[Title Edit: Like It or Not, Get Used to More Frequent Playoff Rematches] An article of interest

https://www.theringer.com/2022/12/4/23493123/rivalry-rematches-are-the-future-of-the-college-football-playoff

"Michigan beat the ever-loving filth out of Ohio State. They dragged the Buckeyes to hell then made them pose for pictures. They ripped their doors off like a bear that smelled food inside a car. They had four 70-yard touchdowns and won 45-23—the Buckeyes’ largest home loss in the 21st century. Michigan demolished Ohio State so thoroughly that a hospital on OSU’s campus spontaneously started collapsing."

"But maybe—just maybe—Michigan will kick Ohio State’s ass even harder than they did last month. We won’t have to worry about the implications of rematches like this one, if the team that wins the first game does us a favor and wins the second as well."

You need a better title for your post. But thanks, the article is a fun read for a Michigan fan

Reading the article, I assumed the author was a Michigan guy, but apparently he's a Northwestern Wildcat. The B1G commoners cheer the return of the rightful king.

A horrible post title

Having to beat OSU twice in a year is a task, but they are still soft.

Add in that our staff came out and said they had much more in the bag for the game that wasn't emptied and I wouldn't feel like the underdog going into this game.

It is BS that they have a second chance- it's really just an accident in history - like the entire university of OSU - but they still can't run block and without JSN the numbers at the line of scrimmage don't change.

I'd actually expect to see us run more blitz packages and confusing defenses on Stroud early to spook him. I'd also expect to see a bunch more screen passes and underneath crossing routes by our receivers, TE's and a healthy D.Edwards as OSU plays scared and puts safeties back.  Our run game will take over in the 3rd quarter instead of the 4th the second time around.

Again, I don't think they can beat UGA - essentially UM on steroids - but if they do pull off that miracle, I'd expect the same result - just one where we rattle Stroud earlier and get the running game going earlier.  It's not at the Shoe afterall.

TL;DR -- I don't like the idea of rematches in the playoff.  Also, I'm off to yell at clouds now.

With regard to when the playoff goes to 12 teams, and the Big Ten moves to a championship game of the two best records, the author says:

It’s entirely plausible to imagine teams like Ohio State and Michigan playing The Game in the regular season, meeting up a week later in the Big Ten championship game, then playing a third time in a national championship game.

I agree: it's entirely plausible.  It's also disheartening to think about, at least for me.  "The Game" to finish the regular season would, in my opinion, diminish in significance if it's clear that regardless of outcome the same two teams will meet the very next week.  I'll admit I'm an older man with a preference for what once was, but still ... I love "The Game" being such a big thing at the end of the season.

If memory serves, wasn't playing back-to-back weekends a concern back when they had Michigan and Ohio State in different divisions?  I recall talk of bringing the two back to the same division to avoid that very thing.  It never happened because Michigan wasn't very good back then, but times have changed in that department.

Also, a nit: "playing a third time in the national championship game" implies the seeding of the playoff would match those teams in opposite brackets.  I think the committee would try, but I suspect they wouldn't guarantee it.

On the other hand, it WOULD be unprecedented to beat ohio state in football 3 times in 2 seasons, so there is that. But it does devalue The Game between THE University of Michigan and ohio state. 

Good find on the article.  Thanks for posting. +1

In general, I'm not a fan of rematches.

Of course, had Michigan lost a close one to Ohio State, I couldn't help my particular selfish motives from prevailing and wanting a rematch.

As the article says, a Big10 without divisions (which I didn't know was the plan until reading the article) might end up with a fair amount of The Game followed by a Big10 Championship between Michigan and Ohio State.

But they’ve given Ohio State a spectacularly valuable Uno reverse card: Ohio State not only has a chance to erase the shame of the Michigan loss, they potentially have a chance to take the sport’s biggest title from the very team who humiliated them in Columbus. And if they pull it off, maybe The Game will have just been, you know, A Game.

This is inevitable in the future, yes. Disgusted that it's set up for this year, though, with still just the 4 team playoff.

And yes, it absolutely diminishes The Game when we have a rematch in a Big Ten title and/or CFP.

For teams that play earlier in the season, it's not as bad. But we're soon going to be going into that final game knowing it just frankly doesn't matter.

With the playoff expansion, it may be time for Michigan and Ohio State to come to grips with the idea that the terms may be changing for The Game.  With the format as it is now, things seem off balance, and I think it is only going to become more like this with expansion.  The in-season Super Bowl that we have at the end of every season is awesome, it is truly awesome, but I think it may be too inconsistent with a coherent season and format going forward.  As awesome as this season and end of the season is, the “pieces” don’t seem to be lining up right. 
 

I have resisted this at every turn, but I think it might be time for these teams to play each other other times of the year and at different times.  Every year, no doubt, but in different slots.  There would be upside.  A The Game Night Game is going to happen at some point, and maybe no better time than now.  And this is not unique just to The Game, college football is the Best Thing  Ever (tied with pizza), but it is changing and the puzzle isn’t quite fitting anymore and I think soon we all need to go along for the ride and see what happens.  Frankly the only reason I don’t want to see a Michigan v OSU sequel is because of how recently I watched the original.

I feel like we can have one thing or the other be the most awesome, but not both, and with Michigan v Ohio State in the current Armageddon format, nothing else can touch it.  There is a climax and then a fall toward the Playoff.  It is a distinct feeling, happened last year and this year it feels the same.

Keith Jackson is shaking his head in disbelief.

The author of the piece, Rodger Sherman, is a good writer and someone who celebrates the absurdity that sometimes (most of the time?) is college football. He's a good follow on Twitter. 

Old man yells at cloud time: I love college football because of the rivalries and how playing the same team ONCE every year is a huge deal! It bums me out to think that that might be going away...

Fuck Ohio. If we make it to the CFP championship game, I want UGA

I don't want a 12 team playoff. There will be even less parity. 4 teams is fine or make conference championship a requirement. Who cares if someone has one more win against Bumfuck A&M State. Conference games should matter. KSU or Utah should be in over OSU this year in my opinion.

Great read, I loved the lurid description of The World Famous Beatdown.

But, gotta say it, wrong about Tulane in the penultimate paragraph.  In this year's version of a hypothetical 12 team playoff, they too have already faced one of the other 11 teams who would be in.  Tulane has already beaten the Big 12 champion this year - held KSU to 10 points, in fact.

Bring on USC.

The Game in its current form, at the end of the season with a trip to the CCG on the line, is truly awesome and unique. That being said, it's just not really feasible anymore going forward. From the article:

Ohio State might play Michigan in the championship game after losing to them in the regular season—and maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Clearly the selection committee doesn’t think so. It would be a matchup of two great teams on the biggest stage in the sport. It would add a new dimension to one of the sport’s all-time greatest rivalries. It would be remembered for decades. But maybe—just maybe—Michigan will kick Ohio State’s ass even harder than they did last month. We won’t have to worry about the implications of rematches like this one, if the team that wins the first game does us a favor and wins the second as well. 

The Game as we know it will still be huge, but the cost of getting to play great teams from other conferences is that The Game will be most special from now on when it's a playoff game--like we thought this year was before USC pooped itself.

As others have said, this also opens up the real possibility of moving The Game earlier in the season, putting it under the lights, etc.

Finally, I think about the close road losses to OSU of the past 20 years and how it would've been awesome to see the rematch at a neutral site. Well, that's looking increasingly likely going forward.