Big game James: LeBron attending Ohio State-Michigan game

“But when you look back, I did the best I could and you move on”. They’ve done nothing but win since then. “We need to win the game for that reason”.

Michigan picking their moments in the pass game – The Buckeyes showed some vulnerability to giving up big plays in the run game against Michigan State, and that works well for the Wolverines.

Geologists will find out just how much.

If No. 3 MI (10-1, 7-1 Big Ten) wins, the Wolverines win the Big Ten East division and will play for the Big Ten championship next week in Indianapolis. It’s two of the top four teams in the nation playing in one of the sport’s greatest rivalries.

But if there has been one constant for MI this season, it’s been its defense.

Cleveland Cavaliers star LeBron James says he and some of his teammates will attend Saturday’s college football game between Ohio State and MI. The last time Harbaugh was involved in a football game in Columbus, he was Michigan’s quarterback in 1986, delivering on a victory he guaranteed. The Tigers will play either Virginia Tech or North Carolina in the ACC championship, both of which should be relatively easy wins, and would coast into the playoff. None of those teams are ranked. If they lose, their chances fade to 12 percent. And being a one-loss conference champion is better than any of the possibilities below this one.

Bolstered by smart decision making, timely deep balls, quick feet and awareness to use them, the dual-threat quarterback has helped No. 8 Penn State do the same to the rest of the Big Ten all season.

The Ohio State Buckeyes run on to the field prior to the start of the game against the Bowling Green Falcons on September 3, 2016 at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, Ohio.

A couple of years ago, after Ohio State quarterback J.T. Barrett went down with a broken ankle, MI quarterback Devin Gardner kneeled over him, offering him support. Illinois LB Tre Watson is averaging 10.8 tackles in Big Ten games to lead the conference. Yet do the math: Two of the above possibilities are mutually exclusive.

Peppers, who plays a position that is a hybrid between linebacker and defensive back, believes MI is in a much better position to win The Game than it was a year ago when Ohio State won in a rout. What neither said, but didn’t have to, was that beating Ohio State was part of their reason for returning.

However, it is likely that the Michigan-Ohio State victor gains one of the four openings in the playoff, meaning the Buckeyes could get in without even appearing in the conference title contest. The complicating factor is that doing so might still keep it out of conference contention thanks to that loss to Penn State last month.

That could be a play-in game for Washington for the CFP. Falk didn’t play in last year’s Apple Cup, a 45-10 loss in Seattle, because of a concussion.

“Does the selection committee see a small margin of separation this week between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 7 Penn State?”.

The Buckeyes have won 11 of the last 12 meetings. It’s personal for the people who have played in the game, and it’s personal for the people who are now about to play in the game. To date, the rivals have battled it out 111 times, with Ohio State winning 12 of the past 15 matchups.

The chances of that happening are as remote as No. 2 Ohio State clobbering No. 3 MI by the same 29-point margin as past year.

And who knows? Maybe your team has that insane outside chance as well.