MSU playing this weekend to secure Michigan spot in the B1G Championship Game

Michigan fans should ALWAYS root for OSU to lose no matter the opponent or other implication, even against MSU. 

OSU having a 3 or 4 loss season (or better yet two in a row!) would be really helpful to M getting back to winning more Big Ten CC, beating OSU more than 50% of the time, returning Michigan to being the top program in the Big Ten, etc.

If OSU's "down" year is 10-2 (lost to Purdue and Michigan), second in the Big Ten East, and a Rose Bowl trip , then they will continue to be perceived (along with Clemson I guess) as the 1b to Alabama at 1a, and they will continue to recruit at a level second only to Alabama. 

Much better to have OSU lose 3 this year (Purdue, MSU, Michigan), and go to the Citrus Bowl (and hopefully lose to LSU or whoever). 

OSU having 3 or 4 losses, finishing third (!) in the East Division, and going to a secondary bowl this year breaks the notion that Meyer's program is unstoppable.  That opens up better results for M in head-to-head recruiting battles, etc., etc. 

So all of this talk of "I'd rather Michigan beat a 1 loss OSU than a 2 loss OSU" is...failing to see the the longer arc of things.

And so what if a Sparty win over OSU means that MSU finishes second in the East division?  As long a M avoids disastrous coaching hires (RRod and Hoke, and may Harbaugh remain for a decade more fingers crossed), MSU will never be as much of the threat to M returning to being the top program in the Big Ten as is OSU. 

For one, I think OSU will win in EL. MSU rarely if ever wins games where a win would benefit us. 

Secondly, the whole “ we as fans can be cocky all we want, we’re not the players or coaches” notion is false. They are not battle cyborgs that are programmed to win, they are human beings who watch TV, check social media and have daily interactions with fans. Players have talked about how much the general “buzz” around the program affects them. If everyone tells you all day every day that you’re awesome, that you’re going to win this and that..it’s hard for anyone not to let that influence you, it’s almost impossible for a 18-23 year old man who already naturally has a ton of bravado. Coaches can say what they want, they cant control minds. Thats why upsets and trap games are a real thing. 

Sparty's culture is such that if they know this, they will throw the game.  I'm not joking. . .

I think with a team like we have this year, we want to do things on our own. If we're worried about beating OSU, then we will have big problems if we do by chance get in the playoffs......

I will be rooting for 1 team Saturday. And that's the one playing in NJ. Could care less what Sparty does. That's in the rearview mirror

I really don’t care what happens in other games. Just win ours. Not worth the energy to worry about CFP since it’s up to a bunch of douche nozzles to pick their 4 favorite teams. 

If we win out we should be in the CFP, but I’m not going to lose any sleep over it. I’ve seen Michigan screwed over too many times by decisions from people who don’t even know how to tie their own shoes. 

AN OSU gets a chance to get their "The" back from MSU (which they lost to Purdue, who then lost it to MSU).

And then we can take it!

After looking like a juggernaut at the beginning of the season OSU is now looking mortal.   Personally, I'm trying not to think about OSU right now.   1 week at a time.    What I want to see this Saturday is for us to jump out to a huge lead quickly and then get Peters a bunch of snaps.   He's the #2 now and really is in need of some game-time reps. 

Obviously I want it all, but a Big Ten championship has even more value to me than a CFP bid. It is silly to not want that CCG bid to be guaranteed in advance. No matter its record, there are scarce annoying hot takes this offseason if Michigan wins the Big Ten**. They may even go extinct.

**("Oh yeah, Harbaugh can with the Big Ten, but he's never been to the CFP" is a terrible take. If that's how the season plays out, I welcome that take gleefully ... and the unfathomably sad Spartan or Buckeye to utter it)

12-1 is not an automatic trip to the playoff. If Georgia wins out, beating Bama in the SEC title game, we are out. Both UGA and Bama would go ahead of us.

Hard to imagine MSU winning that game mainly because Haskins will probably light them up through the air.  And MSU doesn't have the offensive firepower to keep up.  Maybe the over is a good bet.

Between the risk of Alabama losing and OU/WV pushing from behind, I think we definitely need OSU to beat MSU.

It is HUGE for us if Sparty wins this game, which has to eat Dantonio alive.  Good. 

But this game is intriguing nonetheless.  This past weekend, MSU had the luxury of playing against a Maryland team that had been through a week of non-stop drama and team morale had to have been at an all time low.  Even so, Sparty had so many damn bounces go their way.  They fumbled the ball into the end zone and were able to fall on it for the touchdown.  Later, Lewerke threw what should have been a horrid pick six but the stupid Maryland player fumbled the ball into the end zone at the 1 and MSU fell on it for a touch-back.  Their defense is good but their offense is kind of meh and Lewerke still doesn't look good throwing. 

OSU's problems are the same and they continue.  I was shocked how quiet that stadium was against Nebraska even when they were up 16-7.

This game will be like two assholes fighting in a bar.  One will win but in the end, they're both still assholes. 

Just win and it will fall into place. 

MSU playing OSU are two turds in a toilet duking it out.

Either way...an OSU loss helps Michigan and a MSU loss hurts MSU. MSU has one good win on the year aginst PSU and that doesn’t look very impressive now either.

go blue!

"12-1 definitely gets us into the playoff."

If ND and Clemson win out, OSU loses to MSU, and a one-loss Georgia beats an undefeated Alabama in the SEC championship, there's nothing "definite" about Michigan getting into the playoff.

I don’t give a fuck what Sparty does. We will win the division after we beat osu in Columbus. Don’t need any help from nobody!

Did the national pundits care back when Henne, Hart, and Long could barely play due to injuries?  NO

Did they care that Gardner and Shoelaces were hurt for The Game? NO and NO

Did they care that O'Korn was playing because Speight and Peters were hurt? NO and NO

OSU can burn to the ground, there has been FAR too many instances where we have been short handed in the Game.  

I want everyone good to go, I want OSU to lose, and I want to curb stomp them right there in front of their fans.

No one will give a damn how you won a Championship, there will be no '*', no exception clauses in the history books.

Just WIN DAMNIT!

Honestly, I would like to secure a big ten championship birth no matter what. I would rather the buckeyes come in with nothing to play for other then pride. They are a talented enough team that accidents can happen with 1-2 motivated players. Coming in helpless know that there is nothing they can do and nothing they can get from a W......... I will take it. And, if it gets us into a nice bowl game vs. NOT Bama instead of a playoff game vs Bama.... I will take 12-1, B1G champs, in a nice bowl, feeling snubbed by the committee to motivated for next year ANY day of the week. (Not saying I wouldn’t celebrate being in the playoffs, but I would be content with the above outcome. Especially if it means the Rose Bowl)

I've seen comments about wanting OSU to win out to enhance the quality of our (inevitable) win over the Bucknuts. I can't see where that is at all necessary if we run the table and win the B1G. 12-1 definitely gets us into the playoff.

Probably not, but with Northwestern looking like the overwhelming favorite to come out of the West, possibly at 7-5, I could definitely see a lot of discussion from the powers that be of a 1 loss OU getting in over them.  Or the worst case scenario for Michigan which is a 1 loss Georgia team beating undefeated Bama in the SEC title game.

Calling a win over OSU inevitable hasn’t been paying attention the past decade or so. Probably want to focus on one game at a time. And maybe have some humility.