It's here. It's officially game week. Check that, it's officially "The Game" week. Michigan and Ohio State will square off on Saturday and the stakes are quite high. With 12 teams now getting into the College Football Playoff, it's not exactly about that, but Ohio State is looking for its first Big Ten title in at least four years and the Wolverines are looking to take down the Buckeyes for the fifth year in a row. Michigan, despite its two losses, still has a shot at a conference championship and the CFP. So many things are on the table. 

But it goes beyond that. There are underlying storylines that make this game so intriguing this year. Veteran analyst Joel Klatt will be in Ann Arbor for The Game on Saturday so he has a great perspective on exactly what's on the line this Saturday.

"We are experiencing right now the greatest moment in this rivalry maybe ever. And everything is on the line," Klatt recently said on The Joel Klatt Show. "For Ohio State, they don't have one player that has beaten Michigan, and for Michigan, they don't have a single player that has lost to Ohio State."

That in itself is pretty incredible, but when you look at what's riding on Saturday's outcome, the importance of the game grows even more.

"As we start to build towards this game, you have to understand that the pressure on Ohio State is immense, and in the Michigan locker room, all they're going to be talking about all week is give us a chance in the second half. All we've got to do is be close. That's all they're going to be thinking about," Klatt explained. "That's all they've been thinking about for back to 2021 when we went in for meetings before that game, Aidan Hutchinson said that specifically to me. He said, 'Joel, I just want a chance. I just want it to be a one possession game in the fourth quarter. That's all I want.' And they ended up winning."

For most of the season, it didn't look like Michigan could keep it close against this Ohio State team. But now, after the Wolverines looked dominant over Maryland last week, and Ohio State is dealing with some key injuries, it suddenly feels quite possible that this game will be close. Throw in the location of the game — The Big House – and the fact that there could be some weather involved, and this is starting to feel a bit like that 2021 game.

For the Buckeyes, they have all the talent in the world, especially at the wide receiver position with Jeremiah Smith and Carnell Tate. But they're both dinged up. Neither of them played last week and will almost certainly be less than 100% if they go on Saturday. Still, Ohio State needs to lock in and play it's game, which it did not do in Columbus last year, allowing the Wolverines to get a huge upset win as 21.5-point underdogs. Klatt explains what OSU needs to do in order to keep that from happening in 2025.

"On the other side for Ohio State, they're going to be saying to themselves, focus on us. Focus on us. Focus on us," Klatt explained. "Those are the two messages for those teams."

Whatever it looks like, it's going to be fun. Michigan is in Ryan Day's head and the Wolverines are going to be confident because of how this rivalry has gone recently. With that in mind, Klatt is pumped to be in Ann Arbor, and he definitely should be.

"I love this game. It's my favorite thing that I get to do in this profession. I love this game, I love this rivalry, and it's finally here," he said. "This is the best week of the college football season. This is what we are experiencing right now, the greatest moment in this rivalry, maybe ever, and everything is on the line.

"I firmly believe, although we'll see what the playoff committee gives us on Tuesday night, I firmly believe that we're sitting here now watching this game where Michigan needs a win to go to the playoff, Ohio State needs a win to go compete for a Big Ten Championship. Nobody on Ohio State's team has gold pants or a Big Ten Championship. That's crazy. They haven't been to Indy since 2020 so you know a lot is on the line, which is exactly how you want it."