INDIANAPOLIS — As the Big Ten Conference prepares to scrap its division format beginning next year, Ohio State head coach Ryan Day believes it’s now time to at least consider moving the annual showdown between the Buckeyes and Michigan to earlier in the season.

Since 1935, Ohio State and Michigan’s storied rivalry has been renewed on the final weekend of the regular season. Few traditions are safe in the ever-changing landscape of college athletics today, however, and moving The Game seems like a matter of when rather than if it will happen. Speaking to the media on Wednesday as part of the annual Big Ten Media Days, Day wouldn’t go as far as to lobby for the game to be moved but laid out why it could be in the best interest of the rivalry.

“I think it’s worth a long discussion about where that game should be placed,” Day said. “If it were the same way that it was last year, we would have played them in back-to-back games and, who knows, maybe even play them again in the playoffs. I just think that needs to be taken into consideration. Not that we should move it, but it’s worth talking about.”

Day said his concern is the game could be diminished if both teams are already locked into a Big Ten Championship Game rematch before the two teams have played each other.

“Even if you played it in week 10 or 11, no matter what, it’s going to matter. But if you know you’re playing them in the Big Ten Championship Game already, that would be something we haven’t experienced before, that’s all (I’m saying),” he said.

With the College Football Playoff set to expand to 12 teams in 2024, Ohio State and Michigan meeting for a third time in a season will be a distinct possibility. And while Day said the regular season game would still carry significance in that scenario given the importance of being in the top four spots and getting a bye, he noted it simply wouldn’t be “The Game that you and I have known.”

During his media session on Thursday, Michigan head coach Jim Harbaugh was asked his thoughts on The Game and Day’s comments about playing it earlier. Unlike Day, Harbaugh wasn’t interested in discussing when it would be played and expressed general indifference about the rivalry’s future.

“We’ll play that (game) whenever it’s scheduled to be played. We know we’re going to play it every season, at least once, but I don’t have a particular opinion of when it should be played. Right now, it’s played at the end of the season and everybody is used to that. It’s part of the Thanksgiving tradition, so that’s when we’ll expect it.”

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