The four-star defensive end, who decommitted from Ohio State on Tuesday, announced his commitment to Colorado on Thursday night.

Merritt announced his commitment during an interview with Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson on their podcast, Nightcap, in which he said he would take his talents to “The Colorado University.”

IMG ACADEMY 4 Class Of 2025 London Merritt has COMMITTED to Colorado @merritt_london @ShannonSharpe @ochocinco @ShayShayMedia_ pic.twitter.com/CWPfCPrOb6

— Nightcap (@NightcapShow_) November 29, 2024

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A Georgia native who transferred to IMG Academy for his final season of high school football, Merritt had been committed to Ohio State since March. He’s one of two defensive ends to decommit from Ohio State this month, along with Zahir Mathis, leaving the Buckeyes with only one defensive end (Zion Grady) in their 2025 recruiting class with less than a week to go before signing day.

Merritt, the No. 144 overall prospect in 247Sports’ composite rankings for the 2025 class, becomes the second-highest-rated prospect in Colorado’s 2025 recruiting class behind highly touted quarterback Julian Lewis. He was one of four players to commit to Deion Sanders’ program on Thanksgiving night along with four-star offensive tackle Carde Smith, fellow IMG Academy defensive end Alex McPherson and three-star Texas wide receiver Quentin Gibson.

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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