With the first victory of the season under their belts, a 45-7 drubbing of Marshall Thursday night, the Buckeyes welcomed the chance to play Michigan twice under the new Big Ten realignment.
The Big Ten announced the two divisions Sept. 1. Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Purdue and Wisconsin will join the Buckeyes in one division. The remaining six teams — Iowa, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Northwestern — form the second unnamed division.
The OSU-Michigan rivalry game will remain as the last of the regular season, a 75-year tradition. If both OSU and Michigan are at the top of their respective divisions, the teams would also square off in the conference championship game.
There has been concern about a potential back-to-back matchup.
“I think it’s great to be able to play Michigan two games in a row and if we had the opportunity to do that I think it’d be awesome,” said guard Justin Boren, who transferred from Michigan to OSU three years ago. “There’s no better feeling than to play in that game, so if we had it two weeks in a row so be it.”
The scenario does not concern tight end Jake Stoneburner, either.
“It’s always going to be one of the biggest rivalries in all of sports, so I think even if we have to play them twice it’s going to be twice as fun,” Stoneburner said.
Stoneburner said that a back-to-back matchup might take the edge off the first game.
“It is what it is. If they want to keep it like that and we have to play Michigan twice it means we get the best game of the year twice,” Stoneburner said.
Although the OSU-Michigan game placement won’t affect senior captain Dane Sanzenbacher, he understands fan concern, but is confident that the tradition and rivalry won’t be affected.
“I don’t think the coaches will let it lose its luster,” Sanzenbacher said.
