The number of programs that would gladly trade places with Ohio State is all of them, with the current exception of a couple heavyweights in the SEC. Over the course of modern history, the Buckeyes stand alone as college football’s recession-proof brand, immune to significant downturns and always on the cusp of contention.
It’s a pretty good place to be, including this year as Ohio State enters the final week of the regular season 11-0 and ranked No. 2. Yet if the Buckeyes lose Saturday to No. 3 Michigan for the second year in a row, it will seem like a crisis for Ryan Day, a coach who will suddenly occupy one of the hottest seats in America despite winning 90 percent of his games.