Despite the college football season being a month old, the hype for this fall is beginning to heat up, specifically around the Big Ten.

247Sports compiled the key games to watch across the Power Four, highlighting those that could have major playoff implications.

Of course, the most important one is rather obvious – “The Game.” Despite winning the national championship, Ohio State has dropped four in a row against Michigan. To assume this year’s meeting is a must-win for coach Ryan Day is an understatement.

Carter Bahns weighed in about why this year’s meeting trumps Day’s other losses, whether the coach was Sherrone Moore or Jim Harbaugh on the other sideline.

“Ohio State will always hold its 2024 national championship over Michigan’s head, but the Wolverines will always be quick to remind the Buckeyes of what happened in The Game,” Bahns wrote. “That shocking upset adds another thread to the fiercest rivalry in college football.”

Calling Ohio State-Michigan the “fiercest rivalry in college football” is similar to calling a spade a spade, just like the same comparison is put upon the Bears vs. Packers, Red Sox vs.  Yankees, Auburn vs. Alabama, Celtics vs. Lakers and so forth. Each has its own unique storyline attached to it, much less a storyline college football or professional sports fans can follow. Its “I’m better than you” premise is what makes it special.

If Day loses to Michigan again, one has to wonder if he will ever be on the right side of history. Peyton Manning finally beat Tom Brady en route to his first Super Bowl title nearly 20 years ago after years of New England dominating Indianapolis.

Who’s to say Ohio State can’t do the same, or at least its own version? It just has to execute when it matters, period.