The Game is big. It’s always big. But for the first time in a while it is reminding us all why, at its peak, Ohio State-Michigan is just a little bit bigger than every other big-time college football rivalry.
Auburn-Alabama, Florida-Florida State and Oklahoma-Texas would have an argument. Every rivalry will claim, “The people are crazy there.” Every rivalry has two separate, inflamed ideologies which are best expressed these days in memes. You’ll see lots and lots of memes Saturday.
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Right now, Michigan-Ohio State has the best of everything.
First, this year's game has major Big Ten and College Football Playoff implications. The No. 2 Buckeyes and No. 3 Wolverines will meet Saturday at Ohio Stadium (noon ET, ABC) in a showdown of 10-1 teams that could decide the Big Ten East Division and perhaps a CFP berth.
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It has always had the best centerpiece. Nothing tops the Ten Year War between Woody Hayes and Bo Schembechler. Ohio State and Michigan played five top five showdowns from 1969 to 1978. This is just the fourth top five showdown between the teams since. The closest coaching rivalry might be Steve Spurrier vs. Bobby Bowden, which produced six top five matchups between Florida and Florida State from 1990 to 2001.
It has a Game of the Century. The No. 1-vs.-No. 2 showdown in 2006, which Ohio State won 42-39, is on the short list of greatest rivalry games ever played. The Game will always have those two aces up its sleeve. In the present, it has everything else a great rivalry needs.
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It has the best current coaching matchup in college football. Nothing is bigger than Urban Meyer vs. Jim Harbaugh right now, especially now that Nick Saban vs. Les Miles is over. Ohio State and Michigan have combined for a 42-6 record the past two seasons, a winning percentage of .875. Hayes and Schembechler combined for an .842 winning percentage during the Ten Year War. While it’s too early to predict eight more years of this, Meyer and Harbaugh are off to a hell of a start.
It has All-American, NFL-level talent all over the place. Take your pick: Ohio State’s J.T. Barrett or Michigan’s Jabrill Peppers could end up in New York as a Heisman Trophy finalist based on the result of this game. Ohio State has All-America candidates in Pat Elflein, Billy Price, Curtis Samuel, Raekwon McMillan, Mailk Hooker and Marshon Lattimore. Michigan has the same with Jake Butt, Chris Wormley and Jourdan Lewis. Roger Goodell will call a lot of these names in the near future.
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If there’s a nitpick, it’s that this rivalry needs balance. Ohio State has a 13-3 advantage in the last 16 meetings. Compare that to, say, the Iron Bowl: Auburn has a 9-7 advantage in the same stretch. It’s easy to say that one is better, but the Tigers have a six-game winning streak among those nine wins and they are on their third coach since Nick Saban took over at Alabama. Every rivalry has swings. Michigan and Ohio State have had two big ones. The Buckeyes were 2-10-1 against the Wolverines under John Cooper from 1988 through 2000. Michigan burned through Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke after Lloyd Carr retired after the 2007 season. That’s how we got here.
The Game also has an uncanny sense of timing. It has been 30 years since Harbaugh walked into Ohio Stadium after guaranteeing a victory against Ohio State, the last game for which Hayes was alive. It has been 20 years since Michigan last beat a top five team at the Horseshoe, a 13-9 upset in 1996. It has been 10 years since that No. 1-vs.-No. 2 showdown; which was played the day after Schembechler died. Great rivalries have that mythical sense of producing the right moment at the right time. Saturday’s game is one of those moments.
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It has the future in its favor. What game in college football is the best bet to feature those top five showdowns on an annual basis? Meyer and Harbaugh are on almost everybody’s list of the top five coaches, perhaps regardless of level. This is their first top five showdown, but it won’t be their last.
This rivalry has everything, and the 11th top five showdown will remind everybody of that. Keep in mind, the Iron Bowl has had just two top-five showdowns (1971, 2013).
Every rivalry will make people a little crazy. That’s going to happen with Alabama-Auburn, Florida-Florida State and Oklahoma-Texas. Every rivalry is big, that’s no lie.
The Game is just a little bit bigger. That’s just the truth right now.
