Big Ten Roundtable Podcast: Ohio State, Michigan Ready to Chase National Title
The College Football Playoff semifinal games are on Saturday, and for the first time ever, two Big Ten teams are part of the party.
Michigan earned its way into the postseason through proper channels. They went undefeated during the regular season, including beating Ohio State in the final week, and then beat Purdue in the Big Ten Championship Game to finish 13-0.
Michigan is the No. 2 seed, and will play TCU in the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale, Ariz., Kickoff is at 4 p.m. ET on Saturday. (TV: ESPN). Michigan is a 7.5-point favorite.
Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy talks to wide receiver Cornelius Johnson during a practice on Thursday before Saturday's playoff game against TCU. (Kirthmon F. Dozier/USA TODAY Sports)
Ohio State had to sweat it out after the 45-23 loss to Michigan. And the Buckeyes got a break when USC lost in the Pac-12 Championship Game, opening that fourth and final playoff spot back up. The 11-1 Buckeyes snared it, and will play No. 1 Georgia on Saturday night in the Peach Bowl in Atlanta, Ga. Game time is 8 p.m. ET.
Both teams have some playoff history. Michigan made it for the first time a year ago, but lost in the national semifinal to Georgia. The Bulldogs won 34-11 en route to claiming the national title.
They say that having been through all the playoff hype once before will help them this year. It's TCU who's the first-timer now.
"We've been here before, we know that there's a lot of things that could distract us from the task at hand," Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy said. "This week to prepare, we're taking it much more as a business trip instead of kind of like a vacation feel like it was in Miami last year. So I'd say the biggest difference is that we've been here before and we know what to do."
Ohio State is making its fifth trip to the playoffs. They are 2-2 in semifinal games, winning the national title under Urban Meyer after the 2014 season. In 2020, they beat Clemson in the semifinals but lost to Alabama in the title game.
That chance for redemption runs deep with this Ohio State team. Losing to Michigan for a second straight year was painful, and now they've been granted a second chance at a national title run.
Georgia is the defending national champion and is a 6.5-point favorite. The Buckeyes don't mind playing the underdog role one bit.
Sports Illustrated/Fan National publisher and Big Ten Roundtable host sat down with BuckeyesNow.com publisher Brendan Gulick, who's in Atlanta with the Buckeyes, to discuss the national semifinal game.
Here's our interview in this week's episode of the Big Ten Roundtable.
To follow all of our great coverage of Michigan in the CFP, visit our site Wolverine Digest. CLICK HERE
To follow all of our great coverage of Ohio State in the CFP, visit our site Buckeyes Now. CLICK HERE
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