The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1531518
66 THE WOLVERINE ❱ FEBRUARY 2025 "You can't claim a national championship without winning The Game. The only meaningful statistic is the number of times you beat Michigan." S o said the late, legendary Ohio State coach Woody Hayes decades ago, and prior to this year's meeting with the Wolverines, his fan base might have agreed with him. One local Columbus television station, in fact, found in an im- promptu pregame poll of fans that the overwhelming major- ity of OSU fans they interviewed would rather have a win over the hated Wolverines than a na- tional championship. Amazing how they've changed their tunes, however, following yet another loss to Michigan … including head coach Ryan Day. Prior to the season, he and his "best team money could buy," said the only thing that mattered — the biggest thing they returned for — was to "make it right" against "That Team up North," and then win a national title. That obviously hadn't changed in the minutes following the game, Day wan- dering the field aimlessly in the after- math of a fourth straight loss to Michi- gan Nov. 30 while his team embarrassed itself in starting fights, stealing flags to prevent them being planted on their field ("again!" as defensive captain Jack "0-and-fouryer" Sawyer cried with tears in his eyes). The OSU coach was back at it days later, though, in trying to excuse away yet another loss to the Wolverines. "I don't know why anybody would be anything other than fired up. I mean, we're in a different era," Day told an- other local television station before the playoffs began. "It's a different time. We're in the playoffs; other teams aren't. That's the way it goes. Not that it's ever going to change The Game … it's not going to." At the same time, doesn't it seem like that's exactly what he's trying to imply? The old, "Oh, I don't care anyway" (or "wait until basketball season" in other instances) is usually reserved for fan bases whose flash-in-the-pan teams aren't relevant on the national stage and get a ton of mileage just by beating a rival occasionally. Now, though, a watered-down play- off has given the Buckeyes a shot they otherwise wouldn't have had after los- ing as 20-point favorites — at home — to a Michigan team more limited of- fensively than it's ever been and missing some of its best players on both sides of the ball. Notre Dame, too, gets a chance after losing at home to Northern Illinois, a team that finished 4-4 in its confer- ence and 8-5 overall. Thanks to the playoff, we have the No. 7 and No. 8 teams playing for a national title. For us traditionalists … well, this is exactly what we were talking about. That group includes former U-M coach Lloyd Carr, who was asked about a play- off in a press conference 25 or so years ago. "I hope I'm not alive to see it," he said with a scowl on his face. He paused. "Well …" And the laughter in the room ensued. The implication, of course, was that he knew it was probably inevitable in the near future — there's too much money in it, after all, and we all know greed drives the decisions in this sport — and he wanted to enjoy his golden years, after all. But times have changed, and here we are. No, it's not ideal that two rivals are meeting for a national title, but we'll offer this word of advice — don't be a "little brother." Not only did you get yours last year, but your team went undefeated at 15-0, will go down in history as the last "true" national champion before college football became a profes- sional venture, and as one of the best teams of all time. So, smile when your Buckeye or Notre Dame buddy walks in with his "national champions" shirt on (if it's the Buck- eyes, we hope they print some of those with the schedule and scores on it, too … you can wink and point to The Game, but don't be mean about it). But if you can't help yourself, and you're one of those who isn't going to watch because you can't stand the thought of a happy rival, remember this — one of these fan bases that hates your team with a passion is going to be mis- erable around 11:30 p.m. ET on Jan. 20. You'll be sleeping much more soundly than them in your national champion- ship PJs, on your national champion- ship pillowcase, with dreams of January 2024 in your head and a smile on your face. ❏ Michigan fans can sleep tight knowing that regardless of whether Ohio State or Notre Dame wins the national title this year, neither program will do so with a perfect record or a rivalry win like U-M's Team 144 did a year ago. PHOTO COURTESY MICHIGAN ATHLETICS Chris Balas has been with The Wolverine since 1997. Contact him at cbalas@ thewolverine.com and follow him on X (Twitter) @Balas _ Wolverine. INSIDE MICHIGAN ❱ CHRIS BALAS Watered-Down Playoff Has Cheapened The Sport, But Not The Rivalries