Has Recent Dominance by Ohio State Turned Rivalry With Michigan Into a Farce? (Yahoo Contributor Network)

COMMENTARY | On November 30, the Ohio State Buckeyes will look to finish an undefeated regular season by defeating the Michigan Wolverines, their biggest rival.

Going by recent history, you can pretty much chalk up an OSU victory right now. Michigan has lost 10 of its last 12 meetings against the Buckeyes, and this year’s edition of the Wolverines does not seem like a team capable of ending OSU’s 23-game winning streak. Despite a 7-4 overall record that will earn the Wolverines a bowl bid, Michigan has struggled mightily in the Big Ten in 2013, going just 3-4 in the conference.

It’s almost sad that I can predict an OSU victory with such confidence, but that’s just the reality in a rivalry that is losing more and more of its luster with each Buckeye victory in the series.

It wasn’t always this way.

Michigan and Ohio State used to be the only game that mattered in the Big Ten, as it was likely that whoever won the game would represent the conference in the Rose Bowl. This was most evident between 1968 and 1980, when no other Big Ten team besides Michigan or OSU made a Rose Bowl appearance.

And certainly, no longtime Buckeye fan can forget the almost yearly heartbreak inflicted upon OSU by the Wolverines in the 1990s. In 1993, 1995, and 1996, powerhouse OSU squads coached by John Cooper entered games against the Wolverines with legitimate national title hopes, only to fall to Michigan teams that were certainly not on the same level talent-wise, yet were always able to keep the Buckeyes in check.

After posting a 2-10-1 record against Michigan during his time at OSU, Cooper was shown the door after the 2000 season. In came Jim Tressel, who picked up a win over the Wolverines in his first season in 2001. In 2002, the 12-0 Buckeyes faced Michigan in a game reminiscent of those Cooper heartbreaks of the ’90s, but this time OSU came out on top on its way to an eventual national title.

This rivalry has not been the same since.

Continue Reading: Has Recent Dominance by Ohio State Turned Rivalry With Michigan Into a Farce? (Yahoo Contributor Network)