Ohio State vs. Michigan: Three things to know that make the 2023 game different

COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Rarely have the stakes been higher for an Ohio State-Michigan game. And rarely has it felt so much like the end of an era.

Ohio State enters its annual game against Michigan ranked second, with the Wolverines third, heading into a noon kickoff Saturday in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

The winner of the game will clinch the Big Ten East division and advance to the conference championship game on Dec. 2 against No. 16 Iowa in Indianapolis. The loser will finish the regular season 11-1 and have to wait a week to see if it'll make the four-team College Football Playoff.

"We are in position to be in position. That's what we know," Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh said. "We're 11 and 0. They're 11 and 0. And everything is all focus and preparation on this."

But big changes are coming soon to college football. It's the last year before the Big Ten adds four West Coast teams and scraps its East and West divisions. And it's the last year before the playoff expands to 12 teams.

Here are three things to know about The Game.

What makes this year's game different?

With the end of a 14-team Big Ten and a four-team playoff, it raises questions of what could be on the line for the post-Thanksgiving OSU-Michigan game. Unless the scale of power shifts from Ohio State and Michigan, this seems like one of the final times the game will be for a spot in the conference title game.

"Certainly, it will be different, but I don't think it will change anything," Ohio State coach Ryan Day said. "The format will change next year, but I don't think the rivalry will be anything less than it is right now."

The Big Ten is welcoming four schools: Oregon, Washington, UCLA, and USC. And with their arrival, the top two teams in the conference standings will advance to the title game. But if you disregard divisions, Ohio State and Michigan would have played each other in four of the last six Big Ten championship games. The November game might become a tune-up for a December game.

Setting that aside, both teams might not have a spot in the playoffs on the line, either. Under a 12-team playoff format, four conference champions (ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, SEC) will be guaranteed a bye, one non-power conference champion will qualify, and seven at-large teams will be invited. In the past few seasons, Ohio State and Michigan would have both likely made the playoff. In this future format, both would surely get in if they trade wins or if one to the other loses twice. And if both teams qualify, the possibility of meeting yet again grows.

But Day downplayed any notion that the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry could ever be diluted.

"Each year, you learn more, and it [the rivalry] has more of a significant impact on you as a person," Day said. "All of our guys when they come here, they are here for one reason, to win that game."

Where will Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh be?

Harbaugh took the punishment for a scouting scandal that it seems he didn't know about, with the Big Ten deciding that he could coach the team during the week but not be with it on gamedays for three weeks. The Ohio State game will mark the final week.

The NCAA continues to investigate, with former staff member Connor Stalions accused of arranging a years-long program to scout future opponents in person, a violation of rules, with the apparent end of learning how teams signal in plays from the sideline.

Earlier this week, Harbaugh declined to comment on Michigan firing linebackers coach Chris Partridge last week for reportedly helping to cover up the scandal. But he did say he watched last week's game at Maryland at the home of his brother, Baltimore Ravens coach John Harbaugh.

His location for this week has not been confirmed, but he did say that he doesn't expect the Wolverines' focus to be him, just as it wasn't in wins over Penn State and Maryland under acting coach Sherrone Moore.

"All the focus is on Ohio State," Harbaugh said. "And that's just where we're at. That's the focus, and that's part of the life lesson, to focus on the task in front of you."

What records could be broken?

The saying in rivalry games is to forget about the records. But let's look anyway.

Ohio State's Marvin Harrison Jr. is a contender for the Heisman Trophy and projected to be perhaps the first receiver taken in next year's NFL draft. In other words, expect this to be the last time he plays Michigan.

Harrison has 2,495 career receiving yards, good for seventh place in Ohio State's record books, and he's bound to catch up to sixth-place Devin Smith (2011-14), who stands at 2,503. But cracking the top five seems less likely. That spot is held by Chris Olave (2018-21), and he's 216 yards ahead of Harrison. The all-time leader is Michael Jenkins (2001-03) with 2,898.

Harrison and Smith are tied for the third-most receiving touchdowns at Ohio State, with 30. Harrison has caught a touchdown pass in 11 consecutive games even as defenses have increasingly targeted him, so passing Olave on Saturday is certainly possible. The leaders in the category are Olave with 35 and David Boston (1996-98) with 34.

Running back TreVeyon Henderson is charging up the leader board, too, although he's not quite in sight of the top 10. But by passing 63 rushing yards against Michigan, he'd move into 15th place at Ohio State. He's gained 2,613 in his career.