The Game: Michigan vs. Ohio State
College football's fiercest rivalry, forged in the Ten Year War between Bo Schembechler and his old mentor Woody Hayes.
Ask college football fans to name the sport’s fiercest rivalry. Many will say the same two words: “The Game.” Every year, usually to close the regular season, the Michigan Wolverines meet the Ohio State Buckeyes. Bragging rights are on the line — and often a Big Ten title.
The bad blood runs deeper than football. The two states have been needling each other since the 1835 “Toledo War.” That border squabble over Toledo helped shape Michigan’s boundaries. On the field, the rivalry’s defining chapter was the “Ten Year War” of 1969–1978. It pitted Michigan’s Bo Schembechler against Ohio State’s Woody Hayes. The twist: Schembechler had played for Hayes and coached under him before taking the Michigan job. Then he beat his old mentor in a famous 1969 upset of the top-ranked Buckeyes. Hayes reportedly disliked his rival school so much that he refused to even say “Michigan.” He called it “that school up north.”
Decades later, the series remains close, and a single November Saturday can define both teams’ seasons.
Where to see it
The Game alternates each November between Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor and Ohio Stadium in Columbus.