Ohio State and Michigan: Two Rivals, Two Very Different Roads
ARLINGTON, Texas - As the calendar flips to the final day of the year, two of college football’s most storied programs take the field in bowl games that couldn’t feel more different. Ohio State is marching into the College Football Playoff with a clear sense of purpose. Michigan, meanwhile, is walking into the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl with more questions than answers - and a cloud of uncertainty hanging over a program that not long ago looked like it had finally turned the corner.
Let’s be honest: neither Michigan nor Texas, their opponent in Orlando, is thrilled to be playing in this game. Both had bigger goals, and both fell short. But for the Wolverines, this bowl trip feels less like a detour and more like a reckoning.
The Fallout of a Rivalry
Michigan’s season came to a screeching halt in Week 14, courtesy of the Buckeyes. That loss didn’t just knock them out of the playoff picture - it marked the end of what was supposed to be a foundational year under Sherrone Moore.
With Bryce Underwood under center and a talented young core gaining valuable reps, the Wolverines had the pieces in place to build something special. Instead, they’re left picking up the pieces.
The final image of Moore on the field - being told by Ryan Day to get his players off the turf rather than defend the "Block M" - was symbolic in more ways than one. It wasn’t just the end of a game.
It was the end of an era. Less than two weeks later, Moore was out - not because of what happened on the field, but due to off-field issues that have only deepened the cracks in Ann Arbor.
Day, for all the heat he’s taken for his record in The Game (2-4), now stands at the helm of a program that looks remarkably stable. Ohio State has weathered its storms.
Michigan, on the other hand, is trying to keep the ship afloat while Kyle Whittingham steps in as a temporary fix. It’s a stopgap move, not a solution - and that says everything about where the two programs are headed.
A Five-Year Swing
To understand how we got here, you have to go back five years. In 2020, Jim Harbaugh finally broke through after a decade of frustration. He took his shots at Day, basked in the rivalry win, and seemed to have reasserted Michigan’s place atop the Big Ten.
But then came the Connor Stalions sign-stealing scandal - a controversy that cast a long shadow over the second half of the Harbaugh era. Combine that with a string of off-field missteps and administrative mismanagement, and suddenly the program that once looked like it had regained its footing now feels like it’s backsliding fast.
Ohio State, meanwhile, took its lumps. Day’s lowest moment came just a year ago, following a string of losses to Michigan that had fans and pundits questioning whether he was the right man for the job.
But he responded - not with talk, but with results. The Buckeyes are back in the playoff, playing meaningful football when it matters most.
The Present Reflects the Path
Today, the contrast couldn’t be clearer. Ohio State is competing for a national title.
Michigan is playing for closure. One program is looking ahead, the other is looking inward.
And while Michigan technically owned the rivalry in the early 2020s - going 4-1 and avoiding a likely loss in the canceled 2020 game - the broader picture tells a different story.
The Wolverines may have won the battles on the field, but the Buckeyes appear to be winning the war for long-term stability and success. The difference?
Ohio State used its setbacks as fuel for growth. Michigan, in chasing glory, flew too close to the sun - and now it’s dealing with the burn.
A Defining Moment
This Citrus Bowl isn’t just another postseason game for Michigan. It’s a moment of reckoning.
The program is in flux, its leadership uncertain, and its identity unclear. Whittingham may provide a steady hand in the short term, but the long-term vision remains murky.
Meanwhile, Ohio State is moving with purpose. The Buckeyes have found their footing again, and they’re not just surviving - they’re thriving.
So as both teams take the field on New Year’s Eve, they may be playing on the same day, but they’re not playing for the same things. One is chasing a championship. The other is chasing a reset.
And that, more than any scoreboard or stat line, tells you everything you need to know about where this rivalry stands today.