Okay, bear with me for a moment while I venture out in the weeds with an absurd hypothetical. After all, this is a message board.
Let's say that THE GAME wasn't cancelled, but it is technically "meaningless" as OSU has already clinched a spot in the CCG.
The Football Gods then appear before you with good news and bad news.
The Bad News is that you are definitely going to go 1-1 in those two games, taking you out of the CFP equation.
The good news is that you get to pick which game you win and which game you lose.
Are you seriously trying to convince me that you would sign up for a loss in THE GAME, if it guaranteed you a victory over Northwestern in Indianapolis? Really?
This is actually a difficult call for me. Ohio State is out of the NC picture either way so in terms of "things
@medinabuckeye1 cares about" it is either:
- Another tOSU win over Michigan, or
- Another tOSU B1G title
I care about both and a lot of my titles issue relates to Michigan anyway.
In the last few years we have caught Michigan on a bunch of metrics that
@medinabuckeye1 cares about:
- Record in tOSU/M LEAGUE games (ie, 1918 to present): Ohio State finally caught Michigan with the 2014 win and now leads the tOSU/M LEAGUE game series by five games, 51-46-4.
- League titles since Ohio State joined the league: Ohio State finally caught Michigan with the 2017 title and now leads by two (38-36) in titles since tOSU joined the league (1913).
- League titles since Michigan rejoined the league (ie, 1917-present): Ohio State finally caught Michigan with the 2018 title and now leads by one (37-36) in league titles while both schools were members of the league.
The only things left are to catch Michigan for the remainder of the leads that they built up back when they were a member of the (then) Western Conference and Ohio State was the equivalent of a modern MAC school (if that), specifically:
- Michigan leads the overall series with Ohio State by seven games, 58-51-6. Michigan's first seven wins (all of their remaining lead) were in 1897, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1905, and 1906. During this time (pre-1907) tOSU was a pathetic 0-7-1 against the Wolverines.
- Michigan leads in overall league titles by four, 42-38. Michigan's first six titles were before Ohio State joined and before they dropped out. Specifically, their first four titles (all of their remaining lead) were in 1898, 1901, 1902, and 1903.
I want to see Ohio State catch Michigan in those last two metrics. They need a net seven more wins over Michigan to catch them in the overall series and a net four more titles to catch them in titles. Both of those appear to be possibly within reach. Ohio State has won nine titles since Michiagan last won one and the Buckeyes have won eight straight and fourteen of the last 15 episodes of THE GAME.
The difficulty, for me, of your hypothetical question from the football gods is that one of these goals would get closer while the other would get further away.
At the end of the day, I'd rather catch them in league titles so I'd pick the league title. When a Michigan fan points out their overall lead in the series I can simply congratulate them on wins that occurred in leather helmets long before WWI and remind them that Ohio State leads in league games and league titles.
Absolutely. Sure, you're not in the CFP, but a Big Ten Championship and a trip to Rose Bowl are two things that will have larger echoes in the history books than beating Michigan in a meaningless THE GAME and then losing when it actually counts.
I realize that for OSU fans, "Big Ten Champion" is just assumed to be your birthright... But for those of us mere mortals, it's different.
If Purdue in a normal year was 7-1, had tiebreakers in the B1G West over Iowa and Wisconsin (who are both sitting at 6-2) and you offer me the same question: lose to Indiana and win the B1G CCG and go to the Rose Bowl, or beat Indiana before losing in the B1G CCG and not having a conference championship and going to a lesser bowl...
I'm taking the B1G title every damn year.
I agree with
@bwarbiany , however:
Yeah, that'd be my answer too if I were a Purdue fan.
Only an OSU fan can wrap their brain around the specific hypothetical that I posited.
I concur that it would be an easier call if I were a Purdue fan.