Harbaugh On Matchup With Ohio State: It's The Championship Game

ANN ARBOR (CBS DETROIT) -- Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh is no stranger to playing against heated rival Ohio State, but Saturday will mark the first time the former Wolverines quarterback will visit the Horseshoe as a coach.

Harbaugh won both games he started against the Buckeyes in 1985 and 1986 -- the latter when he famously guaranteed a victory.

Now, Harbaugh's No. 3 Wolverines prepare for a trip to Columbus as seven-point underdogs to the No. 2 Buckeyes. This year's Game has national championship implications for the first time in 10 years -- since the two battled as the top two teams in the country in 2006.

Harbaugh, speaking to radio play-by-play voice Jim Brandstatter on Inside Michigan Football, didn't shy away from the game's importance.

"It'll be a tremendous challenge for us, [a] big task for our football team," Harbaugh said Monday. "[I'm] looking forward to it because the best part is the competition and when you're playing competition at the highest level that's when you're tested the most, that's when you have the greatest of opportunities -- for all of those reasons it is the big game, it is the championship game, it is Ohio State and Michigan."

Michigan hasn't beaten Ohio State since 2011 when the Buckeyes were reeling in the midst of the Jim Tressel controversy. You have to go further back for the Wolverines' last win in Columbus -- November 18, 2000.

"We are preparing vigilantly for the ballgame," Harbaugh said.

If Michigan wins, it'll earn its first trip to the Big Ten Championship Game and a chance to be a part of the four-team College Football Playoff.