Ohio State’s decision to move Senior Day has already turned heads, and not for the reason the Buckeyes probably wanted.
Instead of sending their seniors out in November against Michigan, Ohio State will now hold the celebration in its first home game of the season, against Ball State. That switch landed on Friday afternoon when the Buckeyes revealed their game themes on social media, and fans immediately noticed the change.
For a rivalry that has already spent plenty of time in the spotlight this summer, the timing only poured more fuel on the fire. The Game has been a constant topic of conversation, and this latest move gave the appearance that Ohio State wanted no part of tying Senior Day to the Michigan matchup.
If the rivalry really is as central to the program as Buckeyes quarterback Julian Sayin suggested during training camp, the change looks even stranger. When On3 asked Sayin about the Michigan talk, he made it clear how much the matchup means inside the building.
"You learn very quickly when you get here [Ohio State], you learn the history of that game, how important it is to this state and to this fanbase," Sayin said."It becomes your livelihood."
That quote makes the revised schedule stand out all the more. Senior Day is normally reserved for the final home game of the season, and at Ohio State that would have lined up with Michigan’s visit. Instead, the Buckeyes will celebrate their seniors against Ball State, not in the game that usually carries the most weight on the calendar.
The optics are tough to ignore, especially with Ryan Day’s record against Michigan sitting at 2-4. Day has only recently snapped a four-game losing streak in the series, and while Michigan has not yet faced Whittingham in this rivalry, he has not made any changes of his own beyond focusing on the matchup when the time comes.
No explanation has been offered for why athletic director Ross Bjork made the switch, but the move has already taken on a life of its own. In a rivalry where every little detail gets picked apart, Ohio State’s Senior Day adjustment is being read as another sign that the Wolverines are very much on the Buckeyes’ mind.
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