Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbour will mark the 112th meeting of the Buckeyes and the Wolverines. The two historic programs have a combined 19 national titles, 77 conference titles, and ten Heisman Trophy winners. Michigan leads the all-time series 58-45-6, but this will be the first meeting between top college coaches Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh since Harbaugh joined the Wolverines after leaving the San Francisco 49ers.

Watch the game live on TSN4 Saturday at Noon et/9am pt.

Harbaugh’s Wolverines have lost just two games this season (Sept. 4th at Utah and Oct. 18th vs. Michigan State) after going 5-7 in 2014 under Brady Hoke. With a win against their Ohio-rivals at the Big House Saturday, the Wolverines will look to get back to a New Year’s Day bowl game for the first time since 2012.

After Ohio State’s crushing 17-14 loss to the Michigan State Spartans last week, the Buckeyes have in all likelihood been eliminated from college football playoff contention. They will still be fighting for a New Year’s bowl game as well, but as defending national champions, that’s not the result they were looking for.

The Wolverines have been led on offence by senior quarterback Jake Rudock who has thrown for 2,476 yards and 16 touchdowns in 11 starts this season. But for Michigan, it has been the defence that’s led the charge in Ann Arbour this year. Big Blue have the second ranked defence in the country coming into this week, allowing an average of 263.1 yards per game. Senior defensive tackle Willie Henry leads the group with 6.5 sacks.

Stars of last season’s playoff, running back Ezekiel Elliot and quarterback Cardale Jones, both announced they will not be returning to OSU next year following a frustrating performance vs. the Spartans.

Ohio State is chalked full of future NFL talent across the board. Defensive end Joey Bosa, defensive tackle Adolphus Washington, and strong safety Vonn Bell are all expected to be drafted in the first three rounds of the 2015 NFL draft from the Buckeye defence.  

On the offensive side of the ball, the redshirt junior Jones and true sophomore J.T. Barrett have split time at quarterback for most of the season. Barrett has gotten the majority of the action through the last three weeks, but a dismal 46 total passing yards last week may lead to more Jones this time.

Michigan’s biggest task will be slowing down Heisman-hopeful Elliot. The junior running back is the nation’s seventh leading rusher with 1,458 yards on 232 carries and 17 touchdowns this season.

No. 7 Baylor Bears (9-1) at No. 19 TCU Horned Frogs (9-2), Friday, 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt on TSN5

In 2014, the Big 12 named the Baylor Bears and TCU Horned Frogs co-conference champions. As a result neither team made the college football playoff. The Horned Frogs started the season ranked as the No. 2 team in the nation, but losses to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State in the last three weeks have knocked them out of the Top Four. With a win Friday and an Oklahoma loss Saturday, the Bears can win this year’s conference race and possibly slide into a desired playoff spot.

But it will be an uphill battle for Baylor. The Bears lost first- and second-string quarterbacks Seth Russell and Jarrett Stidham to season-ending injuries this season. Sophomore Chris Johnson will make his first career start Friday for Baylor. Johnson completed five of ten passes for 138 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception in relief duty of Stidham vs. Oklahoma State.

Wide receiver Corey Coleman has been a beast for the Bears this season as one of the nation’s top receivers. Coleman has 66 catches for 1,306 yards and a Baylor-record 20 receiving touchdowns this season.

The Horned Frogs are missing some key parts of their own. Senior quarterback Trevone Boykin did not play in last week’s loss to Oklahoma and will be a game-time decision for TCU this week. And they will definitely be without top receiver Josh Doctson who broke the school’s receptions record with 79 catches for 1,327 yards and 14 touchdowns this year before going out with a wrist injury.

No. 6 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (10-1) at No. 9 Stanford Cardinal (9-2), Saturday, 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt

This will be the fifth straight season these two historic teams will face off both as ranked teams. The Irish and Cardinal have split the last four games with Notre Dame edging Stanford last season 17-14.

Brian Kelly’s Fighting Irish have had a tough run this season losing their starting quarterback and running back early on, but other than a two-point loss to top-ranked Clemson, the golden domers have been perfect. With sophomore DeShone Kizer under centre, junior receiver Will Fuller has had a breakout season with more than 1,000 yards and 12 touchdowns

Senior quarterback Kevin Hogan will face the Irish defence for the fourth straight season and he will have to use his experience to get the win against the nation’s 25th ranked passing defence. Hogan has not had a receiver go over 35 catches or 425 yards this season and he’ll need some more help from running back Christian McCaffrey to get past ND Saturday.

No. 3 Oklahoma Sooners (10-1) at No. 11 Oklahoma State Cowboys (10-1), 8:00pm et/5pm pt

This year’s intra-Oklahoma rivalry has a lot on the line. Both the Sooners and Cowboys have a shot to make this year’s college football playoff. A win by the Sooners should secure a shot at the national championship for Bob Stoops’ crew. A win by the Cowboys and a Baylor loss would give Oklahoma State the tie-breaker necessary to win the Big 12 and potentially one of the four playoff spots.

Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield was knocked out of last week’s victory over Baylor, but is expected to be back this Saturday. He’ll be joined in the backfield by sophomore star Samaje Perine and in the huddle by his favorite target Sterling Shepard.

The Sooners defence will be led by edge-rusher Eric Striker and they hold a distinct advantage ranking 60 spots ahead of Oklahoma State in total yards allowed this season.

The Cowboys have pulled off a string of upsets this season taking their first loss from Baylor a week ago. Quarterbacks Mason Rudolph and J.W. Walsh have split time at quarterback this year combining for 42 total touchdowns in the air and on the ground. Oklahoma State will need all hands on deck to beat the No. 6 offensive and No. 27 defensive units in the nation.

No. 13 Florida State Seminoles (9-2) at No. 12 Florida Gators (10-1), Saturday, 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt on TSN3

Any hopes the Florida Gators have of a national championship this season will have to go through one of last year’s playoff qualifiers and their biggest rival. If the Gators can win Saturday and manage to win the SEC championship next week, a playoff spot wouldn’t be out of the question.

After back-to-back undefeated regular seasons for the Seminoles with Jameis Winston, 2015 has been rather disappointing with Notre Dame-transfer Everett Golson at quarterback only scoring 11 touchdowns this season.

The Gators’ defence will have its focus on sophomore running back Dalvin Cook. Cook has just less than 1,700 total yards and 17 total touchdowns in 10 games this season.

Florida has the sixth ranked total defence in the nation led by projected first-round cornerback Vernon Hargreaves III and defensive end Jonathan Bullard.

On offence, freshman quarterback Will Grier was suspended in October for PED use and dual-threat signal caller Treon Harris has filled in nicely. Head coach Jim McElwain will most likely come out with a conservative game plan designed to not turn the ball over and play stout of defence.