Last week I began my hunt for the biggest rivalry in each Power 4 conference, and when approaching the one that’s held the peak of college football over the past couple of years, you may think there’s a diverse array of options to choose from. However, that is actually not the case.
Sure, the Big Ten has a variety of relevant teams that can make some noise, or perhaps play “spoiler,” but when looking for a matchup that checks all the boxes (like being an annual head-turner, holding considerable weight in the league’s postseason footprint, etc.), most of the arguments you could have seem to be merely races for second place.
With that said, you can probably guess which pair I’ve chosen to cover today, so let’s just get on with it: The Big Ten’s headlining rivalry for 2025 will be none other than The Game between Ohio State and Michigan.
Neither team really needs me to hype them up, but that can especially be said for the Buckeyes, so we’ll touch on their half of this equation first. The Bucks are the defending champs, and…that’s about all we need to know. Things get much more interesting when talking about the Wolverines, though, as they bring no less to the table in spite of leading a far-more-modest campaign last season.
Don’t let 2024 fool you—UM holds immense power through this rivalry
For starters, just because the Wolverines didn’t do great last year doesn’t mean they were some gaggle of invalids. They won eight games in what was considered a "down year", the final two of which were over OSU and Alabama.
To have a finish like that when head coach Sherrone Moore is entering his second season provides much hope for greener pastures. That approach alone makes Michigan a worthy adversary for the 2025 edition of this rivalry, but what puts things over the top is what it would mean for college football—yes, the entire sport—if UM were to win it.
Think about it: If OSU wins The Game, what does it do? It eases the only pain still tormenting Ryan Day’s career, yet everything else continues as normal. But if Michigan wins? We could hear mainstream chatter around whether to fire one of the sport’s best coaches, regardless of him having just won a title.
The fact that this rivalry has held up after so long is impressive on its own, but when it has implications so high that a national-champ head coach could have his job security jeopardized by the result? I’m sold.