Former Michigan coach Bo Schembechler is dead at age 77. We know this will hit the Michigan family hard, so our thoughts are with them.

It’s anyone’s guess how this will affect the game. Will Michigan be stunned, or will they ride the emotion? I think that something like this means a lot more to the fans and coaches than the players – Bo hadn’t had much of an official position at Michigan since the early 1990s. We saw this ourselves earlier this year when Erk Russell passed away. Fans still talk about it, but other than a helmet sticker it hasn’t had a tremendous impact on the team. But surely Michigan will get caught up in what the fans and media are going through, so they will have plenty of emotions to handle.

Before Schembechler’s death, I had a slight edge to Michigan in this game. I think they have the better defense and a more well-rounded offense (given the running game behind Hart). But Ohio State had the homefield and the ridiculously good WR corps and QB. Now…who knows?