Two days and counting

I have a hard time concentrating, eating, sleeping, or generally sitting down. The wait is torturous, and I try not to think about it, and then every time I turn on the TV or the radio or my computer, I am bombarded by OSU-Michigan talk. Friggin' everywhere. So why am I not really talking about it beforehand?

If you take a cursory look around the CFB blogs, you'll see tons of analysis (conversely, checking out the MSM leads to an array of puff pieces. Which I guess are good in their own way). And it's of high-quality, to be sure. The thing is ... this game has shown us some weird shit in the past, and while totally in-depth looks at what has happened this season can inform us of what may happen in The Game, this rivalry tends to be wholly unpredictable. Remember 1999, when the worst OSU team of the last 20 years went into Michigan Stadium and put up more rushing yards than Michigan had total offense? Remember 2003, when OSU came in with the top-ranked rushing defense in the nation and got absolutely bowled over by Chris Perry and the Michigan O-Line? Remember games like the 1995, 1996, 2001, and 2004 editions, each case an instance of the clearly inferior team on paper coming in and pulling off a shocker?

What's the most you can say about a rivalry like this, that doesn't have a high probability of making you sound stupid a few days later? "Both teams are really really good, and something strange and/or totally unexpected will probably happen over the course of the game"? Pull a Cutman and say, "One team is going to win this game, and the other will almost certainly not"? The Game largely transcends logic and expectations.

Which is not to say that IF someone has an opinion stronger than mine about this game I would not like to hear it. Please, if any of my fellow blogtributors or any of the five loyal readers have something approaching insight or any kind of gut feeling about this game, I would love to be made aware of it. Because, after all these matchups, most of what I can say about OSU-Michigan is the following:

"It's gonna be a toss-up. Because it always is."