Ohio State-Michigan Rivalry’s “Everything Counts” Feel Could Be Tested If College Football Playoff Expands, Analyst Says

In a wide-ranging discussion about how the expanded College Football Playoff could reshape marquee matchups, an analyst argued that Ohio State vs. Michigan might lose some of its signature “counts for everything” intensity if the postseason grows further. The comments centered on The Game, the annual rivalry that has long been treated as more than a rivalry game, in part because of how it lands in the calendar and what it can decide for the national title picture.

The Yahoo Sports report noted that The Game is traditionally played on the Saturday after Thanksgiving and at noon Eastern, and that it is often positioned as the final regular-season game for both programs. That timing, the report said, helps explain why the rivalry can feel like an inflection point rather than just a standalone result. In one fan question about what an expanded playoff era could do to that dynamic, the line drawn was blunt: “The Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry demands a level of intensity that’s only justifiable if The Game counts for everything.”

The analyst’s broader point was not that the rivalry would disappear, but that it could be altered. The report framed the debate around a hypothetical scenario in which the playoff field could grow from the current 12-team format to as many as 24 teams. If that happens, the analyst suggested the urgency of a late-season loss could change, because more teams would still have a path to a title after The Game, and rematches might become more realistic.

The discussion also looked at how other college sports have handled similar problems of timing and repetition. According to the report, the analyst compared the hypothetical football experience to two Michigan-Michigan State basketball games from last season, emphasizing that the later meeting carried extra weight because more was at stake. The quote used in the report captured that possibility: “I wonder if a 24-team CFP would create a similar dynamic in football.”

What makes the conversation noteworthy is that it lands in a moment when the playoff format itself is stable, even if the long-term question is not. The NCAA has described the College Football Playoff’s structure as a 12-team bracket, and the official playoff website lays out how that 12-team field works in practice. Meanwhile, reporting this year has indicated the CFP will keep the 12-team size for at least the immediate next season, after league negotiations failed to produce a change.

So, the “if” matters. Even with The Game’s tradition and national attention intact, the real fear described here is psychological and strategic, not logistical. In a 24-team world, the rivalry might still be loud, still be violent in the trenches, still be historic on message boards, but the national championship map could look different after the final whistle. That could affect how teams manage risk late in the regular season and how the broader fan base interprets what it means to win or lose.

For Ohio State and Michigan, the immediate takeaway is simple. The Game remains one of college football’s most consequential regular-season games because of when it is played and the stakes it carries within the playoff selection conversation. The next watch point is whether the governing bodies revisit expansion again, and, if they do, whether the schedule and selection pathways evolve in a way that preserves The Game’s status as a season-defining moment rather than one chapter in a larger, longer postseason story.

After all, rivalries survive because they matter, and they deepen when they mean more than a standings checkbox. This debate is about whether expanding access to October, November, and December football would inevitably spread out that meaning. For now, the playoff is set at 12 teams, but the argument in the report suggests the sport will have to decide what it wants The Game to be in the next era, not just how many teams are in the bracket.