The days of Ohio State dominating the heated rivalry with Michigan are over, and it’s the Wolverines who have been the victors in three straight contests from 2021-23. During that same three year stretch, Michigan has won three consecutive outright Big Ten Championships, made three straight appearances in the College Football Playoff, and captured a National Championship in 2023.
While Michigan fans are still celebrating the incredible on-field success of 2023, Ohio State is celebrating winning the off-season – as evidenced in a recent retweet by the official Twitter (X) account of the football program.
I suppose it makes sense if you’re Ohio State. You can’t really celebrate on-field success when you’ve dropped three straight to Michigan, haven’t won a conference title since the 2020 COVID season, and haven’t won a national championship since 2014. You definitely can’t celebrate your last bowl game matchup, which resulted in a 14-3 loss to Missouri.
To be fair, Ohio State has definitely had a pretty good off-season. The Buckeyes signed the No. 5 ranked recruiting class according to 247Sports, and also landed several big-time prospects out of the transfer portal – including Caleb Downs (Alabama DB), Julian Sayin (Alabama, QB), and Will Howard (Kansas State, DB). Nine defensive starters announced they’re returning in 2024, and the Buckeye offense should have plenty of firepower with guys like RB TreVeyon Henderson and WR Emeka Egbuka back in the fold.
With so much hype surrounding OSU’s early off-season and the rivalry returning back to Columbus this fall, there’s no question that all of the pressure is on Ryan Day and the Buckeyes to change the narrative against Michigan in 2024.
