The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry opens a new chapter as the two schools' football teams meet in Ann Arbor on Saturday.
This rivalry is one of, if not the most, heated rivalry in college sports in the United States, given their shared history and on-field battles.
The Saturday match will still be "THE Game," with so much storyline ushering it in.
The Buckeyes and the Wolverines will both come to the game undefeated at 11-0. Not only that, they will also be playing for a Big East Ten title and a chance to play in the college football playoff.
Their upcoming showdown is already juicy as it is, but if one would go back to the time these two's rivalry started, their stories can fill out one pool.
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A rivalry that started during the war
Most sports rivalries start because the sports teams are in the same state or city.
Cleveland Browns vs. Pittsburgh Steelers, Chelsea vs Arsenal vs Tottenham, and AC Milan vs Inter Milan-these are just some of the few examples.
The Ohio State-Michigan rivalry is no different. However, what makes it unique is its origins. It did not start on the field. Their history goes way back, long before American football was created.
What started the animosity between these schools and their respective communities was the War of Toledo, a short-lived conflict that saw Ohio and Michigan fight over the Toledo Strip.
The war started in March 1835 and officially ended in December next year. Michigan was admitted to the Union in 1837, while the Toledo Strip eventually went to Ohio.
Nobody died in the war, but this intense moment lived on, and residents carried the story to the next generations.
Officials of both states preserved their claims on the territory despite national government interventions. They remember their shared history, and the first-ever football game between the two teams in 1897 became the new battlefield.
Michigan dominated that game at Regents Field, 34-0, basically a revenge for losing the Toledo Strip.
Head-to-head records
Michigan has Ohio's numbers in terms of their overall head-to-head record, recording 60-51-6.
Still, those numbers do not bring justice to the intensity of their sports feud.
Ohio has something to say when it comes to high-stakes games, as they hold a 7-4-1 advantage in games they met as Top 5 teams.
If you raise it to the times they duked it out as Top 10 teams, the results are 12-11-2 in the Buckeyes' favor.
In recent history, Michigan dominated the Buckeyes in their last two encounters after Ohio won the last eight held from 2012 to 2019.
Whose cabinet has more trophies?
Michigan and Ohio are number 1 and 2, respectively, on the list of most total wins in college football history.
In terms of national titles, the former has 11, while the latter has 8.
The Buckeyes, however, have more College Football Playoff appearances with five, three more than the Wolverines.
This rivalry is filled with stories, and it would be great for sports if it continues to live on.
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