Ohio State going for Big Ten title share
The no. 8 ranked Ohio State Buckeyes have plenty of situations that could unfold when they line up against the unranked Michigan Wolverines on Saturday 27 November. This will be the 107th time these two teams have played each other, with
the Wolverines leading the all-time record with a 57-43-6 record.
Ohio State’s season so far
The Buckeyes started their season on a six-game winning streak over Marshall, Miami (Florida), Ohio, Eastern Michigan, Illinois and Indiana. The closest victory they had was against Illinois, in which the score was 24-13. Throughout their other games,
the Buckeyes were the dominant team, especially against Eastern Michigan with whom they massacred 73-20.
A loss came on 16 October against Wisconsin when the Buckeyes were ranked number one in the country, which essentially knocked them from the top of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) rankings.
Since the loss to the Badgers, Ohio State has been on another winning streak, this time a modest four games against Purdue, Minnesota, Penn State and last week against former no. 20 Iowa.
This brings us to this weekend’s massive game, and indeed a massive rivalry between these two universities. Ohio State is tied for first place with Michigan State and Wisconsin, and a victory this weekend will assure them a bid into the Rose, Orange or another
major bowl game.
Michigan’s previous games
The Wolverines started the season on a promising note, winning their first five games to start the season. Connecticut, Notre Dame, Massachusetts, Bowling Green and Indiana were all clawed by the Wolverines.
Michigan hit a dry spell over their next three weeks as they suffered losses first to in-state rival Michigan State, Iowa and Penn State. All of these losses were in conference games, which hurt the team's chances of reaching the Big Ten title.
The Wolverines ended their losing streak with a thrilling triple overtime victory over Illinois, 67-65, and followed that up with another victory over Purdue two weekends ago.
Last weekend, the Wolverines fell to Wisconsin in another Big Ten conference game, bringing their record to 7-4 overall and 3-4 in conference. They are still bowl-eligible, as they have won the minimum six games, but it could have been much better, and now
all that will be on their minds is this rivalry game on Saturday.
The Rivalry
Make no mistakes, these two teams have plenty of respect for each other, which has been very much earned over their past 106 games. But, even if you have respect for your rival, you never want to lose, and the players and coaches for the Buckeyes
and Wolverines feel the same way.
"To say that they have more at stake than us, when you look at it from bowl perspective and Big Ten championship -- sure," Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez said on Monday to the Associated Press. "To say it's less important, no. Never."
"Just beating us would make those guys' year," Ohio State linebacker Brian Rolle said Monday. "That'd be like a national championship for those guys.”
"Already it means so much to us that we don't need to lose a game to remember how bad it hurts," said Buckeye defensive lineman Dexter Larimore.
"I don't hate them, but I don't like them either because of the rivalry," Ohio State cornerback Devon Torrence. "Michigan is a great university and institution for college and college football. They do a lot in terms of the whole college football spectrum.
"I won't say I hate them -- but I really want to beat them."
The Buckeyes have won the last six meetings between these two teams, and with so much on the line for this game, it would be naïve to think that they would show up not playing their best football of the season.
Prediction
Ohio State 42 – Michigan 38
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