Why Ohio State regaining momentum of 'The Game' is good for Big Ten football

The Ohio State Buckeyes finally broke through with a 27-9 win against the Michigan Wolverines Saturday afternoon, regaining ahold of the storied Big Ten rivalry.

The defending national champions will now coast into the Big Ten title game this Saturday against the No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers in Indianapolis. If Ohio State were to win, it would enter the College Football Playoff as an undefeated conference champion.

This is significant.

Not only is it an opportunity for coach Ryan Day to validate himself as one of the nation's best coaches, but also could be a further springboard for why the Wolverines win has merit.

It does already. A year's worth of work preventing the devastation of this past season, a 13-10 loss to a subpar Wolverines team with everything on the line was finally flushed out with Saturday's win in Ann Arbor.

That's why Day's classy outlook following the win speaks volumes, further intensifying the argument for the Big Ten as college football's model conference.

"Well, I'm just happy for our players," Day said after the win. "You know, they worked really hard. I'm happy for our coaches. They worked, really, really hard. We had good energy this week. We had confidence coming in. The guys played tough; they played physical. We won the line of scrimmage, and I'm just happy for our guys."

Day said reputation is critical in making sure that upholding the integrity of the game is the most important aspect of a good football program, something he had wanted to always instill in his players.

"We're going to win with humility," Day said. "I'm just happy for a lot of people right now. Can't name them all, but this means a lot."

Despite Day only winning two of six games against Michigan, it appears the rivalry is beginning to take a dramatic shift. The Wolverines were all but eliminated from College Football Playoff contention, suffering their third loss at the expense of the Buckeyes after having run the table for much of October and November following early-season losses to the USC Trojans and Oklahoma Sooners.

Now, the rivalry is more than a one-game season. It's a combination of showing who is the most dominant between two of the sports most iconic brands and without stakes, it wouldn't be as big as it is on a yearly basis.

it remains to be seen how the rivalry continues to unfold, but if Saturday's game taught us anything, it is anything but non-competitive.