The Ohio State Buckeyes are ready to get into the national championship game and all that stands in their way is the conference title game against Michigan State and one Saturday night the Bucks and the Spartans will do battle at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on FOX and the game starts up just past 8:00 pm and pits together two top 10 ranked teams looking for a BCS berth this season.
The Buckeyes haven't lost a game in two years and they come into the matchup after a thrilling final game against Michigan that almost sent the BCS into a complete craze, as that meant both OSU and Alabama would have lost. Urban Meyer's team has not had the toughest schedule in the nation, but the Wolverines were fierce on Saturday and it took nearly the entire game to sort things out, as the Buckeyes had a lead late in the game before a potential game tying drive for Devin Gardner and Michigan, but after scoring a touchdown with less than a minute left, the team went for the win with a two points conversion and missed it with an interception and that sealed the undefeated regular season for Ohio State. The team has gotten some amazing loay from Carlos Hyde and quarterback Braxton Miller and they are facing off against one of the best defenses in the nation in Michigan State and they come in 11-1 after winning over Minnesota last week.
Check here for the live coverage of Ohio State and Michigan State.
The Spartans have one of the best defensive units in the nation and they will have to deal with one of the most productive offenses in Ohio State and Hyde comes into the matchup after going for over 200 yards against Michigan and one reason the Wolverines went for two was because of the running back, as they knew he was stepping over them all day and they had no answers for stopping him in overtime and decided to go for it with time left in regulation. Michigan State is 1-1 on the season against the Top 25 on their schedule and they have won eight straight games coming into the Big Ten championship, as they lost on the road in a tight matchup with Notre Dame and haven't lost since, including during a stretch of three road games in four weeks, which includes wins over Nebraska and Michigan.
The Spartans rank third in the nation in defensive scoring and they will be matching up with an offense that is basically its counterpart, as the Buckeyes rank third in the country in scoring with nearly 50 points per game and that makes the matchup very tough for both sides. Braxton Miller comes in with nearly 1,800 yards passing this season and Hyde has been great with nearly 1,300 yards and the Buckeyes will be giving him the ball plenty after going for 226 last week. The offense for Michigan State can put up points when needed and they will have to do that on Saturday night and one troubling thing for OSU last week was their passing defense, as Devin Gardner had over 450 yards in the game and Jeremy Gallon had 175 yards receiving and that will be something to keep an eye on.
