Ohio State versus Michigan

College gridiron football is all about rivalries, often colorfully nicknamed or contested for trophies. To wit the Old Oaken Bucket (Purdue versus Indiana), Paul Bunyan’s Axe (Wisconsin versus Minnesota), Bedlam (Oklahoma versus Oklahoma State), the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party (Florida versus Georgia), and the Iron Bowl (Auburn versus Alabama). But they all pale next to the annual Michigan–Ohio State game. For starters, in 1835–36, troops from Ohio and Michigan actually skirmished in a border dispute that became known as the Toledo War. Beginning in 1897, the Michigan Wolverines and the Ohio State Buckeyes renewed this border battle (annually since 1918), more often than not fought with the Big Ten title at stake (prompting the old characterization of the conference as the “Big Two and Little Eight”). The 1960s and ’70s were the rivalry’s classic era—when coaching legends Bo Schembechler and Woody Hayes  guided Michigan and Ohio State, respectively—but for many football fans this remains The Game. Listen to the sarcastic vitriol in Michigan fans’ voices when they reference “The” Ohio State University. Then try to get a Buckeye to even mention the name of “That School up North.”