Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

ESPN's College GameDay is heading north for a rematch of last year's Big Ten Championship Game.

Chris, Lee, Herbie and the crew will make camp next week in East Lansing, Michigan, to watch the Michigan State Spartans host the Ohio State Buckeyes, the show's official Twitter account announced Sunday morning:

Michigan State beat Ohio State 34-24 in last year's conference title game, handing OSU head coach Urban Meyer his first loss in nearly two years with the program. Before that, he had started his tenure with 24 consecutive wins.

More than ending the winning streak, though, Sparty ruined Ohio State's chances of playing for the BCS National Championship, something it was a virtual lock to do had it finished the year 13-0. Instead, the Buckeyes had to "settle" for a trip to the Orange Bowl, where they lost a shootout to Clemson, 40-35.

"The dream was ripped away from us," Meyer said of last year 's Big Ten title game , per Ben Axelrod of Bleacher Report.

"This is a motivated team."

Michael Conroy/Associated Press

Michigan State, too, is motivated to beat the Buckeyes, knowing full well that the Big Ten East title will be on the line. Both teams are 7-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play and harbor dreams of making the College Football Playoff, but whoever loses this game, for all intents and purposes, will be eliminated from that discussion.

The Spartans were featured on College GameDay earlier in the season, losing a deceptively competitive game at Oregon, 46-27. They led by nine points in the third quarter of that game before fading away late, a fate they almost repeated in their closest Big Ten game of the season, a manic 27-22 win over Nebraska in Week 6.

USA TODAY Sports

College GameDay has attended the last two Michigan State-Ohio State meetings, cementing this as one of the best nascent rivalries in college football.

In addition to last year's Big Ten title game, the show also came to East Lansing when the Spartans hosted the Buckeyes in 2012—a game the latter won 17-16 en route to a 12-0 regular season (after which they were not eligible to play in the postseason).

This year, the show chose a third straight trip to Michigan State-Ohio State over, chiefly, Kansas State at TCU, Alabama at LSU and Notre Dame at Arizona State. All three of those games would have made fine selections, but it's hard to quibble with the biggest (if not the only big) game left on the Big Ten schedule.

"This is why you come to Ohio State," said Buckeyes quarterback J.T. Barrett, per Joe Rexrode of the Detroit Free Press. "To go play Michigan State at Michigan State."

Sorry, Wolverines fans.

There's a new That Team Up North.

Follow Brian Leigh on Twitter @BLeighDAT.