For the first time all season, Columbus, Ohio will host “College GameDay” in a big game between the 4th-place Buckeyes and the 7th-placed Michigan State.
Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit, Lee Corso, Desmond Howard, David Pollack and Co. will head to Ohio Stadium to preview a game that will affect not only the Big Ten championship race but also the College Football Playoff standings. If the Spartans manage to deal with their grief in Columbus, they will only have Penn State and the Big Ten West champion standing between them and a playoff berth.
Things are a little more complicated for Ohio State, which, even with Saturday’s win, has a tough road to Thursday’s playoffs. They then faced 6 Michigan at The Big House before heading to Indianapolis for the Big Ten championship game. The Buckeyes then faced a Week 2 loss to Oregon, another team in the playoff chase.
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This game could be a contrast of styles as Ohio State quarterback CJ Stroud looks to lead the Buckeyes to victory. He completed 68.8% of his passes in 3,036 yards and 30 touchdowns to 5 interceptions. He has no shortage of skill placement weapons to use in Jaxon Smith-Njigba (59 hits, 1,027 metres, five touches), Garrett Wilson (53 hits, 813 metres, nine touches) or Chris Olave (51 hits, 708 metres, 11 touches). Backrun TreVeyon Henderson (141 dash, 1,035 yards, 14 touches) is also a threat when running at home.
There’s no question about Michigan State offense: rerun Kenneth Walker III. The junior leads all FBS in dash yards (1,483 yards) and tops the nation in hasty touches (17) and touchdowns from script (18). He also has three straight games with at least 143 yards and a point. In fact, he has only had three dashes in the under 100 meters this season.
Which style of play will win on Saturday? There is only one way to find out. Until then, Sporting News has shown you how to watch the “College GameDay” preview of the Big Ten’s big meeting.
THAN: Watch Ohio State vs. Michigan State with fuboTV (7 days free trial)
Where is the location of the ‘College GameDay’ for Week 12?
- Location: Columbus, Ohio
- Fit: 7 Michigan State at 4th place Ohio State
The Buckeyes will make their 51st all-time appearance on “GameDay” on Saturday, one-two more than Alabama in most all-time. It will also be Ohio State’s 20th time hosting “GameDay,” a scenario in which the Buckeyes are 14-5 all the time. More impressive were all but one of those games played between ranked teams (the only exception being the 38-24 win over Penn State in 2010).
Surprisingly, Ohio State had more conference losses at Ohio Stadium than convention losses; they lost to Texas (2005), USC (2009) and Oklahoma (2017). In the Big Ten, only Penn State (2008) and Michigan State (2015) were able to claim “GameDay” victory in Columbus.
Michigan State are making their 16th all-time appearance on “GameDay,” where they’ve won 9-6 in the previous 15 games. That includes a 2-1 record as the top lane, a 9-2 record in ranked games, and a 2-2 record against Ohio State.
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Schedule of ‘College GameDay’ on ESPN
- Channel: ESPN
- Start time: 9 a.m. ET
Davis, Herbstreit, Howard and Pollack will be previewing the Week 12 action live from Ohio Stadium starting at 9 a.m. ET. The game will air on ESPN, with the match kicking off at 7 p.m. ET.
“GameDay” has three games to consider for its Week 13 hit, depending on how Week 12 plays out. The most obvious of them is 4 Ohio State in 6th place Michigan. The game could very well determine the Big Ten East champion and, by extension, the outright Big Ten champion. Another option is Bedlam, between No. 13 Oklahoma and No. 9 State of Oklahoma in Stillwater. Maybe the game features the Sooners and Cowboys as one-on-one opponents; it could also be the first of two encounters this season. The meeting between Number 2 Alabama and Auburn in the Iron Bowl is well worth a visit, although the SEC West race could have been decided by then.
| Week | Fit | Location | Guest Selector | Corso .’s headgear | Result |
| 0 | Bang Alcorn vs. NCCU | Atlanta | Eddie George | brave | NCCU 23, State of Alcorn 14 |
| first | Number 5 Georgia vs Number 3 Clemson | Charlotte, N.C | Kane Brown | Bulldogs | Georgia 10, Clemson 3 |
| 2 | Number 10 Iowa at Number 9 Iowa State | Ames, Iowa | Ashton Kutcher | Hawkeyes | Iowa 27, State of Iowa 17 |
| 3 | Number 22 Auburn at 10 Penn State | University Park, Pa. | Saquon Barkley | Nittany Lions | Penn State 28, Auburn 20 |
| 4 | #12 Notre Dame vs #18 Wisconsin | Chicago | Danica Patrick | Fighting the Irish | Notre Dame Cathedral 41, Wisconsin 13 |
| 5 | Ranked 8th Arkansas in 2nd place Georgia | Athens, Ga. | Harris English | Bulldogs | Georgia 37, Arkansas 0 |
| 6 | Number 6 Oklahoma vs Number 21 Texas | Dallas | Mark Cuban | Longhorns | Oklahoma 55, Texas 48 |
| 7 | 11 Kentucky at #2 Georgia | Athens, Ga. | Jeff Foxworthy | Bulldogs | Georgia 30, Kentucky 13 |
| 8 | Number 10 Oregon at UCLA | Pasadena, Calif. | Bill Walton | Bruins | Oregon 34, UCLA 31 |
| 9 | #6 Michigan at #8 Michigan State | East Lansing, Mich. | Ken Jeong | Werewolves | Michigan State 37, Michigan 33 |
| ten | Tulsa at 6 Cincinnati | Cincinnati | Nick Lachey | Bearcats | Cincinnati 28, Tulsa 20 |
| 11 | #11 Texas A&M at #15 Ole Miss | Oxford, ma’am. | Lane Kiffin | Rebels | Ole Miss 29, Texas A&M 19 |
| twelfth | 7 Michigan State at 4th place Ohio State | Columbus, Ohio | TBD | TBD | TBD |
Who is the guest picker on ‘College GameDay’ for Week 12?
“GameDay” has yet to announce its celebrity guest picker for Week 12.
