After his third consecutive loss to Michigan — an almost unforgivable sin for any Ohio State coach — Ryan Day has only two choices in front of him, either of which will define the rest of his career.

He must either commit to completely junking the ultra-conservative approach that cost him yet again in the only game that really matters or admit to himself he’s not the right guy for Ohio State and sprint to Texas A&M.

Unlike the the last two years, Saturday was not some huge indictment of Day’s playcalling or Ohio State’s toughness. It wasn’t a blowout or an embarrassment. Quite simply, Michigan won 30-24 because its quarterback played a little bit better than Ohio State’s.

That’s the difference between winning the Big Ten and staying home next week. That’s what separates a College Football Playoff berth from a disappointing postseason. For all the accusations around this rivalry, the difference between the two teams turned out to be pure and simple.

But this three-year stretch of Michigan dominance — its first since 1995-97 — is now baked into the cake for any conversation about Day going forward. If he manages to steer the rivalry back toward Ohio State, it’s the “yeah, but” that will always linger in the background. If he doesn’t, his near-pristine record against everyone else in college football won’t be enough to save his job at some point.

That’s where Texas A&M comes in.

Keeping in mind that it’s agent season, and agents often have reason to exaggerate interest in their clients or just make things up out of whole cloth, it was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser Saturday when Bruce Feldman of Fox and The Athletic said the Aggies could make a run at Day to replace Jimbo Fisher.

It makes some sense. Texas A&M likes to make splashy hires and has pretty much an endless supply of financial resources, but there’s no obvious slam-dunk candidate out there with a track record of winning at the highest level.

Normally, the idea that Texas A&M could poach Ohio State’s coach would be laughable. But these aren’t normal circumstances, and the opportunity to hire an established winner who is 56-7 as a head coach is absolutely worth a try.