Prior to the 1970 meeting between No. 5 Ohio State and No. 4 Michigan, a reporter asked Woody Hayes what he thought of Wolverines coach (and former pupil) Bo Schembechler. “I didn’t like the son of a bitch when he played for me, I didn’t like the son of a bitch when he coached for me, and I certainly don’t like him now.”
Ah, yes. Michigan and Ohio State. There is no game like it.
The south can have Oklahoma and Texas and talk about Royal and Wilkinson all they want. UCLA and USC can reminisce about the 1960s, just like the Florida schools can chat up the 1980s and ’90s. But Michigan-Ohio State has been, and always will be relevant – always the Big Game. It’s not so much about what’s at stake, although usually the game helps decide the conference, and this year it will determine whether Ohio State goes undefeated and possibly whether Michigan wins its division. No, this game is about a line that separates two blue collar states. It’s a line coaches for the two teams cross during recruiting season, and one that, according to legend, Hayes pushed a car across just so he didn’t have to buy gas from a service station in Michigan.
The week’s headlines were dominated by the Big Ten’s decision to expand to 14 teams. But you can bet that come Saturday, no one will care about Terrapins or Scarlet Knight – only Wolverines and Buckeyes. This rivalry has historical figures (Harley and Harmon), Heisman winners (too many to name), and classic contests (1969 and 2006, to name a couple).
“In the era when I grew up, there really wasn’t much other than three channels on your television,” Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer told reporters this week. “There was this game. It was Bo Schembechler, Woody Hayes, Pete Johnson, Archie Griffin. That’s all.”
Not much has changed, really. Now fans have hundreds of channels and dozens of games to choose from, but the Big Game is still the best game to watch.
— Big Ten Notes —
• It’s looking like the Big Ten championship game will be won in the trenches – as one would expect. Nebraska owns the top rushing offense in the conference (256.9 yards a game) while Wisconsin has the top-rated run defense (106.6). Assuming the Cornhuskers hang on to their invite, the game will be a grind-it-out, four quarter battle.
• Commissioner Jim Delaney said that conference athletic directors will discuss division realignment sometime in early 2013.
• Senior John Simon’s performance last week has put him atop the conference leaderboard for sacks. The Ohio State end now has 9.0 sacks for the season, 1.5 more than Minnesota’s D.L. Wilhite and Nebraska’s Eric Martin.
— This week’s schedule —
Friday, Nov. 22
Nebraska at Iowa, 11 a.m.
Saturday, Nov. 23
Michigan at Ohio State, 11 a.m.
Illinois at Northwestern, 11 a.m.
Indiana at Purdue, 11 a.m.
Michigan State at Minnesota, 2:30 p.m.
Wisconsin at Penn State, 2:30 p.m.
**all times CT
— Spotlight —
RB Montee Ball, Wisconsin
One more touchdown will make Ball the NCAA’s all-time TD leader. It’s an incredible feat for someone who was once third on the depth chart behind John Clay and James White. Ball will need to score in unfriendly Beaver Stadium, where he will find a defense that has given up just nine rushing scores all year.
–– He Said It (quote of the week) —
Rutgers President Robert Barchi commenting on his school’s decision to join the Big Ten:
“This is not just a good fit for us athletically, it’s a good fit for us academically and as an institution.”
— Big Ten Mailbag —
Doug from Minnesota: With 14 teams now, why not change the name (of the conference)?
The popular answer is ‘tradition,’ but anyone who knows the history of the conference understands that the Big Ten has made changes before. The better answer is branding. People know the Big Ten, even though it has been over capacity for more than two decades. Considering the league didn’t budge when it added Penn State and then Nebraska, it’s easy to see why nothing is planned for the coming years. And with the way college football works these days, with teams hopping from conference to conference, any name change could be short-lived.
Tweet your questions to Mike Beacom @mikebeacom, or email him at [email protected]. Each week one question will be selected for this column. Be sure to include your first name and city/state.
Mike Beacom is the Big Ten football editor for Lindy’s. Follow him on Twitter @mikebeacom