Jim Harbaugh has responded to Ryan Day.
During his appearance on the second day of Big Ten Football Media Days in Indianapolis, the Michigan coach stated that he has no “particular opinion” about when the annual rivalry between Ohio State and the Wolverines is played during the season.
“Right now, I think it’s been played that last game of the season,” Harbaugh said. “I think everybody’s used to that. That’s part of the Thanksgiving tradition now. So that’s when we’ll expect it.”
On the first day at Lucas Oil Stadium, Day was asked about the Big Ten doing away with divisions next season and what the means for scheduling going forward. Day suggested moving the matchup dubbed The Game to earlier in the season, so that it isn’t “awkward” if and when the two have a rematch for the Big Ten Championship.
“I do think we should consider when we play it, just because you may end up playing them on back-to-back weeks, which would be awkward,” he said.
The Big Ten’s decision to drop divisions from its structure coincides with the arrival of UCLA and USC in the 2024 season. Expanding to 16 teams, the league has opted to host a conference championship game that pits the two teams with the best records against each other. Last year, that would have been Michigan and Ohio State a week removed from the Wolverines win at Ohio Stadium, 45-23. While Michigan didn’t meet Ohio State in the Big Ten Championship (that was Purdue), both the Wolverines and Buckeyes earned invitations to the College Football Playoffs. Both lost in the semifinal to TCU and Georgia, respectively.
“We’ll play that whenever it’s scheduled to be played,” said Harbaugh. “We know we’re going to play it every season — at least once. But, I don’t have a particular opinion of when it should be played.”
This year, Michigan will host Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 25 at noon ET.
