The Game Is Cancelled; It's Good And Bad

It's a bummer that Michigan and Ohio State won't play for the first time since 1917, but there are several ways to look at the cancellation.

Michigan and Ohio State aren't playing for the first time since 1917 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which just makes the end of the college football season seem off even in one of the weirdest campaigns of all time.

Football fans are bummed about the cancellations this year, but The Game being called off just feels wrong. Obviously the fanbases actually involved in the historic contest are reeling a bit, but even national pundits and college football fans around the country know that cancelling Michigan vs. Ohio State is a big deal. It's largely viewed as a negative, but there are several ways to look at the development.

The Good

1. Michigan's worst defeat in recorded history is a 40-0 loss at the hands of Minnesota all the way back in 1935. Earlier this season the Wolverines lost by 38 against Wisconsin and many think it would've been even worse than that against Ohio State this weekend. The Buckeyes opened up as 30-point favorites before the game was cancelled and certainly seem explosive enough to beat Michigan by at least 40. It sucks to say it, but Michigan probably escaped another embarrassing loss.

As a former player and coach, albeit at low levels, I hate the idea of escaping a loss only because the game isn't played, but man, no one covering, cheering for or working at Michigan wants to see the Wolverines get beat by 50 by the Buckeyes. 

2. Now depending on where you stand on this one, it could be in either category, but I'll present it from Jim Harbaugh's standpoint. It's a good thing he and his team didn't have to travel to Columbus this weekend.

He'll never admit it, and probably doesn't legitimately feel lucky that he didn't have to play Ohio State, but he is. With all of the uncertainty surrounding his future at Michigan right now, a 30-40-point loss against Ohio State, that would take his record against the Buckeyes to 0-6, certainly wouldn't help matters. All it would do is put more pressure on Warde Manuel to remove Harbaugh and more (warranted) criticism on the head coach. Michigan's four losses this year have been bad and another big one would've been the rotten cherry on top.

3. A bad loss for Michigan this weekend would've hurt the team's confidence.

That might sound like an obvious statement, but there were going to be a lot of young players on the field in the game who likely would've struggled, missed assignments and looked flat out bad on film. Losing badly to a key rival can really shake a young player trying to find his way and set back his development. Imagine if Dan Villari would've actually earned his first start in the game. We actually heard it would've been Joe Milton, but the point remains. 

Young players need to be put in a position to succeed out of the gate or it really can freeze their development or worse, ruin their careers. Some guys never rebound from something like that. I'm not saying careers would've been ruined on Saturday, but it just doesn't feel like much good would've come out of the game.

The Bad

1. It's The freakin Game! It really just feels wrong that Michigan and Ohio State aren't playing. The two teams have played EVERY year since 1917. It's crazy to think that a streak like that is coming to an end. Despite the lopsided nature of the matchups over the last 16 years, Michigan vs. Ohio State is the best rivalry in college football and maybe in all of sports, so not playing it sucks. Period.

2. It's been resolved, but not playing the game threw a serious wrench into the Big Ten and College Football Playoff picture for a little bit there. Ohio State has found a replacement game for this weekend, and the conference removed the six-game requirement to play for a title, but the whole situation just reminds us of how bizarre this year has been and how strange it is that Michigan and Ohio State aren't playing. None of OSU's missed games have been their fault, so missing out on chances at trophies would've been bad for the sport. It still might cost OSU a playoff spot since they played so many less games than the other contenders, but it's starting to feel more like the Buckeyes will be invited to the CFP, which is the way it should be, as painful as that is to accept.

3. Michigan backing out of The Game has created a conspiracy that it did so just to avoid a bad loss and to potentially keep Ohio State out of contention. Kirk Herbstreit floated the idea that Michigan may "wave the white flag" to avoid an embarrassing performance against the Buckeyes while on TV. Herbie has since apologized and said he had no evidence to support his claim, but I'm not buying that. He's about as plugged in as they come so I'm thinking he heard that from someone he probably trusts. Even if he did just come up with the thought on his own, it's out there, and he wasn't the first person to mention it.

For the record, I really don’t think U-M would do that, and I certainly hope that they wouldn’t, but it sucks that people are talking about it. Actually doing something like that would be horrible for the sport and would certainly take any program willing to do that to a new low. Again, I don't think that's what happened, but Herbstreit wasn't the first person I heard talking about it.