ESPN's Kirk Herbstreit didn't hold back when discussing the ramifications of this year's Ohio State-Michigan matchup. The rivalry, which is better known as "The Game" commences this Saturday in Ann Arbor.
Herbstreit will be in attendance for "College Gameday," offering a unique perspective on the dilemma Buckeyes fans face when it comes to beating their rival vs. Winning national titles.
“Yeah, like I said, it depends on your generation," Herbstreit said on his YouTube channel alongside Joey Galloway. "I think a lot of people, they’re in chatrooms. They get their feelings hurt. They want to beat Michigan at all costs,” Herbstreit said. “And it doesn’t matter what happens before that, game, what happens after that game, they just wanna be able to get on the chat thing and be able to have, ‘We’re better. We beat.’"
Herbstreit said, though, that today's era of college football, a chsmpionship means just as much.
"I think there’s a lot of people that are into that, and I think there’s kind of the newer fan that thinks, whether we win or lose this game, we’ve still got to get ready for either the Big Ten Championship or the CFP. It’s all about the CFP. I think that’s what a lot of people learned last week.”
Herbstreit did admit, however, that he trcognizes looking at the rivalry at face value.
“I do, I think 75, 80 percent would take what happened last year," Herbstreit said about Michigan's upset in Columbus.
All in all, though, the history and tradition is what makes the rivalry what it is today.
“I don’t care,” Herbstreit said. “For me, I just wanna see a great game. We have, I think, there’s snow in the forecast. Hopefully, it’s gray, it’s dark, it’s cold. The uniforms are awesome on the field there. I love it.”
We'll find out in four days' time if it lives up to the billing.