Joel Klatt gives an early primer for Michigan football at Ohio State

NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos...

There's no greater rivalry in sports than Michigan football vs. Ohio State. And this decade, the Wolverines had surprisingly dominated the Buckeyes, having won four of the last five, although that win streak was broken this past season in Ann Arbor when OSU thumped the maize and blue, 27-9. But the stakes are changing yet again, with former Urban Meyer acolyte Kyle Whittingham taking over the Michigan football program.

This season's iteration will be back in Columbus, where the Wolverines have won two straight. And while Ohio State is atop pretty much every power ranking, as they are most years, the schedule is much tougher for the Buckeyes, and they could enter The Game with multiple losses if things don't go as planned.

Fox Sports analyst Joel Klatt listed The Game atop his top 10 rankings of the most pivotal games of the season. And he gave something of a primer of what to expect, now months away from the season, if not The Game itself.

"You cannot have a list of top 10 games that will shape the season without Michigan at Ohio State," Klatt said. "We will be there again. It is absolutely my honor to call this game the game Kyle Whittingham's first and his stint as the head coach of the Michigan Wolverines. And he's going to find out real quick what Ryan Day knows all too well, which is you are judged based on this game, this game, Michigan at Ohio State. 

"The question then becomes where are we at from a record standpoint? Does Ohio State have to win to get into the Big Ten championship game? Have they taken care of business against Indiana and Oregon earlier in the year? What was the result against Texas? Are they fighting as a three-loss team, potentially with a win, and hopefully get in on the back end of the selection? A lot could be on the line for the Buckeyes for obvious reasons. If you miss the playoffs as the Ohio State Buckeyes life is not going to be good. And this is not an easy schedule.

"Meanwhile, Michigan also not an easy schedule. They've got that game that I opened with against Oklahoma. They got some other tough games as well. Can they be in a position where if they beat Ohio State, they go to the College Football Playoff? Ohio State dominated at the line of scrimmage for the first time in a long time last year; they snapped that four-game losing streak to Michigan. They beat them in Ann Arbor, 27 to 9, 'dotting the I' right there on the two and a half yard line."

Last year, Michigan couldn't muster much offensively against a generational Ohio State defense under Matt Patricia. However, the Buckeyes lost most of that talent who was on that side of the ball, so it will be interesting to see if a revamped offensive attack under Whittingham and new offensive coordinator Jason Beck can take advantage in Columbus in November. Additionally, the defense will have to be better for the Wolverines than it was in The Game a year ago, as the second half saw OSU outrush Michigan significantly.

This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Joel Klatt gives an early primer for Michigan football at Ohio State

More at NCAAF College Football News, Photos, Stats, Scores, Schedule & Videos