<p>Don't push your luck buddy! hehe This year yes, OSU is clearly the better team. But overall, the two schools are pretty even when it comes to football.</p>
<p>Gotta love this game -- in terms of college sports, its probably the best rivalry around. Two ginormous schools doing battle against each other every year, and its a very, very rare year that the game is meaningless on either a Big-10 or national stage.</p>
<p>I agree 100%. Michigan vs OSU is the best rivalry in all of sport.</p>
<p>Alexandre, I like you very much now. Joe Pa is totally the greatest coach ever. I wrote my one of my Michigan essays on his influence as me as well as one of my Harvard essays. But Michigan v OSU being the greatest rivalry? I'm not so sure. Harvard/Yale, Texas/OKLA, UF/FSU, Stanford/UCB, USC/UCLA, Oregon/Oregon St., ND/Mich, Mich/Mich St. aren't far behind. And that's just college football. What about UNC/Duke/Wake/NCST rivarly in bball? Or Cowboys/Eagles in NFL? I do agree that Michigan OSU is one of the finest, but not the best in all of sport. I especially liked the 1950 "snowbowl". That ranks as one of my favorite games ever.</p>
<p>Maguo, most of the rivalries you mention (Harvard Yale, FSU Florida, Stanford Cal, Oregon Oregon State, UCLA USC etc...) do not have the significance of the Michigan OSU game. In college football, I would say the only rivalries that come close are Auburn vs Alabama. I do agree thatthere are many other rivalries that aqre equally awesome, but not in the professional arena. Professional teams cannot have the same rivalry that college teams have. Duke UNC basketball is definitely up there.</p>
<p>But we definitely agree 100% with regards to JoePa. The man is worthy of respect and admiration. From his education (BC Law degree) to his values, from his generosity to his coaching brilliance, he is what every college coach should aspire to be.</p>
<p>I like the fact that State Penn let him stay around as long as he wanted to, that is freaking respect baby!</p>
<p>I think you underestimated his education. Not BC, but Brown. Yes, Ivy.
Now, I'm only arguing this from a football history standpoint, not because of my views on Michigan.
I think that when you guys say that OSU UM is the best rivalry, it is because you live in today's world, where both teams are good. But the rivalry really only got good with Hayes and Schnelleburger(sorry I don't know how to spell his name). Army Navy rivalry has just as much tradition, but neither team has been in the top 25 recently. Just go back to pre-1950 to see how great this rivalry was. Think back to Stanford Berkeley in 86, with the last second return. Or to FSU UF, when they were #1 and #2. If I had to cast my vote for most tradition, I would say Harvard Yale. The rivalry with the most fanfare: Navy Army. However, the one of the highest caliber in the last 30 years would have to be UM OSU. I do agree that it is difficult for pro teams to have big time rivalries because they usually place each other more than once a year.</p>
<p>But that's what makes the games interesting. Who wants to watch a crappy football game between two crappy teams, just because it has "tradition"? Those teams were good half a century ago, and now it's uninteresting football.</p>
<p>If you actually came to one of the UM/OSU games, you wouldn't be saying that Army/Navy has more fanfare. Or Harvard/Yale. Quality of play far surpasses "tradition", and to assume that UM/OSU has no tradition, or has much less tradition than any other game is idiotic.</p>
<p>Maguo, tradition is what makes those teams incredible. Michigan won 9 national championships between 1900 and 1950. OSU won 4 in that period. By 1940, both those teams were powerhouses. And of course, over the last 50 years, Michigan and OSU have been top 10 programs too. So we are talking about current powerhouses with long traditions.</p>
<p>Agree with Alexandre. During the recent lean years of the Army-Navy game, Cadets and Midshipmen are made to watch the games, they call it "mandatory fun."</p>
<p>I don't think that we can justly name the best rivalry because it changes every few years. Teams do decline, sometimes very quickly. I think that one of the biggest reasons UM OSU is so popular is because of their superhuge alumni bases, compared to Army Navy or Yale Harvard.
On another note, which of the following do you think was the best rivalry game of this year? I'd like to hear your take.
a) Michigan Ohio St. (I won't put the score)
b) Harvard Yale (30 -26, 3OT; Harvard overcame 21-3 halftime deficit)
c) Clemson SC (13-9)
d) Alabama Auburn (18 -28)
e) Virg. Tech Virginia (52 -14)
f) Oregon Ore.SU (56 -14)
g) Cal Stanford (27 -3)
h) Army Navy (TBD)</p>
<p>No mention of Lehigh-Lafayette? Y'all need a history lesson.</p>
<p>There are lots of other rivalries, I just named some prominent ones. I could go on and on...
Princeton Harvard
Ohio Miami (Oh)
Florida FSU
Tenn Memphis
LSU Arkansas
Texas TAMU
Okla Texas
Okla OKST
Wash Wash St.
PennSt. Mich St.
ND Purdue
ND Syracuse
ND Navy
ND ....
UCLA USC
Boise St. Idaho
Boston College Maryland</p>
<p>Tell me if I missed any.
Oh, and for small colleges:
Trinity/St. Johns</p>
<p>ND-USC ... and that's my answer to your post #51.</p>
<p>Well I can't speak for anywhere else, but at Ohio State, just living in Ohio is reason enough to be caught up in the big game. It's just not the alumni, it's a huge thing across the entire state ;)</p>
<p>i agree with celebrian25. don't agree with the alum theory. i bet it's more common for non big-ten grads, including ivy league types, to follow big-ten sports. never heard somebody at michigan say, ``hey, did you catch that harvard/yale game last night?'' however, i have talked to ivy league colleagues and more than a few watch the big games.</p>