ESPN's Dan Wetzel Has A Wild Take On The Ohio State-Michigan Rivalry

It's the greatest rivalry in sports. Perhaps the Chicago Bears and Green Bay Packers might have an argument, and the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox would like to get a word in. Nothing has the pressure, stakes, and hatred of the Ohio State and Michigan rivalry, though.

"The Game", as it's known, is a heated contest for the neutral fan tuning in to watch, let alone for the players, coaches, and fans on both sidelines.

It's intense, it's long-standing, and that fire is likely to never go away. And that's what makes it so great. It's everything we love about sports.

ESPN talking head Dan Wetzel recently revealed a wild take, though, and that's that he feels folks on the Ohio State side of things take this rivalry a bit too far.

After all, the Buckeyes won the national championship this past season, but they're still smarting about losing four straight to Michigan.

“I think often, the number of people who called into the various radio shows immediately after the Michigan game and prior to the first playoff game against Tennessee, called and said, ‘I don’t care about the playoff. I don’t care if we win the national championship. I would rather go 1-11 and beat that school up north.’ I’ll bet that’s not how they really felt that night after they beat Notre Dame and raised the big trophy," Wetzel said on a recent episode of "The College GameDay Podcast" (h/t On3).

Wetzel went on to admit that beating your rivals is huge in college football. Heck, it's one of the most important things you can do in sports. Nobody knows that better than Ohio State head coach Ryan Day. He's 70-10 overall at OSU with a national championship ring under his belt, but his 1-4 record against the Wolverines constantly hangs over his head.

As far as how Wetzel sees it, though, he thinks OSU got too wrapped up in things last season.

"Last year, they [took] this thing too seriously. The team up north. We won’t say Michigan … Crossing out the M’s on campus. If you walk around Ohio State’s campus the week of the Michigan game, it is crazy … Ryan Day last year, before this game, said losing to Michigan, and I’m paraphrasing, it was, you know, as painful as the death of his father, like this thing needed to be relaxed. I think it just became overwhelming of late."

Interestingly, Wetzel believes Michigan has more of a grasp on the rivalry. Perhaps that's because the Wolverines have been on the winning side of things as of late, which has relieved some of the immense pressure that both sides feel.

"I think Michigan has had a better understanding of it. They’re not afraid to say the word Ohio. It’s okay, right? They take it very seriously. They want to win, but I don’t think anybody was just going to, you know, pass out if they didn’t do it," Wetzel said.

While it is an interesting take, if Ohio State didn't play with passion against the Wolverines, their losing streak would be much larger than four.

Wetzel believes that passion has hurt the Buckeyes, though. It's an interesting dichotomy.

"I thought the intensity of that game had gotten overwhelming, and that’s probably why they lost the game," he said.