Michigan, Ohio State have posted miserable ATS performances in week prior to 'The Game'

Week 13 presents some interesting storylines throughout, but recent history suggests Michigan and Ohio State should be on high alert.

Obviously, The Game rivalry between the Buckeyes and Wolverines is still a week away. The talk surrounding the traditional season-ending rivalry will heat up on Sunday, but some interesting stats bear investigating before this weekend’s games.

According to College GameDay’s Chris “Bear” Fallica, both Michigan and Ohio State have posted miserable showings against the spread in games the week leading up to their rivalry.

For the Wolverines, they have failed to cover their spread three straight years in the second to last game of the year. Two of those games came against Indiana, Michigan’s opponent for Week 13. The Wolverines are up to a 9.5-point road favorite against the Hoosiers.

For the Buckeyes, they have failed to cover their spread in six straight years in the week prior to The Game. All six of those games featured a two-touchdown spread. Ironically, Ohio State is an 18-point favorite this week despite facing No. 8 Penn State.

Michigan has failed to cover each of the last 3 years the week prior to Ohio State -twice as a big favorite vs Indiana. Ohio State has failed to cover each of last 6 years the week prior to Michigan – all 6 came as at least a two-TD favorite.

— Chris Fallica (@chrisfallica) November 20, 2019

It appears the idea of “looking ahead” definitely applies to Michigan and Ohio State, but this weekend has a chance to be different. Neither team is likely to take their opponent lightly with both Indiana and Penn State in the midst of strong seasons and playing well. However, facing a tough opponent could be the exact reason why the two teams will struggle to cover this weekend.