It's finally TSUN week. The hair on the back of your neck probably stands up just thinking about this week's matchup. The scarlet blood flowing through your veins begins to boil as the countdown to kickoff winds down. You avoid mentioning the color of the sky, and want to rip into anything that displays the putrid urine-and-cobalt combination.
You're getting almost nothing done at work, and that doesn't really bother you. You're posting obscenities on message boards because it helps ease the tension. You're avoiding the use of the 13th letter of the alphabet, unless it's printed on your toilet paper. You're simply a true Buckeye fan getting ready for the greatest rivalry in all of sports: The Game. And this year just happens to have the little bonus of having them ranked #1 and #2 for the first time ever when they face each other.
Both teams come into The game with a mark of 11-0. How many 11-win seasons does each team now have over the last 100 years? tOSU has 8, while TSUN has 4.
Early in the "10-Year War", which describes the Woody-vs-Bo years from 1969-1978, there was a stretch worth highlighting. From 1970 through 1975, TSUN came into The Game undefeated and ranked in the top-4 for six straight years. They came out of those 6 battles with just one victory, over a rebuilding tOSU squad in 1971. Just imagine the frustration of not getting a win 5 out of 6 years when a national title was still possible each year.
After some frustrations in the 1990s, 'good times' apparently returned 310 days prior to The Game in 2001, when tOSU's new head coach let the crowd know that he "gets it" when it comes to the battles against TSUN. A 4-1 record for Jim Tressel in The Game thus far has shown that to be the case. But Buckeye fans are greedy for more victories.
College football has had several bowl games that have decided the national championship, including 1-vs-2 matchups after the 1968 and 2002 seasons that resulted in Buckeye victories. But since the AP Poll started in 1936, how many regular season games in the history of college football have been as meaningful and as eagerly anticipated as this 2006 version of The Game?
All Games between AP #1 and AP #2 as regular season-ender for both
12-06-1969 - #1 Texas 15, #2 Arkansas 14 (ranked 1/2 for only 2 weeks; President Nixon named Texas NC after the game)
11-26-1988 - #1 Notre Dame 27, #2 Southern California 10 (ranked 1/2 for 4 weeks, ND won the NC)
11-18-2006 - #1 Ohio State ??, #2 Michigan ?? (tOSU #1 all year, TSUN #2 for 4 weeks)
All Regular Season Games between AP #1 and AP #2, both with perfect records past midpoint of season
11-20-1943 - #1 Notre Dame (8-0) 14, #2 Iowa Pre-Flight (8-0) 13 (ND lost next game and still won NC)
11-09-1946 - #1 Army (7-0) 0, #2 Notre Dame (5-0) 0 (ND won 3 more games and the NC, Army won 2 more games)
11-19-1966 - #1 Notre Dame (8-0) 10, #2 Michigan State (9-0) 10 (ND won at USC and won NC, MSU was done)
12-06-1969 - #1 Texas (9-0) 15, #2 Arkansas (9-0) 14 (Texas won NC with bold 4th down pass from James Street)
11-25-1971 - #1 Nebraska (10-0) 35, #2 Oklahoma (9-0) 31 (Nebraska won NC, OKlahoma won 1 more game and bowl)
11-21-1987 - #2 Oklahoma (10-0) 17, #1 Nebraska (9-0) 7 (Oklahoma lost NC to Miami, Neb. beat Colo. & lost bowl)
11-26-1988 - #1 Notre Dame (10-0) 27, #2 USC (10-0) 10 (ND beat WV for NC, USC lost Rose Bowl to TSUN)
11-16-1991 - #2 Miami (8-0) 17, #2 Florida St. (10-0) 16 (Miami ended 12-0 with NC, FSU lost to Florida)
11-13-1993 - #2 Notre Dame (9-0) 31, #1 Florida St. (9-0) 24 (ND lost to BC the next week, FSU won NC over Neb)
11-30-1996 - #2 Florida St. (10-0) 24, #1 Florida (10-0) 21 (Florida beat Bama in CCG, won NC in rematch with FSU)
11-18-2006 - #1 Ohio State ??, #2 Michigan ??
Which of those matchups were the most anticipated? The 1943 game wasn't ND's last, so it falls short. The 1946 game featured the teams that had won the last 3 NC's, as well a player that had won a Heisman (Doc Blanchard) and 2 other players that would also claim the award (Glenn Davis and Johnny Lujack). The 1966 game wasn't a clear-cut deciding game even without the tie, since Notre Dame still had to play at a #10 USC team. The 1969 game became truly major only after #1 tOSU lost the first game of the "10 Year War" in Ann Arbor, but it was a season-ending battle against traditional rivals. The 1971 game was huge, the teams had been 1-2 in the poll for 7 weeks, and lived up to the "Game of the Century" billing. The two teams in 1987 had shared the #1 spot all year, but ended up #3 and #6. 1988 was huge since it was a season-ender for the top-ranked traditional rivals who had been 1-2 in the polls for 4 weeks, just like this year; but there had been 3 other teams that held the #1 ranking earlier in the season. The 1991 game was great because Florida State had been #1 all year, and rival Miami had been #2 for 10 weeks. The 1993 game was the start of College Gameday, but lost some luster when ND lost to BC the very next week. In 1996, Florida and Florida State were 1-2 only for the week before the game; and Florida had to play Alabama in the Conference Championship Game before earning the rematch.
It's clear that this week's game is one of the 10 most eagerly anticipated games in the history of the regular season, and most historians would place it in the top 5.
If you're selling your ticket this week, you'll be missing a truly epic contest in the history of college football. But if you do sell a ticket, make sure it goes to a Buckeye that's ready to scream his or her lungs out. For everyone attending The Game, loosen up those vocal chords, allow that mixture of bile and venom to build up in your system, and let it all out Saturday afternoon as the Buckeyes head onto that newly replaced sod and start slugging it out with the enemy.
). However, if it's hit right, it is absolutely beautiful and painful for the other person.