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All sports rivalries are intense, but college football rivalries are on a different level.
One of the biggest rivalries in any sport is Ohio State-Michigan, which is simply known as “The Game.” It’s produced some incredible highlights and memories over its 127-year history, but the next chapter has yet to be written.
With this year’s game quickly approaching, let’s take a closer look at this epic rivalry to help you bet on it at our favorite college football betting sites.
Michigan vs. Ohio State Rivalry & History
Ohio State and Michigan have one of the longest-standing college football rivalries, dating back to their first meeting on October 16, 1897.
That meeting came roughly 60 years after the Toledo War (1835-36)–a boundary dispute between the state of Ohio and the Michigan Territory for a piece of land then known as the Toledo Strip, which had control of the mouth of Maumee River and was important for shipping opportunities.
The dispute, also known as the Ohio-Michigan War, was settled in 1836 without any fatalities, but it helped spark a centuries-long rivalry between the two states.
Michigan dominated the early portion of the rivalry, winning the first matchup 34-0 in 1897 and going 12-0-2 between 1897 and 1912 before the games were postponed for a few years during World War I.
The Buckeyes joined the Big Ten in 1912, the Wolverines rejoined the conference in 1917 after a 10-year break, and the game has been played annually since (aside from 2020, which was cancelled due to Covid-19).
One of the more significant periods in the rivalry was the “Ten Year War” from 1969-1978, which featured legendary head coaches Bo Schembechler (Michigan) and Woody Hayes (Ohio State) facing off at the helm of some of the strongest teams in the rivalry’s history.
Each team was ranked in the AP Poll in nine of those 10 matchups, with both sides ranked in the top five on five occasions. Hayes coined the term “that team up North” so he wouldn’t have to say Michigan.
Schembechler’s Wolverines went 5-4-1 in those 10 years against Ohio State, with the fifth win marking the final regular-season game of Hayes’ 28-year coaching career in Columbus.
Michigan vs. Ohio State All-Time Record
The two teams have met 120 times, and Michigan leads the series with a 62–51–6 record.
Over the last 10 years, Ohio State has held the upper hand in the rivalry – posting a 6-4 record with six straight wins from 2014 to 2019.
However, Michigan has been victorious in the past four meetings, including a massive upset in 2024 as a 19.5-point underdog.
Michigan’s longest win streak was nine games (1901-1909), with its largest win an 86-0 victory in 1902. Ohio State’s longest winning streak was eight games from 2012-2019. The Buckeyes’ largest margin of victory was 38-0 in 1935.
Note: The 2010 game–a 37-7 Ohio State win–was later vacated due to NCAA violations by Buckeyes head coach Jim Tressel.
Michigan vs. Ohio State NFL Players
Both programs have also been terrific pipelines for NFL talent over the past decade, sending many players to the NFL Draft.
For Michigan, Minnesota Vikings QB J.J. McCarthy (No. 10 overall, 2024 NFL Draft), Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (No. 2, 2022), Green Bay Packers DE Rashan Gary (No. 12, 2019) and New Orleans Saints O-lineman Cesar Ruiz (No. 24, 2020) are among the best players to be drafted.
For Ohio State, the list of recent NFL talent is even longer and more impressive.
Whether it’s 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year winner C.J. Stroud (No. 2, 2023 draft), wideouts Marvin Harrison Jr. (No. 4, 2024) and Garrett Wilson (No. 10, 2022), Pittsburgh Steelers QB Justin Fields (No. 11, 2021), defensive ends Chase Young (No. 2, 2020), Nick Bosa (No. 2, 2019) and Joey Bosa (No. 3, 2016) or cornerbacks Marshon Lattimore (No. 11, 2017) and Denzel Ward (No. 4, 2018), there is a seemingly never-ending list of incredibly talented NFL players coming out of Columbus.
And that doesn’t even include Dallas Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliot (No. 4, 2016), who has also had a successful career.
Perhaps even more impressive is that an Ohio State player has won an Offensive or Defensive Rookie of the Year award in nearly every season over the last eight years.
- 2016: Joey Bosa (Defensive)
- 2017: Marshon Lattimore (Defensive)
- 2019: Nick Bosa (Defensive)
- 2020: Chase Young (Defensive)
- 2022: Garrett Wilson (Offensive)
- 2023: C.J. Stroud (Offensive)
Michigan vs. Ohio State Odds History
Over the past 10 years, Michigan is 7-3 against the spread versus Ohio State, including covering (and winning outright) the past four seasons.
We also have the Over/Under total for Ohio State-Michigan games over the past 10 matchups. The Over has hit in nine of the last 10 years, as the rivalry tends to produce high-scoring games.
The lone exception came in 2024, when the Buckeyes went scoreless in the second half and managed just 10 points in a stunning 13-10 home loss to the Wolverines.
Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images
