It’s finally time for the Wolverines and Buckeyes to meet in The Game, and after weeks of turmoil and a couple of close calls, they’ll do it with matching 11-0 records. It’s the second straight year that’s happened. Michigan reached its milestone by escaping with a 31-24 win at Maryland on Saturday, and Ohio State handled Minnesota AP Top 25: Ohio State jumps Michigan and moves to No. 2. Washington, FSU flip-flop at Nos. 4-5

“There’ll be a lot this week,” Buckeyes coach Ryan Day said. “There’ll be noise; there’ll be everything. What we have to do is do a great job of preparing, and we can’t do anything different. We have to continue to stay with our routine and then focus on maximizing every minute of this week.”

Michigan and Ohio State swapped places in the latest AP Top 25, with the Wolverines (11-0, 8-0 Big Ten, No. 3 CFP) dropping to No. 3 and the Buckeyes (11-0, 8-0, No. 2 CFP) moving up to No. 2. As of Sunday, FanDuel Sportsbook had Michigan favored by 3 1/2 points for next weekend’s home game against Ohio State.

“It feels great to be a part of this kind of game, coming into the game undefeated,” Wolverines linebacker Michael Barrett said. “With everything going on, just showing how this team is able to kind of face adversity, kind of work through adversity, keep that one-track mind that we’ve been preaching all year. Just being able to be here at this point is a great feeling.”

It will be impossible to separate this game from the sign-stealing scandal that has shaken up the Michigan program over the past month. If Ohio State wins, Buckeyes fans will offer that as evidence that the Wolverines needed nefarious help to beat OSU the last two years. If Michigan wins without the services of Connor Stalions, the former staffer at the center of the investigation, its partisans will say that shows the whole brouhaha was overblown.

Harbaugh was suspended for the final three regular-season games amid the fallout. He can coach during the week but won’t be on the sidelines on game day. Moore has guided the Wolverines to wins over Penn State and Maryland the past two weeks—and over Bowling Green earlier in the season when Harbaugh was suspended over a different matter. Now comes the most important challenge yet.

The game against Maryland was the closest the Wolverines have come to losing. Michigan had to protect a one-score advantage the entire fourth quarter; its offense was unable to pad the lead. A late, intentional grounding call gave the Wolverines a safety and helped them hold on.

Ohio State’s great escape came back in September at Notre Dame, when the Buckeyes punched the ball into the end zone for a 17-14 win—after the Irish put only 10 men on the field.

“We’re in the same spot we were last year this time. We’re both undefeated,” Ohio State defensive end Jack Sawyer said. “This year, we’re going up there, and it’s going to be a good game. We’re excited. All the focus goes to them, though. We’re still confident. I think that’s our motto: playing confidently, being stingy, trying to get turnovers, and just playing as aggressively as we can on the field. If we do that, good things will happen.”