Why an Ohio State-Michigan national title game could happen this season

On this Thursday Buckeye Talk, Doug Lesmerises, Nathan Baird, Stephen Means and cleveland.com rivalry reporter Jimmy Watkins are here for the second Ohio State-Michigan episode this week.

This pod is about the football -- the strengths and weaknesses of both teams on the field, how they match up, and why they both might be among the four best teams in the country again.

Off the bat (0:30) Doug asks the other three about his theory that these very well could be two playoff team.

Then (2:07) it's a discussion of Michigan quarterback JJ McCarthy, what the Wolverines need from him, and how he compares to the Ohio State QBs and to other returning QBs around the country.

Next up are breakdowns of the offensive lines (32:03), running backs (38:44) and receivers (43:22) on both sides.

Answers from texters about how these teams compare (53:06) are then followed by a more thorough discussion (1:00:24) of whether an Ohio State-Michigan national title game is really possible this season.

Then it's a dive into both defenses (1:13:44) and which should be better this season.

Thanks for listening to Buckeye Talk, and come back for part three of this OSU-UM series on Friday.

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