Wolverines’ decline affects entire Big Ten Conference

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By Marc Pendleton, Staff Writer 10:07 PM Thursday, November 19, 2009

Healthy rivalries are a good thing.

When Walgreens under-prices CVS, we all win. Pick your dollar menu from McDonald’s, Burger King or Wendy’s. Again, we all win.

The user-friendly leap to sports rivalries is easy. How, then, to explain the sudden demise of the University of Michigan football program?

Unless the Wolverines undergo a big shot of competitiveness prior to a Saturday, Nov. 21, noon kickoff with visiting Ohio State, what once was one of the nation’s best college football rivalries is threatening to unravel. And that’s not a good thing.

Many Buckeyes Believers wouldn’t mind if that school up north faded into the Big Ten abyss. All you have to do is think back to the 1967 season when the Wolverines were a not-so-competitive 4-6. They lost 50-14 at OSU the next season.

And who among us doesn’t recall the 1969 season’s OSU-Michigan game? All that did was bookmark the resurgence of Wolverines football and, ironically, stamp the decline of that state’s previous college power, Michigan State.

We all know that history repeats itself. There’s no reason to think the Buckeyes will lay an embarrassing egg at Ann Arbor. But it has happened. At some point Michigan football will right itself. That would make an already competitive league that much better.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2381 or mpendleton@DaytonDailyNews.com.

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