Last week I was reading an article on Atomic Sports about a favorite rivalry of one of the other writers on this site. After reading this, I was inspired to do a piece of my own on my favorite rivalry. There are many bitter rivals in American college football; you can ask anyone to name one and they will read a list to you. Notre Dame vs. USC, USC vs. UCLA, Florida vs. Florida State, Texas vs. Oklahoma, and Army vs. Navy are just a few of the classic rivalries that live to this day. However, in two neighboring states in the Midwest, there is one bitter feud that will never die. To the people of these two states this battle is known simply as “The Game.” It is Ohio State vs. Michigan.

Each November millions of fans amass around the two of the great monuments of college football. In Ann Arbor, Mich., it is known simply as “the big house,” a giant crater-shaped, earth-sheltered stadium that houses the most fans in the world. The 2005 game boasted an attendance of 111,591. In Columbus, Ohio it is Ohio Stadium, known as the “horseshoe” for its shape. The ‘shoe is the fourth largest stadium in the nation holding on average 105,000 fans. These two towns live and breathe college football in the fall. Many at Ohio State believe football far outweighs the importance of academics.

The game itself is storied in tradition of many great matchups that usually hold very important implications such as a conference or national title. The two teams have spent most of the past century on top of the Big Ten, and so it is not unusual that this final game of the season is a very important one.

The two schools first played each other in 1897, a game in which Michigan enjoyed a 34-0 victory over the Buckeyes. The next meetings of the two schools would prove to be painful for Ohio, as Michigan would win the next 12 games and tie twice. One such highlight (depending on which side you are on) of this series was the game played in 1902 in which Michigan pounded the Buckeyes 86-0. It was after this game that Ohio State’s solemn, yet beautiful alma mater “Carmen Ohio” was written by a football player on the way home from this terrible defeat.

It would not be until 1919 that, with the help of All-American “Chic” Harley, Ohio State achieved its first victory by a score of 13-3. The Buckeyes would go on to win twice more in the next two years. Ohio State had begun winning, finally making this series the rivalry it deserved to be.

One of the most storied games in the history of the series is the 1950 meeting known as the “snow bowl.” This game was played in Columbus during a full-scale blizzard in which players dealt with a snow-covered field and sub-zero temperatures. Finally, Michigan would emerge victorious by the score of 9-3. The attendance of the snow bowl is one of the most disputed pieces of information. Everyone claims to have been there but in photos, few were seen. Figures have estimated as little as 800 all the way up to 200,000. Someone once told me that if everyone who said they were there were in fact there, a million people would have been in the stadium that day.
There are a few OSU vs. Michigan games that I have become familiar with in recent years. The first was in 2001; Jim Tressel had just become the new coach of Ohio State replacing John Cooper, who had often proved that he could win games, just not the important ones. After a lackluster season by the Buckeyes, I had very low expectations going into the game which was to be played in Ann Arbor. I will admit I did not even watch the game. But to my surprise later, I discovered the shock of the century that the Buckeyes defeated the Wolverines 26-20. The next year the game provided another nail-biter in which, a Buckeye defender intercepted a last-second touchdown opportunity by Michigan to win the game 14-9 and eventually go on to win the National Championship.

The meetings of 2004, 2005, and 2006 are the games that I hold closest to my heart, because I was there at those games. Each one of them produced a different amount of excitement for me. First in 2004 an Ohio State team struggling to find an offense and took on a Michigan team that seemed unstoppable. What ensued was the first show put on by quarterback Troy Smith and wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. The buckeyes would win 37-21. The next year the Buckeyes traveled to Ann Arbor to face a Michigan team looking for revenge. The Wolverines almost had just that until a spectacular 80-yard drive in the final five minutes of the fourth quarter would once again get another win for the Scarlet and Gray. The most recent meeting of these two teams was easily one of the most memorable and most hyped. The game was classic Ohio State and Michigan. Nationally ranked No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, the two teams would play to decide who would play for not only the Big Ten championship, but a chance to play in the National Title game. The game packed the Horseshoe full breaking the attendance record again with 105,708 in attendance. The game itself was a festival of offense as the two teams amassed the most total points ever scored in a single OSU-Michigan game in history. In the end though, the Buckeyes would win 42-39 and go back to the desert. Although the Buckeyes would go on to lose a shocker to the Florida Gators in Glendale, Ariz., the 2006 OSU-Michigan game will go down as the defining moment of this past, very successful season.

A big part of the game is the week leading up and the traditions done before the game itself. The two schools hold a blood drive in which they compete to see who can donate the most blood. In Columbus, students will jump into the frigid mirror lake on campus, which is said to bring good luck to the team before the game.

Among the biggest parts of those pre-game traditions are the two bands. Aside from having great football teams, Ohio State and Michigan have two of the top college marching bands. In the Big House, the Michigan band will form a giant block ‘M’ and march down the field as the entire stadium sings in unison to their fight song, “Hail to the Victors.” At the Shoe, the emotion is felt as one lucky senior Tuba player rounds the top of the little ‘O’ with the drum major to dot the ‘I’ and complete the formation of script Ohio, known as one of the greatest traditions in college sports.

The final thought on this rivalry is that it is not just about football. It is not just about two universities. This game is about state pride and being proud of where you come from. No matter where you went to school, if you are from one of these two states, you pick a side. The feeling this game evokes is as strong in Cincinnati as it is in Columbus. The hostility is even greater in Toledo, Ohio, where the close proximity to not only Ann Arbor, but the Ohio-Michigan border makes this town one of the neutral points in the rivalry in which a weird phenomenon exists known as “the Buckeye/Wolverines” store, a store that is made not only for Ohio State but for Michigan as well. When I visited this store there were more Michigan fans there than Ohio State fans.

I will leave you with this thought: Sport is something that brings the world together in a way unlike any other. No matter who you are you can be part of a rivalry as big as this. That is the magic of sports. That is what makes this game so special. Finally to show complete bias, GO OHIO! BEAT MICHIGAN!