Last November 29 is still living rent-free in every Ohio fan’s head. Michigan Wolverines smacked Ohio State Buckeyes 13-10, handing the Buckeyes one of the two losses of 2024. It sparked a full-blown Ryan Day meltdown season, complete with threats. Fast-forward to 2025, and this matchup should’ve had fans breaking the sound barrier with hype. However, the ticket prices give off a mediocre vibe.

On November 27, TickPick shared a chart. The headline read, “Top 10 most expensive college football games Week 14.”

The Michigan vs. Ohio State face-off tickets could not reach the $300 mark, remaining at $298. At the top is the Texas Longhorns vs. Texas A&M Aggies face-off, priced at $386, followed by the Auburn Tigers vs. Alabama Crimson Tide, the famous Iron Bowl, priced at $373. 

This year’s chapter might be the most electric in recent memory. Top-ranked Ohio State invades the Big House to battle No. 15 Michigan in a matchup soaked in CFP implications. So, the Ohio State vs Michigan face-off tickets not making it to the top might be a shock for many. 

Michigan owns the last four meetings, but the Buckeyes show up perfect on the season with a defense that surrenders only 8.4 points per game. Pair that with a 34.7-ppg offense, and Ohio State looks every bit a championship machine. Cut to Sherrone Moore’s squad, which has chosen a familiar road: brute-force football paired with a defense built for the spotlight. 

The Wolverines average 29.3 points and surrender just 17.9 points, a combination that makes them a dangerous team. With home turf on their side, they’re fully equipped to play spoiler and claw their way back into the Big Ten title picture. 

In a rivalry dripping with tension, the biggest shocker isn’t on the field; it’s in the market. Ohio State-Michigan prices have plunged to $200, a far cry from the $600 baseline fans saw not too long ago.

Remember 2023?

The cheapest seat at The Game was a wallet-melting $676. That smoked the old mark from 2022’s $380 baseline in Columbus, a wild 78% surge. TicketIQ pegged the average seat price at $1,262 on the secondary market, with sideline tickets starting around $800 and midfield real estate reaching $6,400. 

It was a far cry from the rock-bottom $80 get-in price of 2013, when a struggling 7-6 Michigan team under Brady Hoke sent demand into the basement. Even so, demand for this year’s Ohio State-Michigan showdown is stronger than it was in 2024. Last season, the cheapest seat on Vivid Seats sat at $230 before fees. 

This dip in market excitement despite high stakes isn’t unusual in college football. In 2021, the USC vs. Notre Dame rivalry experienced lower-than-expected ticket demand on the secondary market. It’s mainly due to USC’s coaching turmoil, despite the game still having national implications.

Amidst the ticket price discussions, Joel Klatt dropped his expert take on The Next Round podcast.

He said, “The Iron Bowl is not in the hemisphere of Ohio State vs. Michigan.” 

Klatt has seen The Game up close for years and will return to the mic for Fox this weekend. In his eyes, the last four seasons of Ohio State-Michigan have blown the Auburn-Alabama rivalry out of the water.

Even if the ticket market isn’t sizzling, Buckeyes vs. Wolverines remains the showdown that will tilt the entire playoff race.

A physical and a mental battle awaits the Ohio State Buckeyes 

The undefeated, title-holding, No. 1 Buckeyes are rolling into the Big House to square up with No. 15 Michigan. With Fox on the call, this matchup could easily steal the throne as the season’s most-watched game, even topping that Week 1 Texas showdown.

Ohio State’s 14-7 win over Texas in September set a Week 1 viewership record, pulling in 16.62 million viewers on Fox, per Nielsen. The game even peaked at 18.6 million viewers from 3:00 to 3:15 p.m. ET. With both teams ranked this time around, the stakes dwarf last year’s meeting, when an unranked Michigan stunned Ohio State 13-10 before the Buckeyes went on to win it all.

Now at 11-0, Ohio State is already locked into the 2025 CFP, but a win would all but secure the No. 1 seed. Cut to Moore’s squad. Michigan is 9-2 and still has a lane to the playoffs, but it’s simple: beat the Buckeyes, or a loss leaves no breathing room. In such a tense moment, Day’s squad got a heads-up from Governor Jim Tressel on how to maintain the calm. 

“That’s a tough place to play. The only time we lost to them was up there (Ann Arbor). They have great fans, just like we do. It’s loud. You got to quiet that crowd,” said the governor. 

As if the crowd was not enough to push the Ohio State Buckeyes into a corner, the psychological factor will also be a significant consideration.

“There’s not a single player in Michigan’s locker room that knows what it feels like to lose to Ohio State,” said Jake Butt. “On the flip side, there’s not a single Buckeye player who knows what it feels like to beat Michigan. The psychological factor is huge.”

The Game rarely lets fans down, and with the Ohio State Buckeyes hunting perfection while Michigan guards its winning streak, Ann Arbor is set for a bruising, playoff-grade showdown. And who knows, maybe this Saturday delivers the thriller the falling ticket prices didn’t predict.