuss the potential changes to the coaching staff that could be coming and ponder a listener question of whether Ohio State has become similar to Oklahoma.
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