Why We Need the Maize and Blue to Get Good Again

Dave Thurman (9:27 am)

It's Michigan week!  Call them what you will—scUM, Meatchicken, the ugly helmets, or, that school up north—the fact is we need them to get good again.  Say what?  You heard me right! We need our chief rivals to recapture their mojo and start playing like a big time program.

Before you dismiss me as crazy allow me to explain.  We need Michigan to regain their swagger for the following reasons:

1) To reinstate the rivalry to its rightful position as the best in college sports —Many sportswriters have gone on record saying that Ohio
State-Michigan is the greatest rivalry in sports (ESPN recently ranked it No. 1 among all rivalries—college and pro!)  But if the Bucks keep winning every year, and if there are more 42-7 games, then the contest will lose a great deal of its relevance and might go the way of Army-Navy or the Packers-Bears. 

2) To help the Big Ten restore its luster and silence the critics —Has any conference been under fire as much the past few years as the Big Ten?  We (and I use that word as a lifelong Big Ten fan) have a black eye right now and even a healthy dose of Tammy Faye Baker's makeup can't cover it up.  What is needed are some victories over highly ranked opponents.  But as long as Michigan is down and Penn State mediocre, then there's little hope of the conference impressing the nation or winning a majority of its bowl games.  The last time people spoke Of the Big Ten with awe and respect was 2006, when No. 1 Ohio State met No. 2 Michigan.  We need more of those "gold old days."

3) To force Tressel and company to take it up a notch —Everyone seems upset with the conservative "play not to lose" philosophy of the Sweater Vest.  But why change when you can win the Big Ten year after year and reach BCS bowl games with your present system?  That 42-39 victory in "the game" back on November 23, 2006, was far from conservative as the play calling was wide open.  When you have to open it up to win, its amazing what happens.   And when your chief rival is doing a great job recruiting five star talent, and winning lots of games, you can't afford to rest on your laurels.  I contend that the coaching staff will work a little harder when Michigan returns to form. 

4) To help the Bucks reach another national championship game —That's right.  Let's say we had defeated Purdue (like we should have) and then came into this game with only one loss.  Would we have a chance to beat Michigan and be rewarded with a ticket to Pasadnea for the BCS National Championship Game?  No way.  But if Michigan were ranked in the top ten, and considered a top notch team, then a victory over them might just secure the needed votes.  Right now the only chance to get to the big game is to go undefeated, and we all know how difficult that is. 

So, when the Maize and Blue get back to their accustomed spot as a national power, it will really benefit the Buckeyes.  Go figure!  We need to actually root for good old scUM to rise from the dead.