The Game for The Trophy: Can you imagine?
Smith remembers the last time the stakes were this high. Sixteen years ago, “the energy was different,” he recalls. Without a conference title game or a four-team playoff, “the stakes were at an all-time high.”
He’s not the only one. To a man, every Buckeye and Wolverine interviewed for this story believes that an OSU-Michigan championship game would add to the rivalry’s stakes. Part of The Game’s charm is that it only happens once per season, and the winner gets bragging rights for an entire offseason. But this sequel raises the ante – and the trash talk.
“Only so we can see the rematch,” Togiai said. “I wouldn’t even say I’m rooting for them, I’d just like to see them again.” Only one team can hold a national title over their hated rival. And after that, nobody cares what happened before.