This Season Will Be The First Time Michigan & OSU Won't Meet Since 1917
It was announced Tuesday afternoon that the Michigan Wolverines' football game at Ohio State this weekend has been canceled, marking the first time since 1917 the two rivals won't face one another in a season.
The longevity and consistency throughout the rivalry's history has been incredible, with the series enduring during the likes of World War II, a time when many other programs and matchups were put on hold.
Since the two teams first met in 1897 in Ann Arbor (a 34-0 Michigan win), there have been only seven seasons in which U-M and Ohio State did not square off — 1898 and 1899, and then the five seasons from 1913-17.
Matching up on the final weekend of the regular season, meanwhile, began in 1935, with just three exceptions since then where the Wolverines did not conclude against the Buckeyes (in 1986 and 1998 when they played at Hawaii the week after The Game, and in 1942 when Michigan hosted Iowa a week after a 21-7 loss to OSU).
The Michigan-Ohio State rivalry has defined the Big Ten in a lot of ways throughout its history, evidenced by the number of times each club has taken home the conference crown.
From 1968 through 2010, either Michigan or Ohio State won the Big Ten title 36 of the 43 years. The seven exceptions were in 1983 (Illinois), 1985 (Iowa), 1987 (Michigan State), 1994 (Penn State), 1995 (Northwestern), 1999 (Wisconsin) and 2001 (Illinois).
The term "Big Two, Little Eight" could not have been more accurate up until 1993 when Penn State joined the league as the 11th member.
The Ten-Year War from 1969-78 between Michigan's Bo Schembechler and Ohio State's Woody Hayes epitomized that notion as well, with at least one of the two clubs winning the conference each of those 10 seasons, and the two rivals sharing it six times.
MSU shared it with U-M in 1978, marking the only time during that decade a team other than Michigan or Ohio State even got a piece of the conference crown. The Ten-Year War served as the height of the rivalry's history, and helped make it what it is today.
Many thought the Jim Harbaugh vs. Urban Meyer era was set to serve as basically the second rendition of Woody vs. Bo, but it obviously didn't play out that way. Harbaugh went 0-4 in four tries against Meyer from 2015-18, with the OSU head coach then stepping down following the 2018 campaign.
Saturday's game in Columbus was slated to be the 117th meeting in the rivalry's history, with Michigan owning a 58-52-6 edge. The Wolverines have never trailed in the all-time series with the Buckeyes, thanks in large part to the 13-0-2 lead they jumped out to from 1897-1918.
The last time Michigan's advantage in the series was six games or fewer was in 1905, when U-M held a 6-0-1 edge.
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