Ohio State football: Ranking the best recent games of the (real) rivalry series

This column will be greeted as sacrilege in some quarters. Yes, everyone knows about the (purported) rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State, with the game that will be played on the last weekend of the regular season.

But here’s the thing– that’s not Ohio State’s biggest current rivalry. That’s the game this Saturday. Michigan State is the biggest rival of OSU.

OSU has won 15 of the last 16 games against a perennially beleaguered Wolverines program that has generally had Jim Harbaugh barely hanging on to his job. Sure, the Buckeyes have 5 in a row over the Spartans. But here’s a quick ranking of some of the biggest OSU/MSU games of the past decade. Michigan doesn’t stack up.

5. 2012: OSU 17, MSU 16

In Urban Meyer’s first season in Columbus, his first ranked opponent was … Michigan State. The Spartans had beaten the Buckeyes the season before for the first time since 1999. A key Braxton Miller to Devin Smith touchdown pass gave the Buckeyes a lead they would narrowly hold. The win helped OSU have a 12-0 season with Meyer’s first Buckeyes squad. It also marks the start of the back-and-forth that would typify the next few years.

4. 2016: OSU 17, MSU 16

A year after ruining Ohio State’s national title hopes in an upset, an awful MSU team hosted the Buckeyes and nearly ruined another season. MSU hung around all day, and after pulling within 17-16 on a TD run with 4:41 to play, the Spartans went for 2. They missed and OSU escaped, but there was more suspense in this game than in any of the UM/OSU games since.

3. 2015: MSU 17, OSU 14

An undefeated, No. 3 ranked OSU team had rarely been challenged in 2015 before hosting Michigan State in the next-to-last week of the regular season. OSU had a 14-7 lead in the third quarter and MSU had a special teams meltdown … but then rose from the ashes to kick a 41-yard field goal on the last play to knock OSU out of the CFP. Instead, Sparty went to the Playoff.

2. 2013: MSU 34, OSU 24 (B1G title)

This one isn’t likely to be repeated, but in the final B1G title game under the Legends vs. Leaders format, OSU and MSU met for the conference title. It was even bigger as No. 2 Ohio State probably would have made the BCS title game with a win. Instead, Michigan State ended the Buckeyes’ 24-game winning streak with a 34-24 upset win.

1. 2014: OSU 49, MSU 37

At the time of this game, MSU seemed like the possible Playoff team. The Spartans were No. 7 and hosted the No. 13 Buckeyes. But Ohio State’s win here gained revenge for the prior year’s Big Ten title game, knocked the Spartans down a notch, and began Ohio State’s unlikely run to the No. 4 spot in the first-ever College Football Playoff, from which the Buckeyes won the title.

And the current edition?

It’s 2 top-10 teams meeting at high noon (ET) on Saturday, with massive CFP implications for both teams. It looks certain to rank no worse than 4th on this list, and could end up as the biggest game of the bunch. Admittedly, the last 4 games in the series haven’t been very competitive. But if you’re talking about anybody in the Big Ten having any kind of rivalry with Ohio State, forget Michigan and move on to MSU. And the next round could be just beginning to heat up.

Joe Cox

Veteran college writer Joe Cox covers Ohio State and college basketball for Saturday Tradition.