SEAN ROMAN ON: Ohio - State Michigan - Recent History

Over the 2010 college football season the Big Ten Conference has produced three teams that can beat any team in the country. Nevertheless, I think the story of last decade in the Big Ten is Ohio State’s dominance in “The Game.”

Since Jim Tressel took over in 2001, he has compiled an outstanding 8-1 record against the Wolverines. The most recent installment left Michigan crushed 37-7.

Let it not be forgotten, as we head into endless BCS banter, that Rich Rodriguez has lost three straight games to Ohio State. While Ohio State’s dominance is likely to continue for the foreseeable future, it will likely not be against Rodriquez.

Michigan fans are demanding a coach akin to Ohio State Coach Jim Tressel, who understands the nature and power of this rivalry. Michigan will be looking for such a person this offseason.

It is largely forgotten outside of the state of Ohio, but when Tressel was announced as the new coach, he gave the perfect speech for the moment. He addressed the student body on a cold January day, during halftime of a basketball game against…..imaginary drum roll please…..the Michigan Wolverines.

Tressel told the capacity crowd: “I can assure you that you will be proud of our young people, in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan on the football field.”

And yes….Ohio State won the 2001 contest by holding off a furious Michigan comeback attempt. This was Ohio State’s first win in Ann Arbor since 1987 -- which was the year that a Simpsons cartoon first appeared on the Tracy Ullman Show.

At present, the officials who make the important decisions at Michigan are refusing to speculate on their coach’s future. Instead they say, with a collective poker face, that they are waiting until after the bowl season to make their decision, as they “evaluate” Rodriguez’s body of work.

Let me briefly do that for the high and mighty in the ivory towers at Michigan. The bottom line is, three straight losses to Ohio State can not be countenanced. Just as bad is that Rich’s 2008 team finished with the worst record in program history, 3-9

Conversely, a quick look back at Tressel’s resume highlights why his tenure appears safe at Ohio State at least until…perhaps…..the next ice age. In 2002, Ohio State beat Michigan again in a 14-9 game decided on the final play – an interception in the end zone by Will Allen. If memory serves correct, the Buckeyes then went on to beat Miami in a game much less significant.

In 2003, Tressel suffered his only loss to the Wolverines (then led by Lloyd Carr), 35-21. After two more Ohio State victories in 2004 and 2005, the teams met in 2006 when they were universally ranked #1 (Ohio State) and #2 (Michigan). This game lived up to its billing as “The Game of the Century,” with Ohio State winning 42-39.

This would have been the BCS’s one real chance to make an Ohio State – Michigan game a reality in the nation’s premiere college football game. As you should know, Ohio State and Michigan usually play the Saturday before Thanksgiving in their final regular season game. The 2006 game was so fierce and tight, that college football fans lost out on the greatest chance they would ever have for the rematch of the ages.

The following year, 2007, came one of Michigan’s all time low points. The Wolverines, ranked at #5, lost to Appalachian State, 34-32. That loss probably led to Lloyd Carr leaving at the end of the season, and Michigan trying to go in a different direction offensively with Rich-Rod.

If Michigan does not get back to basics, I think that we just may be a mere 13 years from Ohio State tying Michigan in their head to head battle. As it stands now, Michigan is leading the series 57-44, with 6 ties.