Reporter Claims Penn State - Not Michigan - Is Greatest Threat To Ohio State
If there's one thing you would have thought that the good folks down in Columbus would have learned after 2021, it's that the Michigan Wolverines are done playing the role of doormat to the Ohio State Buckeyes.
In one of the most dominant performances against Ohio State in well over two decades, the Wolverines spent the better part of the afternoon slapping around their archnemesis in front of 110,000 plus inside of the Big House - cruising to a 42-27 victory. The win on Nov. 27 would place Michigan in Indianapolis for the Big Ten Championship game and eventually lead to the program's 43rd conference championship, more than any other program in the conference.
As Michigan enters the 2022 season as the defending champions, you would like that the folks in Columbus would be keenly aware that Michigan poses the greatest threat to Ohio State's championship hopes and longstanding dominance within the conference.. In previous cases where Michigan could only lean on incredible facilities, moral victories and academic achievements, the Wolverines can now present big-time recruits with the most important recruiting tool programs have at their disposal - the hardware.
Even with a devastating loss to the Wolverines and the fact that Michigan captured the conference championship as a result, at least one reporter in Columbus doesn't view the Wolverines as much of a threat. In fact, he claims that its Penn State - not Michigan - that poses the greatest threat to the Buckeyes moving forward.
Yes, I'm serious.
Here's just a bit of what Buckeyes reporter Austin Ward had to say:
Penn State is certainly a notch below Michigan when it comes to being labeled a rivalry, and that’s not going to change. But when it comes to the most competitive series and establishing which program is truly the biggest threat to Ohio State’s reign of dominance in the Big Ten, the Nittany Lions have clearly surpassed the Wolverines.
The bragging rights and Gold Pants might be what the Buckeyes want to win most every year. But if they’re going to keep wearing the conference crown or earn another spot in the College Football Playoff, the team they need to beat most is Penn State.
Sure, he makes a fair point that the Nittany Lions have put up more of a fight that the Wolverines over the last decade, but this is also a 'what have you done for me lately' world - and the reality is that Michigan currently runs the Big Ten conference. That's one of the perks that comes along with being the defending conference champion.
From there, Ward's article closes out with a statement that was clearly written through Scarlet and Grey glasses - implying that Ohio State owns the conference and that Penn State has somehow taken over the second spot from presumably Michigan.
And while Penn State might be the third wheel in the rivalry discussion, there’s really no doubt that it has taken over the second spot in the Big Ten pecking order.
There's certainly a pecking order when it comes to the Big Ten Conference, but it doesn't look the way it did prior to 2021. It's clear that some folks in Columbus are still struggling to come to terms with that.
