The final week of the regular season is upon us, as the Michigan Wolverines take on the Ohio State Buckeyes in Columbus on Saturday. Sherrone Moore currently holds the advantage over Ryan Day, coaching the Wolverines to a win on an interim basis in Ann Arbor last season. Now, Day and the Buckeyes are looking for revenge as they try to break the three-game winning streak Michigan holds in this series.

Michigan Wolverines vs No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes

• Day: Saturday, Nov. 30, 2024
• TV: FOX
• Time: Noon ET
• Location: Columbus, Ohio
• Weather: 26 degrees, cloudy
• Odds: OSU – 22.5, O/U: 42.5

It’s been two different stories for the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes the last 365 days. Michigan got the last laugh a season ago after beating Ohio State and then winning the National Championship Game in Houston.

Since then, it’s been a total flip. Michigan has faced growing pains in the first year of Sherrone Moore’s tenure, particularly around the quarterback position, while Ohio State reloaded and built upon what was already an impressive roster last season.

The Buckeyes seamlessly replaced superstar receiver Marvin Harrison with five-star and No. 1 overall recruit Jeremiah Smith, who is shattering freshman records in Columbus. The program also brought in starting talent like quarterback Will Howard and running back Quinshon Judkins while convincing UCLA head coach Chip Kelly to take a demotion and become the offensive coordinator. Ohio State is favored by many metrics to win the national championship despite losing to Oregon in Eugene.

The hope for Michigan fans is the Wolverines can play spoiler. While the chance Ohio State misses the playoffs is essentially 0.0 percent, Michigan can knock the Buckeyes out of the Big Ten Championship and give them a tougher path to a title if they pull off the upset. The good news is Michigan is playing its best football of the season heading into this game, even though that is not saying much.

Ohio State, however, has much more to play for and may have a better team for the first time since the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season. Day has taken a lot of shots from Michigan, saying that his team is soft, the third-base comment from Harbaugh, and much more. While all of those things may be true, I have a sense he and his team are going to lay into the Wolverines on Saturday. This game is going to be really chippy from the jump, but I think that will amplify as Ohio State takes the lead and runs up the score.

While I’m thankful for the Michigan seniors for their role in turning the tide in this series, I suspect Ohio State commands this game from start to finish. I’ll take the Buckeyes and the points here.

The play: OSU -22.5

Other top games in Week 14

The play: USC +7.5

The play: O48.5

Betting Record: 16-21

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Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Wednesday signed a bill into law that restricts transgender students from using bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.

Senate Bill (SB) 104 requires public school buildings and facilities to “designate each [communal] student restroom, locker room, changing room, or shower room” to be for “the exclusive use by students of the male biological sex only or by students of the female biological sex only.” Biological sex is defined in the bill to exclude an individual’s expression of gender identity other than what is on their official birth record. The bill also prevents schools from establishing gender-neutral restrooms.

The bathroom policy, known as the Protect All Students Act, was originally introduced as House Bill (HB) 183 before it was added to SB 104. HB 183 was sponsored by State Representatives Adam Bird and Beth Lear. Representative Bird explained that the “bottom line of this legislation is to protect students” and that he doesn’t “see that as a controversial issue.”

The ACLU of Ohio, however, “strongly urge[d] Governor DeWine to veto this bill and protect the rights of privacy of LGTBQ+ Ohioans statewide.” ACLU of Ohio Policy Director Jocelyn Rosnick commented that “SB 104 will create unsafe environments for trans and gender non-conforming individuals of all ages.”

Other states have moved to pass similar legislation. In October, for instance, the Odessa City Council in Texas approved a restriction for restroom use to biological sex. On Thursday, Speaker of the US House of Representatives Mike Johnson also restricted the use of gendered restrooms in the House to biological sex. The decision was based on HB Resolution 1579, which prohibits members and other employees of the House from “using single-sex facilities other than those corresponding to their biological sex.”

In January 2023, the ACLU filed a motion as an intervener in a federal lawsuit concerning an Ohio school district’s allowance of transgender students to use bathrooms that align with their gender identity. The US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit heard oral arguments in late October, and the lawsuit is still ongoing.

The Senate passed SB 104 in mid-November by a 24-7 vote, sending the bill to the governor for approval. With his signature, the bill will now become law in 90 days.