All the big names will be in town for Michigan football’s biggest game of the year.
ESPN’s College GameDay announced Sunday, Nov. 23, that it will set up shop in Ann Arbor when the No. 15 Wolverines (9-2, 7-1 Big Ten) host the No. 1 Buckeyes (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten) for “The Game” in the regular season finale. No location has yet been announced for the set.
The game will be televised on Fox’s Big Noon, which means both of the major college football pregame shows will be in town when U-M and OSU meet next weekend.
This isn’t just about Michigan looking to see if it can defeat Ohio State for a fifth straight season – something it has not done since the 1920s – but to see if U-M can keep its College Football Playoff hopes alive.
If Ohio State wins, it will play Indiana in the Big Ten championship game. If Michigan wins, all it would need is a Washington victory over Oregon to go back to its fourth Big Ten Championship game in five seasons. The Wolverines won the league three times in a row from 2021-23 and capped that run with an undefeated 15-0 campaign and the program’s first national championship since 1997.
If Oregon wins, U-M cannot make the Big Ten title game at Lucas Oil Stadium even with a victory, but that doesn’t mean the Wolverines can’t sneak into the CFP.
Currently, Michigan does not have a win over a ranked team and both of its losses have come to the two ranked teams it has played – at Oklahoma and at USC. But a win over OSU would catapult the Wolverines up the rankings.
The last time Michigan has hosted College GameDay was Week 2 of the 2024 season, which ended as a 31-12 loss to Texas. This will be the 10th time GameDay has been on hand for a meeting between Michigan and Ohio State and the Wolverines are 4-5 in those games.
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: ESPN’s College GameDay coming to Ann Arbor for Michigan vs Ohio State
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
