November 24, 1973: The Ohio State-Michigan Tie

Glenn Edward Schembechler Jr. (left) and Wayne Woodrow Hayes

November 24, 1973: The football teams of Ohio State University and the University of Michigan play each other at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor. This was intended as the 30th time that the winner of this game would win the Big Ten Conference Championship. (And there have been many more since.)

Wayne Woodrow Hayes, known as Woody, had coached at Ohio State since 1951, and had already won the Big 10 title 7 times, and the National Championship in 1954, 1957, 1961 and 1968. Glenn Edward Schembechler Jr., known as Bo, had played for him at Miami University in Ohio, and had coached under him there and at Ohio State, before becoming head coach at Miami and then at Michigan in 1969.

Ohio State was going for back-to-back National Championships in 1969, with a supposedly unbeatable team, but Bo's Wolverines shocked Woody's Buckeyes in Ann Arbor, re-establishing Michigan as a national football power, and beginning what would eventually be known as "The Ten-Year War" between not just the two programs, but between the two men. Ohio State won in 1970, Michigan in 1971 and Ohio State in 1972.

Ohio State came into the game at 9-0, having been ranked Number 1 for most of the season. The closest any team had come to beating them was Wisconsin, and they lost 24-0. The Buckeyes had hung 60 points on Northwestern, 56 on Minnesota, 55 on Iowa, 37 on both Texas Christian and Indiana, and 35 on Michigan State. With sophomore running back Archie Griffin, on his way to becoming the only 2-time Heisman Trophy winner, and future All-Pro linebacker Randy Gradishar, they looked unbeatable -- just as they were in 1968, and just as they looked in 1969.

Michigan came into the game 10-0, and ranked Number 4. They'd had some closer calls, only beating Navy by 14 points and Illinois by 15. But they scored 49 on Indiana, 47 on Stanford, 35 on Wisconsin, and 34 on both Minnesota and Purdue. And they had a strong defense, shutting out Navy, Oregon and Michigan State. Only Stanford and Indiana reached double figures against them. Cornerback Dave Brown, defensive tackle Dave Gallagher, tight end Paul Seal and placekicker Mike Lantry were named All-Americans.

A crowd of 105,223 plowed into the enormous bowl in Ann Arbor, nicknamed The Big House. Millions more watched Chris Schenkel and former Michigan State coach Duffy Daugherty call the game on ABC. It was Ohio State vs. Michigan. It was "The Game."

It rained before the game. Coupled with both coaches' distaste for the forward pass -- Hayes famously said, "There are three things that can happen when you throw the football, and two of them are bad," meaning an incompletion and an interception -- this game was destined to remain mostly on the ground. Michigan passed for only 90 yards, and Ohio State attempted only 4 passes.

The game was scoreless after the 1st quarter. Early in the 2nd quarter, Blair Conway kicked a field goal to put Ohio State up 3-0. Michigan struggled, and Ohio State gained a lot on the ground through Griffin. But it was the other big back, Pete Johnson, who ended up scoring the Buckeye touchdown, putting them up 10-0 just before halftime.

Midway through the 3rd quarter, Ohio State got to the Michigan 34-yard line, but on 4th and 2, Hayes, that most conservative of football coaches, refused to gamble on a 51-yard field goal attempt, and went for the 1st down, and couldn't convert it. That gave the Wolverines new life, and they drove 11 plays, and Lantry got them on the board with a field goal.

Midway through the 4th quarter, Michigan was able to drive down to the Ohio State 10-yard line, but the Buckeyes held them, and it was 4th and inches. Hayes put 9 men on the line of scrimmage, making a "goal-line stand" on the 10, because he had predicted that Wolverine quarterback Dennis Franklin would once again hand off to Ed Shuttlesworth.

But Schembechler, unlike Hayes, was willing to gamble: He had Franklin fake the handoff to Shuttlesworth, and got himself through the line for a touchdown. It was 10-10.

With 6 minutes left, Michigan got the ball on their 10. Franklin drove into Buckeye territory, but with 2:23 to go, he was injured and had to leave the game. Schembechler decided to gamble again, and had Lantry try a 58-yard field goal. It had the distance, but was just wide left.

Ohio State couldn't do anything with their opportunity, and quarterback Greg Hare threw an interception that must have driven Hayes up the wall. The Wolverines got the ball to the Buckeye 28, and Lantry attempted a game-winning 45-yard field goal. But he missed, and 10-10 was the final score.

So now, there was a tie not just in the game, but for the Big 10 title. And, at the time, the Big 10 had a rule that now seems ridiculous: Only the league's Champion could go to a bowl game, the Rose Bowl. Until 1971, they had another ridiculous rule: No team could go to the Rose Bowl 2 years in a row. In other words, if a team won back-to-back titles, the 2nd place team would go to the Rose Bowl instead.

With that rule having gone by the wayside, and the title being tied, the Big 10's representative to play the University of Southern California (USC) in the Rose Bowl would be up to a vote the next day, held in a telephone conference call of the league's athletic directors. Since Ohio State had gone to the Rose Bowl the year before, it seemed simple enough: It was Michigan's turn.

Even Hayes agreed. He hated Michigan as much as any coach has ever hated his school's arch-rival. You approached him with great care during "Michigan Week." And he usually referred to them as "that school up north." Ohio State fans began referring to them by the initials of that epithet: "TSUN." But as competitive as Woody was, this time, he admitted, "We had to win this one to go, and we didn't. If they vote Michigan, Michigan deserves to go." And if the vote were a 5-5 split, then the old rule would be observed, and Michigan would go.

The vote was 6-4 for Ohio State. The Buckeyes voted for themselves, of course; and also got the votes of Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue, Wisconsin and Michigan State. The Wolverines voted for themselves, and also got the votes of Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota.

Bo blew his stack. He would have blown it again if he had lived long enough to hear a recording released in connection with the 2013 Big Ten Network documentary Tiebreaker, of Michigan State athletic director J. Burt Smith, 4 days after the game and 3 days after the vote, that he had voted for Ohio State, because they "best met the definition of the most representative team."

Another rumor came out that MSU voted for Ohio State in retaliation for Michigan's "No" vote on their admittance to the Big Ten in 1949. (The University of Chicago had dropped out in 1940, and so the league was a Big Nine for a few years.) Granted, Michigan State hates Michigan as much as Ohio State does, but 24 years is a long time to hold a grudge, especially over a move that didn't even work.

In his 1989 memoir, Schembechler said that Illinois coach Bob Blackman was told by his athletic director, Cecil Coleman, that he would vote for Michigan, but that Coleman voted for Ohio State anyway.

Bo also suggested in that memoir that the Big Ten knew that Franklin's injury would make it problematic for Michigan, and they'd already lost the last 4 Rose Bowls to the league then known as the Pacific-Eight, and they thought Ohio State would have a better chance to win. As it turned out, that was correct: Ohio State won the 1974 Rose Bowl, beating USC 42-21.

But the tie ended up hurting Ohio State, if not as much as it hurt Michigan. Notre Dame, ranked Number 3, upset the new Number 1, Alabama, in the Sugar Bowl, and were awarded the National Championship. Ohio State ended up Number 2 in both the Associated Press poll (AP, the football writers) and the United Press International poll (UPI, the football coaches). Michigan finished Number 6 in both polls.

In 1972, '73 and '74 combined, Michigan went 30-2-1, their only non-wins being the '72 loss to Ohio State, 14-11; the '73 tie with Ohio State, 10-10; and the '74 loss to Ohio State, 12-10. Three non-wins, by a combined total of 5 points. And yet, they didn't go to a bowl game in any of those seasons. Even fans of the other 9 schools in the league at the time, used to hating Michigan and wanting them to suffer, had to admit that this was a bit unfair.

Finally, in 1975, the Big Ten voted to open postseason bids to as many as 4 teams, which has since been expanded to 6. Fittingly, Michigan became the 1st team to benefit, going 8-0-2 in 1975 before losing to Ohio State, and then going to the Orange Bowl, where they lost to Oklahoma.

*

November 24, 1973 was a Saturday. And there were other big games in college football that day, some of them rivalries, besides Number 1 Ohio State vs. Number 4 Michigan:

* Number 2 Alabama had already played 2 days earlier, on Thanksgiving, beating Number 7 Louisiana State, 21-7 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 3 Oklahoma played the day before, the day after Thanksgiving, beating Nebraska, 27-0 at Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma. This clinched them the Big Eight title. However, they were on probation, and couldn't accept the Big Eight Champions' bid to the Orange Bowl.

* Number 5 Notre Dame had also played on Thanksgiving, beating the Air Force Academy, 48-15 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 6 Penn State beat Number 20 Pittsburgh, 35-13 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania. Led by Heisman Trophy-winning running back John Cappelletti, Joe Paterno's Nittany Lions went on to beat LSU in the Orange Bowl, and finished undefeated. But they only finished Number 5 in the polls, behind fellow undefeated Notre Dame, undefeated-but-one-tie Ohio State, undefeated-but-one-tie Oklahoma, and one-loss Alabama.

* Number 9 USC beat Number 8 UCLA, 23-13 at the Los Angeles Coliseum. This clinched the Pac-8 title. But, as I said, USC lost the Rose Bowl to Ohio State.

* Number 11 Texas played on Thanksgiving, beating Texas A&M, 42-13 at Kyle Field in College Station, Texas. That clinched the Southwest Conference title. But they lost the Cotton Bowl to Nebraska.

* In a rare Sunday game for college football in those days, Number 13 Arizona State played arch-rival Arizona the next day, November 25, and won, 55-19 at Sun Devil Stadium in the Phoenix suburb of Tempe, Arizona. This clinched the title of the Western Athletic Conference. In 1978, Arizona and Arizona State left the WAC, and made the Pac-8 a Pac-10.

* Number 16 North Carolina State, then coached by Lou Holtz in his 2nd season of his 1st NCAA Division I-A head coaching job, beat Wake Forest, 52-13 at Carter Stadium in Raleigh. (It's now named Carter-Finley Stadium.) This game won N.C. State the Atlantic Coast Conference title.

* Dartmouth beat Princeton, 42-24 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey, to wrap up the Ivy League title.

* New York City's only remaining major-college football team, Columbia, lost to Brown, 37-14 at Brown Stadium in Providence, Rhode Island.

* And Rutgers got pasted by Colgate, 42-0 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway, New Jersey.

There were 5 games played in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Golden State Warriors, 107-99 at Madison Square Garden. Walt "Clyde" Frazier scored 34 points, but it wasn't enough.

* The Buffalo Braves beat the Kansas City-Omaha Kings, 143-131 at the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. Bob McAdoo had 43 points and 17 rebounds for the Braves, who became the San Diego Clippers in 1978 and the Los Angeles Clippers in 1984.

* The Milwaukee Bucks beat the Atlanta Hawks, 112-91 at The Omni in Atlanta.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Detroit Pistons, 114-112 in overtime at the Chicago Stadium.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 113-108 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum.

There were also 5 games played in the ABA:

* The New York Nets beat the Utah Stars, 119-113 at the Salt Palace in Salt Lake City. Julius "Dr. J" Erving scored 38 points for the Long Island club.

* The Virginia Squires beat the Indiana Pacers, 108-102 at The Scope in Norfolk, Virginia.

* The Denver Rockets beat the Carolina Cougars, 127-122 in overtime at the Greensboro Coliseum. The Rockets became the Denver Nuggets in 1974.

* The Kentucky Colonels beat the San Diego Conquistadors, 124-121 at Freedom Hall in Louisville.

* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Memphis Tams, 121-118 in double overtime at the HemisFair Arena in San Antonio.

There were 6 games played in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers played the Los Angeles Kings to a tie, 5-5 at The Garden.

* The New York Islanders lost to the Detroit Red Wings, 6-4 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 5-2 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Black Hawks beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the California Golden Seals, 6-3 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* The Philadelphia Flyers beat the St. Louis Blues, 1-0 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Atlanta Flames, the Boston Bruins, the Buffalo Sabres and the Vancouver Canucks were not scheduled.

And there were 2 games played in the World Hockey Association. The Cleveland Crusaders beat the Toronto Toros, 2-1 at the Cleveland Arena. And the Houston Aeros beat the Chicago Cougars, 5-3 at the Sam Houston Coliseum in Houston. 

November 22, 1969: The Michigan Wolverines Return to Glory

November 22, 1969: The most famous game in the history of the Midwest's greatest college football rivalry is played in front of 103,588 fans at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor.

Glenn Edward Schembechler Jr. had played for Wayne Woodrow Hayes at Miami University of Ohio, and coached under him at Ohio State, before becoming Miami's head coach, and was now in his 1st year at Michigan. "Bo" had the Wolverines ranked Number 12 in the nation. But "Woody" had won the previous year's National Championship at Ohio State, his Buckeyes had won 22 straight games, and were still ranked Number 1.

Michigan had long been the leading football power in the Big Ten, but the 1950s saw the rise of Woody's Buckeyes, and of Duffy Daugherty's Michigan State University, and the Wolverines fell back. From 1950 to 1968, Big 10 football titles had been won (some of these races ending in ties) by Illinois in 1951, 1953 and 1963; Wisconsin in 1952, 1959 and 1962; Purdue in 1952 and 1967; Michigan State in 1953, 1965 and 1966; Iowa in 1958 and 1960; Minnesota in 1960, 1962 and 1967; Indiana in 1967 (a 3-way tie with Purdue and Minnesota); Ohio State in 1954, 1955, 1957, 1961 and 1968; and Michigan only in 1964. Only Northwestern had failed to win a title.

Chalmers "Bump" Elliott, a former Michigan star, coached them to that 1964 Conference Championship. Over the next 4 years, Michigan went 4-6, 6-4, 4-6 and 8-2. Elliott was fired, and Schembechler was hired away from Miami. Just as Woody had made beating Michigan -- or, refusing to say the name, calling it "That school up north," or TSUN for short -- Bo made beating Ohio State, and Woody, the Wolverines' priority.

The Wolverines came in at 7-2, having lost a non-conference game to then-Number 9 Missouri at home, and away to Michigan State. That was their only Big 10 loss, so this game would be for the title. And the Buckeyes were looking to win another National Championship, with fellow undefeateds Texas, Arkansas and Penn State keeping an eye on them. Which they could do, because it was televised nationally on ABC.

Ohio State had quarterback Rex Kern, running backs Jim Otis and John Brockington, and nose tackle Jim Stillwagon, and safety Jack Tatum. Michigan had offensive tackle Dan Dierdorf, guard Reggie McKenzie, receiver Glenn Doughty and tight end Jim Mandich. In other words, both teams were loaded.

But while Michigan had a great offensive line, it was their defense that told the story. Ohio State scored the 1st touchdown, but missed the extra point. Michigan scored a touchdown, and made their extra point, and the 1st quarter ended with Michigan up, 7-6. Ohio State scored another touchdown, but Michigan stopped him on the two-point conversion attempt. But Michigan came right back, scored another touchdown, then another, and then a field goal. At the half, it was Michigan 24, Ohio State 12.

Bo remembered his defensive coordinator, Jim Young, telling his players that Ohio State would not score in the 2nd half. He bounded the blackboard with the formations written on it with each word: "They! Will! Not! Score! Again!" Young went on to become the head coach at Arizona, Purdue and Army.

He was right: Neither team scored again. Michigan missed a field goal, then ended the next 2 Ohio State drives with interceptions. Woody hated the passing game, saying, "Three things can happen when you throw the football, and two of them are bad," meaning an incompletion and an interception. The Ohio State defense got better in the 4th quarter, but their offense didn't, and it remained 24-12. Michigan forced 6 interceptions and a fumble, and had ended Ohio State's streak, and become the Big Ten Champions.

As the fans rushed onto the field, and the Wolverines carried Bo off their shoulders, ABC announcer Bill Flemming said, "There it is! What has to be the upset of the century!" He had forgotten about Army losing to Carlisle in 1912, Notre Dame in 1913, and Army in 1947; and Centre College beating Harvard in 1921.

Michigan's upset of Ohio State was the 1st of 10 games between Woody and Bo, from Bo's arrival in Ann Arbor in 1969 until Woody had to be fired in 1978, were known as The Ten-Year War, with Bo "winning," 5-4-1. Michigan won in 1969, '71, '76, '77 and '78. Ohio State won in 1970, '72, '74 and '75. The '73 game was a tie.

Bo (left) and Woody

Woody and Bo remained friends until Woody's death in 1987. Bo lived on until 2006, dying the day before that year's game, which became one of college football's periodic "Games of the Century."

*

November 22, 1969 was a Saturday. These other noteworthy games were played that day:

* Number 2 Texas were idle. The next week, they beat arch-rival Texas A&M. Number 3 Arkansas were idle. The next week, they beat Texas Tech, setting up the "Game of the Century" showdown. Texas won it, winning the Southwest Conference title, and its automatic berth in the Cotton Bowl. Arkansas fell to Number 3,

* Rivalry: Number 4 Penn State beat the University of Pittsburgh, 27-7 at Pitt Stadium in Pittsburgh. A win the next week over North Carolina State gave Penn State, an independent with no conference title available to them, an undefeated regular season, and an invitation to the Orange Bowl.

* Rivalry: Number 5 University of Southern California (USC) beat Number 6 University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA), 14-12 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. USC thus won the Pacific-Eight Conference title. They went on to beat Michigan in the Rose Bowl.

* Rivalry: Number 7 Missouri beat Kansas, 69-921 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas. This gave "Mizzou" the Big Eight Conference title, and an automatic berth in the Orange Bowl. Penn State beat them, to complete an undefeated season, and make a claim for the National Championship.

* Number 8 Notre Dame beat Air Force, 13-6 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana. For the 1st time since their "Four Horsemen" season of 1924, 45 years, the Fighting Irish accepted a bowl berth, taking on Number 1 Texas in the Cotton Bowl. Texas won, and were awarded the National Championship. Penn State fans have whined about being bypassed for that title ever since.

* Rivalry: Number 9 Tennessee beat Kentucky, 31-26 at McLean Stadium in Lexington, Kentucky. The next week, Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, and won the Southeastern Conference title. They had only lost 1 SEC game, to the University of Mississippi, who had lost 2 of them. By rights, the Sugar Bowl should have invited Tennessee, as both SEC Champions and the higher-ranked team. Instead, they invited Arkansas and "Ole Miss," as neighbors with an established inter-conference rivalry.

Ole Miss won the Sugar Bowl, and so, in the span of 64 minutes of football, Arkansas went from a good shot at the National Championship to a 2-loss team with nothing to show for it.

* Rivalry: Number 10 Louisiana State University beat Tulane, 27-0 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Stuck behind Tennessee and Ole Miss in the SEC, LSU were not invited to any bowl game.

* Rivalry: Number 14 Stanford beat the University of California, 29-28 at the old Stanford Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Palo Alto, California.

* Rivalry: Number 16 Nebraska beat Oklahoma, 44-14 at Owen Field in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Rivalry: Number 17 Purdue beat Indiana, 44-21 at Seventeenth Street Stadium (now Memorial Stadium) in Bloomington, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Boston College beat the University of Massachusetts, 35-30 at Alumni Stadium just outside Boston in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

* Rivalry: Yale beat Harvard, 7-0 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. It did not make up for the previous year's famous 29-29 tie.

* Rivalry: Maryland beat Virginia, 17-14 at Byrd Stadium (now SECU Stadium) in the Washington suburb of College Park, Maryland.

* Rivalry: The University of Richmond beat the College of William & Mary, 28-17 at Cary Field in Williamsburg, Virginia.

* Rivalry: Duke beat North Carolina, 17-13 at Duke Stadium (now Wallace Wade Stadium) in Durham, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: South Carolina beat Clemson, 27-13 at Carolina Stadium (now Williams-Brice Stadium) in Columbia, South Carolina.

* Rivalry: Miami University beat the University of Cincinnati, 36-20 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati.

* Rivalry: Minnesota beat Wisconsin, 35-10 at Memorial Stadium in Minneapolis.

* Rivalry: New Mexico beat New Mexico State, 24-21 at Aggie Memorial Stadium in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

* Rivalry: Oregon State beat Oregon, 10-7 at Autzen Stadium in Eugene, Oregon.

* Rivalry: Washington beat Washington State, 30-21 at the old Husky Stadium in Seattle.

* And in New Jersey, Rutgers beat Colgate, 48-12 at Rutgers Stadium in Piscataway; while Princeton beat Dartmouth, 35-7 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton. Earlier in the season, these 2 Jersey teams, who had played in the 1st college football game 100 years earlier, played at Rutgers, and Rutgers won, 29-0. Both teams finished the Centennial season at 6-3.

The other major rivalries were played the next week. On Thursday, November 27, Thanksgiving Day, Texas beat Texas A&M, Virginia Tech beat Virginia Military Institute (VMI -- Virginia were not yet Tech's biggest rival), and Ole Miss beat Mississippi State.

On the Saturday, November 29, Army beat Navy, Georgia Tech beat Georgia, Florida beat the University of Miami, Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, Auburn beat Alabama, Oklahoma beat Oklahoma State, and Arizona State beat Arizona.

Pro football was played the next day. Baseball was out of season. There were 5 games played in the NBA:

* The New York Knicks beat the Phoenix Suns, 128-114 at Madison Square Garden. Willis Reed scored 37 points.

* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Atlanta Hawks, 132-116 at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum (now the McCamish Pavilion) in Atlanta.

* The Chicago Bulls beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 125-106 at the Chicago Stadium.

* The San Diego Rockets beat the Boston Celtics, 125-116 at the San Diego Sports Arena (now the Pechanga Arena). Elvin Hayes scored 41 points and grabbed 22 rebounds.

* And the Los Angeles Lakers beat the team that was supposed to be their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Warriors, 106-98 at the Cow Palace outside San Francisco in Daly City, California. Jerry West scored 40 points.

There was 1 game in the American Basketball Association: The Los Angeles Stars beat the Carolina Cougars, 120-117 in overtime at the J.S. Dorton Arena in Raleigh, North Carolina.

And there were 5 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-0 at the St. Louis Arena.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Oakland Seals, 4-2 at the Montreal Forum.

* The Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-0 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.

* The Pittsburgh Penguins beat their arch-rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, 5-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.

* The Minnesota North Stars beat the Los Angeles Kings, 4-1 at the Metropolitan Sports Center in the Minneapolis suburb of Bloomington, Minnesota.

* And the Boston Bruins and the Chicago Black Hawks were not scheduled.

November 18, 2006: Ohio State vs. Michigan, "The Game of the Century"

November 18, 2006: Ohio State University hosts its arch-rival, the University of Michigan, in what Midwestern college football fans call "The Game." This time, it was labeled "The Game of the Century" -- even though the previous season's National Championship Game, a Texas win over the University of Southern California (USC), had already been called that.

Michigan had dominated the rivalry in recent years, going 10-2-1 from 1988 to 2000. But when Jim Tressel was hired away from NCAA Division I-AA (now FCS, Football Championship Subdivision) power Youngstown State, also in Ohio, to run the Ohio State program, he vowed to beat Michigan. He did, winning 4 of his 1st 5 games against the school that Woody Hayes, the most successful of all Buckeye coaches, derisively called "That School Up North."

He took his Buckeyes into his 6th game against the Wolverines with an 11-0 record. They had been ranked Number 1 from the start of the season and all the way through it to this point. They didn't come by that record cheaply, either: They had already beaten a team ranked Number 2 that season, beating Texas in Austin. They beat Number 24 Penn State at home, and Number 13 Iowa away.

Quarterback Troy Smith was the favorite for the Heisman Trophy, and did go on to win it. He and his top receiver, Ted Ginn Jr., were considered big NFL prospects. James Laurinaitis would receive the Bronko Nagurski Trophy as the best defensive player in the country.

Michigan, coached by Lloyd Carr, were also 11-0. They began the season ranked Number 14, and had only beaten 1 ranked team, but it was Number 2 Notre Dame, in South Bend. They slowly climbed in the rankings, including beating their other main rival, Michigan State, and then beating Penn State away. By the time they came back from beating Indiana away on November 11, they were the Number 2 team in the country. Their own quarterback, Chad Henne, and top receiver, Mario Manningham, were highly regarded.

There had been many games in which both Ohio State and Michigan were highly ranked going into The Game, but this would be the 1st time it was ever Number 1 vs. Number 2 -- regardless of which one was which. It was the 1st time since the infamous 1973 tie game that both teams came in undefeated.

The game was endlessly hyped, and why not: The winner would win the Big Ten Conference Championship (which has been the case many, many times), and would secure a place in the Bowl Championship Series National Championship Game. And, unlike that 1973 tie, it would be the loser who went to the Rose Bowl -- the bowls' "Granddaddy of Them All" in the increasingly common situation, in this era of definitive National Championship Games, of being a consolation prize.

Woody Hayes arrived in Columbus in 1951, and made beating Michigan a priority. Up until 1968, a season in which he won his 4th National Championship at Ohio State, he usually did. The season before he got there, he coached at Miami University of Ohio, and one of his players was Bo Schembechler. He named Bo one of his assistants at Ohio State. Bo left to become head coach at Miami, and then, in 1969, at Michigan. He made beating Ohio State a priority, and, the 1st time out, did, ruining Woody's chance at back-to-back National Championships and "greatest team ever" status.

That started what is retroactively known as "The Ten-Year War." The men were very much alike, both heavily favoring the running game over passing, and adopting a my-way-or-the-highway approach. In 10 seasons, Bo won 5 games, Woody 4, and there was that tie in 1973. After the 1978 season, Woody was fired for punching an opposing player during a bowl game, and died in 1987. Bo remained Michigan's head coach through the 1989 season.

Through the tenures of his former assistants Gary Moeller and Lloyd Carr, Bo was invited to speak before the Michigan players on the Thursday before the Ohio State game. But in 2006, at age 77, his heart condition had gotten worse, and he'd had a pacemaker installed. The Thursday before the game, he attended the funeral of Tom Slade, his 1971 quarterback, who became his dentist, and who had just died of leukemia at age 54. That night, he talked to the players not about the tradition of the Ohio State game, or about what they could win, but about how they should be like Slade, who, he said, embodied what it meant to be Bo's three favorite words: "A Michigan man."

The next day, Bo was at WXYZ-Channel 7, the ABC affiliate in Detroit, where, as usual, he was going to tape that week's installment of Big Ten Ticket, which discussed Big Ten football, particularly Michigan and Michigan State. But he had another heart attack, and died, just 30 hours before the biggest game in the history of the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry.

A crowd of 105,708 plowed into Ohio Stadium -- or, as the recently-retired ABC college football master Keith Jackson called it, "The Big Horseshoe On the Olentangy" (River). ABC would do the game as usual, with Brent Musberger and Kirk Herbstreit (a former Ohio State quarterback, but one often critical of his Alma Mater) announcing. The Buckeyes were favored by 7 points. Before the game, in recognition of the great mutual respect between the rivals, a video tribute to Schembechler was played on the scoreboard, and received a standing ovation.

Michigan scored first, but Ohio State took charge after that, and led 28-14 at halftime. By the opening minutes of the 4th quarter, the Wolverines had closed to within 28-24. Smith took control of the game, and with 5 minutes left, the Buckeyes led, 42-31. But with 2 minutes left, Henne led the Wolverines to a touchdown and a 2-point conversion. It was 42-39. But the Wolverines were unable to recover the onside kick, and the Buckeyes ran out the clock.

Antonio Pittman rushed for 139 yards for Ohio State. Mike ran for 142 yards and 3 touchdowns for Michigan, but it wasn't enough.

Many fans hoped for a rematch in the BCS National Championship Game. But when the University of Florida beat arch-rival Florida State the following week, and beat Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Championship Game the week after that, they became the consensus Number 2 team in the country, setting up the definitive title game with the Buckeyes.

Neither Big Ten team closed their season with a win. Michigan lost the Rose Bowl to USC on New Year's Day 2007, 32-18. Seven days later, at what's now named State Farm Stadium in the Phoenix suburbs, Ohio State were defeated by Florida, 41-14. A season full of bangs for both teams ended with whimpers for both.

Troy Smith played 3 seasons for the Baltimore Ravens, and 1 for the San Francisco 49ers. Ted Ginn Jr. had a much more successful pro career, playing 14 seasons, and reaching Super Bowls (but not winning them) with the San Francisco 49ers and the Carolina Panthers. James Laurinaitis played 8 seasons, and never reached a Super Bowl, but led the NFL in solo tackles with the St. Louis Rams in 2012.

Chad Henne has played 13 seasons in the NFL, but only started 54 games. He won a Super Bowl ring as Patrick Mahomes' backup on the Kansas City Chiefs. Mario Manningham played 6 seasons, winning a Super Bowl with the New York Giants, and was a teammate of Smith on the team that lost a Super Bowl.

*

November 18, 2006 was a Saturday. Among the other college football games played that day were these:

* Number 3 Florida beat Western Carolina, 62-0 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium in Gainesville, Florida.

* Number 4 University of Southern California (USC) beat Number 17 University of California, 23-9 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 5 Arkansas beat Mississippi State, 28-14 at Davis Wade Stadium in Starkville, Mississippi.

* Number 6 Notre Dame beat Army, 41-9 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

* Number 7 Rutgers were upset by the University of Cincinnati, 30-11, costing the Scarlet Knights the Big East Conference title.

* Two days earlier, in a rivalry game, Number 8 West Virginia beat the University of Pittsburgh, 45-27.

* Number 9 Louisiana State (LSU) beat Mississippi (Ole Miss), 23-20 at Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

* Number 10 Louisville beat South Florida, 31-8 at Cardinal Stadium in Louisville.

* Number 14 Wake Forest were mildly upset by Number 19 Virginia Tech, 27-6 at Groves Stadium (now Truist Field) in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

* Rivalry: Number 15 Auburn beat Alabama, 22-15 at Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa.

* Number 20 Boston College beat Number 21 Maryland, 38-16 in the Boston suburb of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts.

* Rivalry: Number 22 Tennessee beat Vanderbilt, 39-10 at Vanderbilt Stadium (now First Bank Stadium) in Nashville.

* Rivalry: Yale beat Harvard, 34-13 at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* Navy beat Temple, 42-6 at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Rivalry: Purdue beat Indiana, 28-19 at Ross-Ade Stadium in West Lafayette, Indiana.

* Rivalry: Northwestern beat Illinois, 27-16 at Ryan Field in the Chicago suburb of Evanston, Illinois.

* Rivalry: Minnesota beat Iowa, 34-24 at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.

* Rivalry: Kansas beat Kansas State, 39-20 at Memorial Stadium in Lawrence, Kansas.

* Rivalry: Washington beat Washington State, 35-32 at Martin Stadium in Pullman, Washington.

There were 13 games in the NBA that day:

* The New York Knicks lost to the Boston Celtics, 122-118 at Madison Square Garden. Paul Pierce scored 39 points.

* The New Jersey Nets lost to the Portland Trail Blazers, 86-68 at the Continental Airlines Arena at the Meadowlands.

* The Washington Wizards beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 111-99 at the Verizon Center (now the Capital One Arena) in Washington. Gilbert Arenas led all players on the day with 45 points.

* The Miami Heat beat the Atlanta Hawks, 93-88 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta. Dwyane Wade scored 37 points.

* The Orlando Magic beat the Charlotte Bobcats, 97-83 at the Amway Arena in Orlando.

* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Memphis Grizzlies, 89-84 at the American Airlines Center in Dallas.

* The Detroit Pistons beat the Houston Rockets, 104-92 at The Palace in the Detroit suburb of Auburn Hills, Michigan. Yao Ming scored 33 points in defeat.

* The Indiana Pacers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 102-100 at the Bradley Center in Milwaukee.

* The New Orleans Hornets beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 99-96 at the Target Center in Minneapolis. Chris Paul scored 35 points for the Hornets.

* The Denver Nuggets beat the Toronto Raptors, 117-109 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver. Carmelo Anthony scored 34 points for the Nuggets.

* The Utah Jazz beat the Phoenix Suns, 120-117 in overtime at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City (then named the EnergySolutions Arena). Shawn Marion scored 35 points in defeat.

* The Los Angeles Clippers beat the Philadelphia 76ers, 103-97 in overtime at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* And the Golden State Warriors beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 107-95 at the Oakland Coliseum Arena (then named the Oracle Arena). Ray Allen scored 34 points in defeat.

There were 12 games in the NHL:

* The New York Rangers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1 at the Mellon Arena (as the Civic Arena was then known) in Pittsburgh.

* The New York Islanders beat the Florida Panthers, 4-1 at the BankAtlantic Center in the Miami suburb of Sunrise, Florida.

* The New Jersey Devils beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 2-1 at the Air Canada Centre (now the Scotiabank Arena) in Toronto.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-1 at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

* The Boston Bruins beat the Washington Capitals, 3-2 at the TD Banknorth Garden (now just the TD Garden) in Boston. Glenn Murray scored the game-winner with 2:54 left in overtime.

* The Carolina Hurricanes beat the Dallas Stars, 5-4 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh, North Carolina.

* The Nashville Predators beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-2 at the Gaylord Entertainment Center (now the Bridgestone Arena) in Nashville.

* The Ottawa Senators beat the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1 at Scotiabank Place (now the Canadian Tire Centre) in Ottawa.

* The Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild, 2-1 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Detroit Red Wings, 4-3 in a shootout at Rexall Place (as the Northlands Coliseum was then known).

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Phoenix Coyotes, 5-3 at the Staples Center (now the Crypto.com Arena) in Los Angeles.

* The San Jose Sharks beat the Philadelphia Flyers, 6-1 at the HP Pavilion at San Jose (now the SAP Center).

* And the Chicago Blackhawks, the St. Louis Blues, the Vancouver Canucks, the Calgary Flames, the Tampa Bay Lightning and the Anaheim Ducks were not scheduled.

And in English soccer, Arsenal played North-East team Newcastle United to a draw, 1-1 at the Emirates Stadium in North London.

October 13, 1923: Nebraska's Memorial Stadium Opens

October 13, 1923: Memorial Stadium opens on the campus of the University of Nebraska in Lincoln. The Cornhuskers are not yet arch-rivals with the University of Oklahoma, but that's who they play in the 1st game, and they beat the Sooners 24-0. A week later, Oklahoma opened its own Memorial Stadium.

From 1909 to 1922, the 'Huskers had played at Nebraska Field. Their new stadium originally seated 31,080. In 1962, with Bob Devaney as head coach, they got good, and began a streak of selling out that lasted through the 2019 season. Due to the COVID restrictions of 2020, the NCAA recognizes the streak as still being intact as of October 13, 2022.

Because of the team's success, the stadium was expanded to 64,000 in 1967, 73,000 in 1972, 74,000 in 1999, 81,000 in 2006, and 87,000 in 2013. Subsequently, wider seats were installed, and by 2017, capacity was reduced to 85,458. Every seat is still filled, known as "The Sea of Red." The field was concerted to artificial turf in 1970, was renamed for coach Tom Osborne in 1998, and since 1999 has been FieldTurf.

Since moving in, Nebraska have won 30 Conference Championships: 1923 in the Missouri Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Association; in the league alternately known as the Big Six, the Big Seven and the Big Eight, in 1928, '29, '31, '32, '33, '35, '36, '37 and '40, '63, '64, '65, '66, '69, '70, '71, '72, '75, '78, '81, '82, '83, '84, '88, '91, '92, '93, '94, '95; and in 1997 and '99 in the Big Twelve. They joined the Big Ten in 2011, and have won their Division in 2013, but not the Conference. They were awarded National Championships under Devaney in 1970 and 1971; and under Osborne in 1994, 1995 and 1997.

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October 13, 1923 was a Saturday. Among the other notable college football games played that day were these:

* Notre Dame beat Army, 13-0 at Ebbets Field.

* Navy beat West Virginia Wesleyan, 26-7 at Worden Field in Annapolis, Maryland.

* Columbia beat Wesleyan University, 12-6 at Baker Field (now Wien Stadium) in Upper Manhattan.

* Rutgers beat Lehigh, 10-0 at Neilson Field in New Brunswick, New Jersey

* Princeton beat Georgetown, 17-0 at Palmer Stadium in Princeton, New Jersey.

* Harvard were held to a 6-6 tie by Middlebury College at Harvard Stadium in Boston.

* In a rivalry that would one day be known as the "Backyard Brawl," West Virginia beat the University of Pittsburgh, 13-7 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh.

* Ohio State were held to a 23-23 tie by Colgate at Ohio Stadium in Columbus.

* Unusually, there were 3 North vs. South matchups on this day, all held in the North. Yale beat Georgia, 40-0 at the Yale Bowl in New Haven, Connecticut. Syracuse beat Alabama, 23-0 at Archbold Stadium in Syracuse, New York.

And Michigan beat Vanderbilt, 3-0 at Ferry Field in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Given that each was a major power in its own region, this was a major measuring stick for Southern college football, and the fact that Vandy only lost by 3 points on the road was taken as a good sign.

Game 4 of the World Series was played that day. A 6-run 2nd inning leads the New York Yankees to an 8-4 win over the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds, and ties up the Series. Bob Shawkey was the winning pitcher, and Babe Ruth went 1-for-3 with 2 walks.

Also, Dutch soccer legend Servaas "Faas" Wilkes was born on this day.

September 2, 2017: The 1st Kinnick Wave

September 2, 2017: The University of Iowa, a school with many notable traditions, develops a new one. ESPN called it "college football's coolest new tradition."

The University of Iowa Children's Hospital's new building, opening in 2017, overlooks the East stands of Kinnick Stadium. The new facility includes a top-floor lounge area known as the Press Box Cafe. It has a view of the entire field, allowing patients and their families to see all Iowa home games live, and also includes big-screen TVs to allow them to watch Hawkeyes road games.

A suggestion on a Hawkeyes Facebook fan page, by Iowan Krista Young, led to "The Wave" at Iowa home games. Following the 1st quarter, the crowd faces the hospital and waves at the patients and their families watching the game. The 1st game ended in a 24-3 victory for Iowa over the University of Wyoming.

For the Hawkeyes' 1st night home game of the 2017 season, against Penn State, the fan site where the idea of "The Wave" originated encouraged fans to turn on their cell phone flashlights while they waved to the patients. Penn State won that game, 21-19.

Ever since the humble beginnings of the “Kinnick Wave,” even players on both teams and the on-field game officials join in this heartwarming tradition now.

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September 2, 2017 was a Saturday. These other notable college football games were played that day:

* Number 1 Alabama beat Number 3 Florida State, 24-7 in the 1st football game played at the new Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

* Number 4 University of Southern California (USC) beat Western Michigan, 49-31 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

* Number 5 Clemson beat Kent State, 56-3 at Memorial Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina.

* Number 6 Penn State beat the University of Akron, 52-0 at Beaver Stadium in State College, Pennsylvania.

* Number 7 Oklahoma beat the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), 56-7 at Gaylord Family Memorial Stadium in Norman, Oklahoma.

* Number 11 Michigan beat Number 17 Florida at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Austin, Texas.

* Number 23 Texas were upset by Maryland, 51-41 at Memorial Stadium in Austin, Texas.

* Notre Dame beat Temple, 49-16 at Notre Dame Stadium in South Bend, Indiana.

The day before, Number 8 Washington beat Rutgers, 30-14 at High Point Solutions Stadium (now SHI Stadium) in Piscataway, New Jersey; Number 9 Wisconsin beat Utah State, 59-10 Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin; Army beat Fordham, 64-6 at Michie Stadium in West Point, New York; and Navy beat Florida Atlantic, 42-19 at FAU Stadium in the Miami suburb of Boca Ration, Florida.

The day before that, Number 2 Ohio State beat Indiana, 49-21 at Memorial Stadium in Bloomington, Indiana; and Number 10 Oklahoma State beat the University of Tulsa, 59-24 at Boone Pickens Stadium in Stillwater, Oklahoma.

And these Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-1 at the new Yankee Stadium. Masahiro Tanaka was the winning pitcher. Chase Headley and Matt Holliday hit home runs. Aaron Judge went 0-for-4.

* The New York Mets lost to the Houston Astros, 12-8 at Minute Maid Park (now Daikin Park) in Houston.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-2 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Miami Marlins beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 10-9 at Marlins Park (now LoanDepot Park) in Miami.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds, 5-0 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh. How many Pirate pitchers does it take to pitch a 5-hit shutout? This time, 4: Jameson Taillon (3 hits over 6 innings), A.J. Schugel (2 hits in the 7th), Daniel Hudson (a scoreless 8th) and Felipe Vázquez.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Detroit Tigers, 5-2 at Comerica Park in Detroit.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 5-4 at Guaranteed Rate Field (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Atlanta Braves, 14-12 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Yes, another football score. And, yes, both Chicago teams were at home on the same day.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Minnesota Twins beat the Kansas City Royals, 17-0 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Yes, that's baseball, not football. The Twins scored 4 in the 1st inning, and 6 in the 2nd. They got a home run from Brian Dozier, and 2 of them from Eduardo Escobar, who had 6 RBIs. Joe Mauer went 4-for-4 with 2 RBIs.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Texas Rangers, 7-4 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Jose Leclerc walked the 1st 3 batters in the top of the 10th inning, and that led to the Angels' win.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-2 at Coors Field in Denver.

* The San Diego Padres swept a doubleheader from their arch-rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-5 and 7-2 at Petco Park in San Diego.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 2-1 at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Nick Hundley hit a home run to win it in the bottom of the 10th inning.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics, 7-6 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

May 30, 1879: The 1st College Football Game in the Midwest

The 1879 University of Michigan football team

May 30, 1879: For the 1st time, a college football game is played in the Midwest. The game is played at the home field of the Chicago White Stockings of baseball's National League, the team that will one day be known as the Chicago Cubs. The facility was variously known as the Union Base-Ball Grounds, White-Stocking Park, Lake-Shore Park, Lake Front Park, or just Lake Park. Like the later home of the New York Giants, the Polo Grounds, this facility had a shape that made it much better suited to football than to baseball.

The University of Michigan met Racine College, of Wisconsin, and won 1-0, on a place-kick by David DeTarr. In modern terms, it was a field goal. Under today's rules, the score of the game would have been 3-0.

Racine College was run by the Episcopal Church between 1852 and 1933, when it had to close due to the Great Depression. The DeKoven Foundation took over the campus, and has run various events there ever since.

The University of Michigan, of course, went on to become the first true college football power in the Midwest. In 1896, it was a founding member of the Western Conference, along with the Universities of Chicago, Illinois, Minnesota, and Wisconsin; and Northwestern and Purdue Universities. Indiana University and the University of Iowa joined in 1899, and it was renamed the Big Nine Conference. Ohio State University joined in 1912, and it was renamed the Big Ten Conference.

The University of Chicago dropped football after the 1940 season, and the league was again known as the Big Nine. Michigan State University joined in 1950, and it was again the Big 10. Despite new arrivals, the Big 10 name has stuck.

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May 30, 1879 was a Friday. These National League baseball games were played that day:

* The Chicago White Stockings beat the Boston Red Stockings, 8-0 at the original South End Grounds in Boston. These teams are known today as the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves.

* The Providence Grays beat the Buffalo Bisons, 4-0 at the Messer Street Grounds in Providence, Rhode Island. The Grays won the NL Pennant in 1879, and did so again in 1884. Yet, after just 1 more season, the Grays went out of business. The Bisons did, too. As it turned out, they played their last game against each other.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Troy Trojans, 4-2 at the Putnam Grounds in Troy, New York, across the Hudson River from the State capital in Albany. Not the same team as the 1st openly professional team, the 1869-70 Cincinnati Red Stockings, these Reds were charter members of the NL in 1876, but went out of business after this season. In 1882, the American Association was founded, with a new Cincinnati Reds. That team joined the NL in 1892, after the AA folded, and that is the current team with the name.

The Trojans are often said to have moved in 1883, to become the New York Giants. That's not what happened, although the confusion is understandable: The Trojans folded; the Giants, then known as the New York Gothams, took their place in the NL; and 4 Trojan players joined the Gothams.

* And the Syracuse Stars beat the Cleveland Blues, 4-2 at Newell Park in Syracuse, New York. The Stars folded before the end of the season.