In case you missed it, the Big Ten announced the conference opponents for the next two seasons, and it involves scrapping divisions and going with a championship game that will pit the two best teams during the conference season playing for the title.
That, of course, means that “The Game” between Ohio State and Michigan that occurs annually the Saturday after Thanksgiving every year could become “Some Games.” If Ohio State and Michigan tussle and still have the two-best records (with tiebreakers no doubt sometimes coming into play), then the Buckeyes and Wolverines will meet just a week later after playing each other to run it back for the Big Ten championship.
And it’s not just a theory. You can bet that it’ll happen at some point unless the model changes. In fact, Ohio State and Michigan could have met in that type of scenario last season and other recent years prior if not for the divisions format.
Yes, some traditionalists will have a problem with that type of possibility, but there will be some years (ah hem, the last two for Ohio State), where a do-over might be something that the fanbases would embrace.
Imagine Michigan beating Ohio State twice in two weeks, then, two weeks later, beating them for a third time. It's possible!
— Gordon (@gord93) June 8, 2023
So butter it up and embrace it. Instead of having a full year of bragging rights or resentment after the greatest rivalry in all of sports, we could now see a donnybrook in back-to-back weeks. In those years, it’s a rivalry so nice, they could do it twice.
We won’t quite get into the possibility of the two arch-rivals playing three times with an expanded playoff — at least not yet.
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