The rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan is arguably the most heated in college football, and tensions reached a fever pitch after the latest installment in the series when Buckeye and Wolverines players engaged in a postgame melee at midfield. That hatred runs deep, but former Ohio State quarterback Cardale Jones, who was a perfect 3-0 against the Wolverines during his career, said the series holds less weight in college football’s new age.

College Football Playoff expansion opponents cited the devaluation of the regular season as one of the drawbacks of a larger postseason, and Jones made the same case as to why The Game is less impactful now than it was prior to the 12-team playoff era.

“With the new era of college football with the 12-team playoff, to me, the rivalry gets watered down a little bit,” Jones said on The Ultimate College Football Show. “Because at the end of the day, both teams can go into Week 12 being No. 1 and No. 2 in the conference, and guess what happens Week 13? Rematch. I anticipate to see, especially with a great recruiting class by both schools this past year, we’re going to see here in the near future that Ohio State and Michigan play each other three times in one year.”

Michigan defeated Ohio State in that tempestuous 13-10 meeting last November in Ohio Stadium, but the Buckeyes got the last laugh when they secured a spot in the playoff and went undefeated from that point forward en route to a national championship. The loss to the Wolverines is a stain on an otherwise remarkable season, but the lasting image of the Buckeyes is their trophy presentation at the title game, not the rivalry loss two months prior.

“No disrespect to the rivalry,” Jones said. “No disrespect to the new generation mentality. Don’t get me wrong; neither side wants to lose this game. But I think it meant a little bit more to us because, one, recruiting wasn’t as nationally based as it is now, so you had so many guys from the Midwest or who was impacted by that rivalry at an early stage of life.”

Ryan Day and the Buckeyes seek next season to snap the four-game losing streak in the rivalry series. Their last triumph came in 2019 when they defeated Michigan in a 56-27 rout in Ann Arbor.

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“On the new dynamic, it isn’t as critical if you win or lose that game going down to the end of the season because 12 teams are going to get in,” said Jones. “And like I said before, if you solidify yourself as a top-two team in the Big Ten, you have a great chance of making it to the College Football Playoff, and that’s ultimately going to give you a chance to win a national title.”