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ScriptOhio
Everybody is somebody else's weirdo.
Welcome to Michigan Week! College football’s best rivalry is all about the stories
It’s the most important seven days of the year, but it’s about more than just football.
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The Game. Just about all college football fans, no matter where they are in the country, know exactly what that means. Hell, just about everyone who lives in the Midwest knows about The Game, even if they have no interest in college football at all. It’s become synonymous with the largest regular season event of just about every college football season after decades of battles between the Midwest’s two most powerful brands.
There’s a reason we call it The Game, capital T, capital G, and everyone with even a passing interest in college football knows why. Calling it anything else would be doing a disservice to the magnitude of Ohio State and Michigan’s annual match-up.
I’d delve deep into the history of what started the rivalry, and explain exactly what it is that makes Ohio State-Michigan such a big deal, but fans already know it. That’s basically the first thing everyone learns growing up in Columbus or Ann Arbor. You hate that team up north, or that team down south, because that’s just what you do. That’s what you’ve always done, and that’s what you’ll always do.
For as long as college sports have existed, no matter what rules have changed, no matter how good the programs have been, Ohio State will hate Michigan, and Michigan will hate Ohio State. That’s just what Ohio State and Michigan do.
Ohio State and Michigan also play some pretty damn good football games and have for quite a long time now. The idea of disregarding records for a rivalry game because anything could happen is a tired media trope and coach rallying cry at best, but in The Game, it really doesn’t seem to matter how good the two teams are. Ohio State and Michigan are going to play each other close, every year, because that’s just what Ohio State and Michigan do.
Sure, Ohio State has won 13 of the last 14 games, by an average of roughly two scores, but nine of those 14 games were still competitive in the fourth quarter. Even when Michigan was struggling through two of the worst coaches in school history, they played the Buckeyes close; five of the seven games coached by either Brady Hoke or Rich Rodriguez against Ohio State were still competitive in the fourth quarter.
That’s a constant in this series, and above all Toledo-area land disputes, the recruiting battles, the Ten-Year War and the decades of history, that’s what keeps Ohio State vs. Michigan so relevant.
There are other rivalries with similar amounts of history and animosity, but you’d be hard pressed to find one that so consistently generates excellent football with national implications. The last time that both Ohio State and Michigan were unranked when facing off was 1987. Even then, Michigan finished the season 19th, and Ohio State spent much of it in the top 20 before falling off late in the season.
That brings me to the point I’m, in a roundabout way, trying to make about the 2018 edition of The Game. It’s special, of course, because every edition of The Game is special, but it’s also special because, well, both teams are really good this season. Not just usual Ohio State and Michigan, competing for the Big Ten level good like they were for much of the 70s, 80s and 90s. No, these are two top-ten teams.
The winner is one win against Northwestern away from a likely earning a playoff berth; that’s a definite for Michigan, and a distinct possibility for OSU. This would be a big deal without the Buckeye leaves and the winged helmets. Adding all of that history and tradition to a top-ten matchup is almost always a recipe for something incredible.
Such matchups have happened 21 times in the history of The Game, and as you’d imagine, they’ve been extremely close, both in the overall record, and in final score differential. Ohio State is 10-9-2 against Michigan in games with both teams in the top ten. On average, Ohio State wins by just a little over one point when both teams are that elite.
That’s astounding, obviously, but I’m not sure if pure numbers do justice to what makes Ohio State-Michigan what it is. The Game is all about stories, all about people, all about everything surrounding the game just as much as it is about the game itself. The great games that the teams play sustain the relevance of the rivalry in the college football world, but the millions of unique Ohio State-Michigan stories that every fan of either team has because of The Game are what makes it so special.
The best way to describe The Game isn’t with stats, it’s with those unique, personal stories. This is mine.
Entire article: https://www.landgrantholyland.com/2018/11/17/18089450/ohio-state-football-michigan-week-introduction
It’s the most important seven days of the year, but it’s about more than just football.
The Game. Just about all college football fans, no matter where they are in the country, know exactly what that means. Hell, just about everyone who lives in the Midwest knows about The Game, even if they have no interest in college football at all. It’s become synonymous with the largest regular season event of just about every college football season after decades of battles between the Midwest’s two most powerful brands.
There’s a reason we call it The Game, capital T, capital G, and everyone with even a passing interest in college football knows why. Calling it anything else would be doing a disservice to the magnitude of Ohio State and Michigan’s annual match-up.
I’d delve deep into the history of what started the rivalry, and explain exactly what it is that makes Ohio State-Michigan such a big deal, but fans already know it. That’s basically the first thing everyone learns growing up in Columbus or Ann Arbor. You hate that team up north, or that team down south, because that’s just what you do. That’s what you’ve always done, and that’s what you’ll always do.
For as long as college sports have existed, no matter what rules have changed, no matter how good the programs have been, Ohio State will hate Michigan, and Michigan will hate Ohio State. That’s just what Ohio State and Michigan do.
Ohio State and Michigan also play some pretty damn good football games and have for quite a long time now. The idea of disregarding records for a rivalry game because anything could happen is a tired media trope and coach rallying cry at best, but in The Game, it really doesn’t seem to matter how good the two teams are. Ohio State and Michigan are going to play each other close, every year, because that’s just what Ohio State and Michigan do.
Sure, Ohio State has won 13 of the last 14 games, by an average of roughly two scores, but nine of those 14 games were still competitive in the fourth quarter. Even when Michigan was struggling through two of the worst coaches in school history, they played the Buckeyes close; five of the seven games coached by either Brady Hoke or Rich Rodriguez against Ohio State were still competitive in the fourth quarter.
That’s a constant in this series, and above all Toledo-area land disputes, the recruiting battles, the Ten-Year War and the decades of history, that’s what keeps Ohio State vs. Michigan so relevant.
There are other rivalries with similar amounts of history and animosity, but you’d be hard pressed to find one that so consistently generates excellent football with national implications. The last time that both Ohio State and Michigan were unranked when facing off was 1987. Even then, Michigan finished the season 19th, and Ohio State spent much of it in the top 20 before falling off late in the season.
That brings me to the point I’m, in a roundabout way, trying to make about the 2018 edition of The Game. It’s special, of course, because every edition of The Game is special, but it’s also special because, well, both teams are really good this season. Not just usual Ohio State and Michigan, competing for the Big Ten level good like they were for much of the 70s, 80s and 90s. No, these are two top-ten teams.
The winner is one win against Northwestern away from a likely earning a playoff berth; that’s a definite for Michigan, and a distinct possibility for OSU. This would be a big deal without the Buckeye leaves and the winged helmets. Adding all of that history and tradition to a top-ten matchup is almost always a recipe for something incredible.
Such matchups have happened 21 times in the history of The Game, and as you’d imagine, they’ve been extremely close, both in the overall record, and in final score differential. Ohio State is 10-9-2 against Michigan in games with both teams in the top ten. On average, Ohio State wins by just a little over one point when both teams are that elite.
That’s astounding, obviously, but I’m not sure if pure numbers do justice to what makes Ohio State-Michigan what it is. The Game is all about stories, all about people, all about everything surrounding the game just as much as it is about the game itself. The great games that the teams play sustain the relevance of the rivalry in the college football world, but the millions of unique Ohio State-Michigan stories that every fan of either team has because of The Game are what makes it so special.
The best way to describe The Game isn’t with stats, it’s with those unique, personal stories. This is mine.
Entire article: https://www.landgrantholyland.com/2018/11/17/18089450/ohio-state-football-michigan-week-introduction
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