Wolverine Digest

Former Michigan star says he'd trade 10 losses to Ohio State for one National Championship

Former Michigan tight end Jake Butt says he'd trade 10 straight losses to Ohio State for one National Championship.

Chris Breiler

Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
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There's no question that Jake Butt is universally loved within the Michigan fan base, but his latest take my raise some eyebrows among the Maize and Blue faithful.

During a recent segment on the Big Ten Network, Butt was asked how many consecutive losses to Ohio State he would trade for one National Championship. His answer? 10.

"There's an emotional side and a logical side. Emotional side would say, you know, I'd always take a win over Ohio State. That's the rival, that's the emotional side. And there's some truth to it. But the logical side is the National Championship is a whole different level. When you win a National Championship, and when you think of the season, if you win a National Championship, nothing else really matters. Like the headline, the first paragraph, the first chapter, nothing matters. All the way is about the national title, so you'd trade as many as it takes in order to get the national title."

Michigan Football
Greg Bartram-Imagn Images

Although Michigan fans will certainly agree that winning a national championship is one of the highest priorities in college football, there are plenty within the fan base who are perfectly content with trading that title for a win over Ohio State every single year. Butt's assessment seems to bolster the argument made my Buckeye fans that 2024's loss to Michigan didn't matter because the end result was ultimately a national championship for Ohio State.

Butt, who never experienced a win over the Buckeyes during his four years in Ann Arbor, did admit that losing to Ohio State was incredibly difficult. But even for as hard as that was, he says he'd be willing to trade 10 consecutive losses to the Buckeyes for one natty.

"But my goodness, yeah. Losing to them, you know, four straight for me. And there was a couple of close ones, I think it was over a decade, right? It was 2011 before Michigan beat them again in 2021. That seems to be about the maximum you'd take right there. Ten years of losses for a national title."

You can see Butt's full response to the question below:

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Chris Breiler
CHRIS BREILER

Christopher Breiler launched Winged Helmet Media and began covering the Michigan Football program in an unofficial capacity in 2017. He then joined Wolverine Digest as part of the FanNation network in 2021 as a contributing writer, where he served as both a writer and a photographer on game days. In 2024, he took over as the Managing Editor for Michigan Wolverines On SI. His love for Michigan Football brought him into the industry, and his passion for being a content creator has led to some amazing experiences along the way.

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