Ohio State has taken control of 'The Game,' but bigger tests await Buckeyes

The Ohio State Buckeyes can now rest easy knowing that they took care of business Saturday afternoon against the Michigan Wolverines in Ann Arbor. The win for the Buckeyes not only lifted any dead weight off the backs of a program having suffered four-straight losses to their neighboring rivals, but reaffirmed their dominance amongst one of college football's best teams.

Identical to their opponent, the No. 1-ranked Buckeyes enter the Big Ten title game unbeaten next Saturday when they face the high-flying, talent-filled No. 2-ranked Indiana Hoosiers from Lucas Oil Stadium.

Some may call it a glorified exhibition, but for the Buckeyes, it's much bigger than that. They return to a city that has been kind to them in recent years, claiming a conference title against the Northwestern Wildcats in De. 2020. Five years later, the state of affairs in Columbus is much bigger, deeper and lucrative.

Coach Ryan Day recognizes he has checked off step one of a three-step checklist. First, it was beating the Wolverines to snap an excruciating six-year drought. Step two is to remain the gold standard of the Big Ten Conference by taking down a Hoosiers team having not lost in nearly a full calendar year.

"We don’t take anything for granted, we don’t make any assumptions," Day told reporters before the Michigan game. "Every week, every Saturday, an opportunity to get to Indianapolis is on the line; that’s the way it is here, right now.”

It's a personal goal for Day, one he hopes his players can look back on years from now should Ohio State be victorious.

“We want to get to Indy, we haven’t got to Indy here," Day added. "There is nobody on this team that has been to Indy right now, and they know it.”

Now they are. There's more at stake. The brink of the College Football Playoff is right there, too. It's a matter of how the Buckeyes are seeded. Regardless of their path, repeating as national champions is no longer an expectation.

It's the standard Day has set forth.

“I think it’s the same feelings you have every single year is that you're trying to focus on being the best team you possibly can, especially down the stretch," Day told NBC Sports in August. "With the playoffs system the way it is, you've got to peak at the end of the season. It’s a different approach, but ultimately it's a focus on right now and literally focus on what you can control.”

Now, Day has an opportunity to let his words ring true by gunning for a repeat.