The Ohio State Buckeyes are trying to repeat as national champions.
Could that ever potentially change how they view The Game vs. Michigan?
That's what Associated Press sports writer Tom Withers wondered on X on Sunday morning.
"Ohio State could wind up sitting Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate for Michigan. THE Game remains important but not as much as winning a Big Ten title or defending a national championship."
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There is a very real chance the outcome of the Michigan game, viewed solely through the lens of the Big Ten and College Football Playoff standings, wouldn't impact Ohio State's future much.
Of course, don't tell that to anyone in Columbus.
They'll want to go full throttle against That Team Up North.
The Buckeyes have lost four times in a row to the Wolverines.
They will do everything they can to win it.
Tate has been missing lately with a bit of an apparent injury, so that could impact his fate, of course. And Smith is as important as any WR in the country.
It's still hard to picture a scenario where Ryan Day would ever do this. He'd get crushed by OSU fans for it.
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