The availability of key players remains uncertain as Ohio State prepares for its final test against Rutgers before finishing the regular season at Michigan.

The Buckeyes bludgeoned a directional Michigan school on Thursday night, improving to 5-0 on the young season.

Before the game against Michigan in 2024, the Buckeyes were a 21-point favorite before losing to the unranked Wolverines 13-10. Despite the loss, Ohio State received a No. 8 seed in the first 12-team College Football Playoff and went on to win the national championship.

After years of complicated game plans and painful losses to Michigan, Stephen Means and Stefan Krajisnik deliver the most honest take yet on the Buckeye Talk podcast

The Ohio State Buckeyes are undefeated and the top team in the nation yet again this week with the Rutgers Scarlet Knights headed to the Horseshoe for Saturday's game. Coach Ryan Day's team is prepping for the Knights but also for the Michigan Wolverines and a potential trip to Indy for the 2025 Big Ten Championship Game afterward.

Ohio State opens as a 12.5-point favorite over Michigan, the second-largest spread in The Game over the past 10 years.

Ohio State is undefeated, but has it been tested enough? Rutgers could actually provide some answers before Michigan and the Playoff.

Among the one-loss cohort, USC has yet to play in the Big Ten championship, though it played in the Pac-12 championship four times (winning it 31–28 over Stanford in 2017). Oregon won the game last year, and Michigan won three in a row from 2021 to '23.

Julian Sayin has a strong chance of winning the Heisman, but he must lead Ohio State football to an important victory first.