The most meaningful game in each Power 4 college football conference in 2024

Big Ten: Michigan at Ohio State (Nov. 30)

Keeping with the theme of obvious choices, we have the Big Ten’s showdown between the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes.

This blue-blooded pair makes for what is annually one of college football’s most relevant rivalries, with both names making the CFP bracket for the 2022-23 season, Ohio State only having a six-point road loss to Michigan this last regular season, and the latter recently going 15-0 for a perfect natty run.

With that stuff in mind, they probably would’ve gotten this spot regardless of how things looked heading into 2024 — that doesn't mean we shouldn't be made aware of it, though.

Along with both powerhouses having lost notable talent, the Wolverines will be moving on without the face of their program’s revival, legendary head coach Jim Harbaugh. Instead, they will be operating with the hardly proven Sherrone Moore at the helm.

Now let me be clear, I don’t wish to take anything away from what Moore has already done at Michigan, as he went 4-0 as a stand-in HC last year, with half of those wins being over Penn State and Ohio State.

However, him having a considerably different (A.K.A. worse) team for an entire 12-game slate that’ll be capped off by facing the Buckeyes in Columbus is a far bigger beast to conquer for obvious reasons. But don’t worry, this won’t just be a defining game for Michigan’s coach.

Ohio State’s Ryan Day, while clearly a capable mind, has received a heap of criticism in his tenure as the Buckeyes HC, and nothing has captured his failure to meet the school’s elite standards as well as his three-game loss streak to Big Blue.

If he loses to the Wolverines again, falling to what will likely be a non-contender version of them at home and establishing a record of 0-2 against Moore, that will likely be the last straw for any remaining supporters, along with the university itself.

In other words: This year’s installment of “The Game” has the potential to serve as a competitive turning point in each team, the rivalry, the conference and the country — all at once. If that doesn’t match the definition of “meaningful”, I don’t know what does.