Michigan 45, OSU 23.

[THE_WIZARD_]

My Sandbaggery Meter has blown a gasket with all the sandbaggery from both sides...and it's only Monday.

[WingsFan]

So I heard the Bucknut radio guy said the game should be played in a dome. Is this true Talent?

[lineygoblue]

They'd lose money if they played in any dome in the midwest.

[iam416]

Doesn’t matter where it’s played,

[Hannibal]

So I heard the Bucknut radio guy said the game should be played in a dome. Is this true Talent?

Are you sure that it was an actual guy and not a woman with a really sore throat or something?

[WingsFan]

It was brought up on Mark Rogers's podcast today

[Tslisher]

Jeebus… we are a Midwest conference, we play in the weather. (Except in Indy). No domes needed here. On the contest, I’d say it’s 50/50. We’ve got the better run game by far, assuming Corum and Edwards play, OSU has the far better pass game. Classic match up.I’ll be optimistic and say good guys 27-24 in a nail biter.

[lineygoblue]

The weather really should not be a factor. Players from both teams are accustomed to living and playing in foul weather. I think its a wash.

Corum is not going to be 100%. He will give it a try, but he's not going to be at full force. I'll be surprised if Edwards even suits up.

[THE_WIZARD_]

The sandbaggery is really getting amusing now...

[Mike]

Latest forecast I looked at is 52, partly cloudy, light winds, and a 55% chance of an afternoon shower. IOW, no help from the football gods in this one.

OSU will roll up big numbers and post their first home win over Michigan since 2018 and first overall since 2019.

[iam416]

CJ Stroud is no Troy Smith. Or even JTB. He's more of a right-handed Steve Bellisari, the last OSU QB to shamefully lose to M at home.

And Blake Corum is way better than Hassan Haskins.

M is going to roadgrade Ohio State into oblivion, but, fortunately, HARBAUGH!!!!'s general preference for slower scoring drives will keep the score down to something like 42-20. Whatever. HARBAUGH!!!! will have more than CRD at the end of the game, and that's all that matter.s

[Jeff Buchanan]

To add to mike's comments, I posted some graphics up thread that depicted some clearing on Saturday as the trough that is cutting though the Ohio Valley stays to the west of Columbus keeping the moisture from getting sucked up into the forecast area. I mentioned that the two models the NWS uses to compile their forecasts were still too far apart to make accurate weather predictions.

This morning at the 7am NWS update there appears to be some hedging to the worst case snow and rain mix on Saturday that a more eastward positioning of the trough would imply. Hence the forecast for a 50% chance of that condition prevailing in Columbus at KO. Forecasters, however, add that there is still too much variance between the two models and they will continue to track the progress of the trough and update the Colubus are forecast accordingly. I'm watching it.

I don't think there is any question that a wet field, wet ball and any kind of precip hurts the Buckeye's passing game. How much that effects offensive production and the games outcome is hard to say. You'd assume it advantages M and it's run game but that's a dicey assumption right now given what we know.

[Jeff Buchanan]

M is going to roadgrade Ohio State into oblivion, but, fortunately, HARBAUGH!!!!'s general preference for slower scoring drives will keep the score down to something like 42-20. Whatever. HARBAUGH!!!! will have more than CRD at the end of the game, and that's all that matter.s

I don't think this is sandbaggery but I think it is hyperbole. OSU still has a run game if not as solid as M's due to the OL issues OSU is dealing with. One cannot ignore OSU's homefield advantage and the fact OSU can run the ball and augment that with an effective wet ball short passing game. OSU can move the chains this way and sustain drives.

Whoever wins this contest, said win will be decided by which team dominates at the LOS. A cold weather, wet game diminishes the impact of the skill payers and elevates the importance of how well the big uglys play. That's a very difficult thing to predict at this point. I'll be looking at that more closely as the week progresses.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Sandbaggery...hyperbole...

Tomatoes...tomatoes...

[lineygoblue]

Best thing about this game is the worst M can finish is with a 11-1 record. In 2020, every M fan here was willing to give Harbaugh the boot and bring in anyone from Lane Kiffin to Meathead Bielma.

Since that time, M has gone 23-2, with an excellent home win over OSU last year, and a BT Championship. Its too bad that everything hinges on this game every season. Every bit of improvement goes into the trash can if you lose this one. The oddity is, its likely that if M loses this week, the "worst" case scenario likely puts them in Pasadena on NYD. That used to be the actual objective, in my day.

I think Harbaugh deserves some credit for the turnaround in M's fortunes over the last 24 months. He's hired some excellent coaches, and gotten rid of some that needed to go. He's gotten some quality players, and put them in the NFL. Most fan bases would kill for a coach like that. (hello msu)

As I stated before, I'd love to be predicting this game from a position of strength and confidence, but I can't. Before the turn of the century, there were many years when I could do so. Mssrs. Tressel, Meyer and now CRD have taken that ability away from me, along with the last 86 or so OSU crackshot QB's who always seem to own Michigan. I think M will represent very well, but I think the day will belong to OSU.