It feels like they canceled Christmas.
This trailer is giving me the biggest case of blue balls of all time, but I simply cannot stop watching it.
All of the talent, coaching and development advantages aside, if you want to know why Ohio State has kicked Michigan's ass for almost two decades, watch that video.
Master Teague's out there telling the Buckeyes "we have a chance to get the upper hand against them boys up north" 302 days before the game. Almost a year in advance and Ohio State was already plotting Michigan's murder. And that's the way it's gone for as long as I can remember.
See, in the Buckeye state, beating Michigan is an obsession. It's a way of life. It's damn near psychotic. And it happens every damn day. Every damn day. By the time game day rolls around, it's just a formality; Michigan was sunk back in February.
So while I'm crushed that I won't get to watch my Buckeyes butcher Michigan like a ritualistic sacrifice on Saturday, part of me is at peace knowing damn well what that outcome was going to be.
But you can only delay the inevitable for so long. So reset that countdown clock and put the 2021 Wolverines on notice. The Buckeyes are coming to take back what is theirs.
353 days.
Word of the Day: Tarry.
WHY IS THIS EVEN A DEBATE? "Should we do the extremely obvious good and correct thing or the absolutely inexplicably dumb thing, instead? It truly is tough to say! A real brain teaser!" – The Big Ten, probably.
Look, I have no idea how the hell it's been almost a full day since The Game was canceled and there is *still* a rule on the Big Ten's books keeping the clear best team in the league from playing for the championship simply because the conference made an arbitrary rule four months ago.
I'm sure it sounded fine hypothetically, but here's how it's playing out in real life:
If somehow Ohio State was able to play Michigan this weekend and lost to the 30-point underdog theyd have still been in the Big Ten title game. There is no argument for Indiana or any other team ahead of them.
— Jeremy Birmingham (@Birm) December 8, 2020
Yes, the Buckeyes could have lost to Michigan by 93 points on Saturday and still coasted right to Indianapolis as the Big Ten East champs. But since the game was canceled – due to no fault of their own, mind you! – Ohio State is ineligible.
"Oh, so Ohio State should get special treatment just because it's Ohio State?"
In no world is it "special treatment" to allow an undefeated team with a head-to-head win over the second-place team to win the division. That's just common sense, and it's insane that a rule has to be changed to achieve that.
PUNT OFF? This year's game might be canceled, but the rivalry sure ain't dead. And thankfully, that includes glorious punter banter.
Needed that fifth pair
— Drue Chrisan (@DChrisman91) December 8, 2020
Punt-off? https://t.co/Dj7fEzX1Yt
— Brad Robbins (@__BR91) December 8, 2020
Probably wasnt getting a chance to punt this weekend so ya I down https://t.co/vA2rR5vSsk
— Drue Chrisan (@DChrisman91) December 8, 2020
First off, Drue just put Michigan's entire team in a coffin with that Tweet (also, he's not wrong). Second, I cannot even begin to express to you how filled with glee I would be watching an Ohio State vs. Michigan punting exhibition.
If Jim Tressel doesn't get a VIP seat to this spectacle, I'm suing somebody.
MILLIONS ON THE LINE. Aside from it simply being the obvious and completely logical thing to do in the first place, the Big Ten has a few million reasons why it might want to reconsider the six-game requirement currently keeping the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship game.
The Big Ten has a financial incentive to help Ohio State improve its playoff resume. The Buckeyes are the conference’s best remaining chance at a playoff bid (by a wide margin), and those bids come with a hefty payout. Last year the playoff committee distributed $6 million to each conference that placed a team in the semifinals.
...
In addition to the semifinals payout, should Ohio State qualify for the playoff, a second Big Ten team could be chosen for a “New Year’s Six” game, which under last year’s payout would have brought the conference another $4 million. That could come from No. 8 Indiana or No. 15 Northwestern.
Though this year’s payouts are yet to be finalized—Sportico reported in November that the total pool could drop 10% to 15%—the money might be even more important this year. The Big Ten played significantly fewer games this season and is already likely losing out on TV revenue, in addition to the tens of millions in ticket sales that have been lost without live fans.
I'm far past the point of expecting the Big Ten to the clear and obvious correct thing, but voluntarily punting away a chance at $10 million with your member programs hemorrhaging money in a global pandemic seems too insane, even for them.
As an aside, it's an absolutely absurd thought that it could take the Big Ten potentially losing millions of dollars for them to even consider doing the thing that is clearly the right thing to do regardless, but I guess money talks.
JUST DO IT. Speaking of the playoffs, you know what would help bolster Ohio State's playoff resume even more than a Big Ten championship game win over Northwestern? A win over a top-5 Texas A&M.
And Ohio State would be the decisive favorite.
Projected lines at neutral site via @_Collin1:
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) December 8, 2020
Texas A&M vs. Ohio State (-11.5)
Coastal vs. Ohio State (-25.5) pic.twitter.com/xhuBNPPNk4
In a perfect and totally reasonable world, Ohio State would be able to schedule one of these games (Iowa State and Tulsa are available, too) AND be eligible for the Big Ten championship game.
Alternatively, give me one of these games this weekend and Michigan on Dec. 19, instead of a Big Ten West crossover game.
Folks, I just fixed 2020.
TRY AGAIN NEXT WEEK? Playing Michigan on Dec. 19 might not be as much of a pipe dream as I initially thought (granted, it's 2020 – nothing should surprise me anymore).
Turns out, if that was an option, Michigan would be interested.
“We will make any adjustments from my standpoint that we need to make, so if it’s not and we make adjustments on our calendar and we play Ohio State the week of the 19th, from my perspective, that would be great,” Manuel said. “We will play whoever is going to be scheduled for us.”
Granted, given that Michigan reportedly had 45(!!!) players unavailable this week, there are no guarantees they'd be able to field a team next week either.
But a blogger can dream, right?
DUBCAST FROM THE DEAD. Y'all didn't see it because I killed the post before we published a "Michigan is going to lose by 70" podcast right in the middle of our "The Game is canceled" coverage, but on this week's Dubcast, Johnny and I talked for basically 45 minutes about how Michigan was about to get prison shivved by the Buckeyes and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it – besides, you know, cancel the game.
The episode was even eloquently titled "Jinxes Aren't Real," because there was no amount of "bulletin board material" that was going to make a difference in this game. None.
So, if you're into wasting 45 minutes of your boss' time listening to a pair of ignoramuses ramble on about a game that isn't actually going to happen, you now have the link.
A GOOD TWEET EMERGES. I guess this is about to be a 1,000+ word Skull Session, huh? That's okay, I get paid by the word (I absolutely do not get paid by the word).
Anyway, few good things came out of yesterday's canceled game, but one of them was this masterpiece from walk-on lineman Nathan Brock, who now leaves Ohio State undefeated against Michigan.
— Nathan Brock (@natebrock50) December 8, 2020
To be fair, you could attribute that quote to anyone whose freshman year began any time after 2011, which means two whole classes have graduated without seeing a loss to Michigan.
Seems good!
SONG OF THE DAY. "Blue Christmas" by Elvis Presley.
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