Ohio State-Michigan, pure hatred and the apex of the greatest rivalry

Jim Harbaugh was asked at his news conference earlier this week if he respects Ryan Day and his staff. Harbaugh, as he often does when asked something that makes him uncomfortable, hesitated before dodging the question.

“It’s all about our preparation for Ohio,” Harbaugh said. “The days, the minutes, the hours, everything leading up to this game, that’s where our focus is. Preparing ourselves and planning, gonna practice and then execute. Anything else is irrelevant when you get to this kind of big game.”

Ryan Day was asked something similar a day later. He, too, wasn’t interested in giving an honest answer.

“With everything going on and the things that are out there, we’ve kind of just stayed away from all the distractions and have just kind of focused on our team,” he said. “I think our guys have done a good job of it. … I’ve talked to them a couple times about what’s gone on this season, going into the game, but they’re focused on this game. They are focused on this season.”

Writing a column right now and have a question: Is this the best/most hyped Ohio State-Michigan game … ever?

Four years ago, after Ohio State’s 56-27 win over Michigan in Ann Arbor in Day’s first year as the Buckeyes coach, the rivalry seemed dead because Urban Meyer killed it. Meyer was no longer Ohio State’s coach, but the foundation of what he built carried over into the Day era and the Buckeyes stomped the Wolverines. The Game was lopsided, the recruiting results were lopsided and Ohio State was more concerned with Clemson than it was about its most bitter rival.

But the rivalry wasn’t dead. It turns out, it cannot be killed.

And if you’re looking for something to be thankful for on Thursday, how about this? The greatest rivalry in the sport, one that was on life support less than five years ago, isn’t only back. It’s better than ever.

After Harbaugh beat Ohio State for the first time, in 2021, he said in the postgame news conference that “some people are born on third base and act like they’ve hit a triple,” referring to Day’s status as the Buckeyes coach. A public shot at your rival’s head coach and everything he’s accomplished in his career? There’s no coming back from that.

Of course, Harbaugh later went on to say the comment was a counterpunch to Day, who reportedly said he’d “hang 100” on Michigan during a dispute on a Big Ten coaches teleconference. Alas, the motivation for that isn’t really important anymore. That’s not a comment you can just shrug off.