ABC Sports: FBS 1978: Michigan Wolverines @ Columbus Buckeyes: Highlights

Source:ABC Sports- the 1978 version of the game in the Big 10 Conference.

"The final game of the ten year war.  Sadly, the cameras didn't catch Woody Hayes punching himself in the final minutes.  But at least they caught him punching the Clemson player in the Gator Bowl the next month.

Game played on November 25, 1978 in Columbus." 

From Wolverine Historian

If there is such a thing as a Super Bowl in division 1 college football, at least during the regular season, it's the Michigan Wolverines-Columbus Buckeyes (as I call them) game. Before conference championship games that didn't even start until the early 1990s, this was the closest thing that we had in American, division 1 college football. It seemed like every year during the 1970s, this game decided who would win the Big 10 Conference and play in the Rose Bowl that season.

HBO Sports: Michigan Wolverines-Ohio State Buckeyes: The Rivalry (2007)

Source:HBO Sports- documentary about the big game in the Big 10.

"One of the greatest rivalries in all of sports--Michigan vs. Ohio State in college football--is examined in this documentary. Featuring interviews with well-known grads, players and coaches (including the late Bo Schembechler, in his final interview) along with rare footage, the film chronicles every aspect of this amazing annual clash that began 110 years ago." 

From HBO 

"Michigan & OSU Rivalry" 

Source:Andrew Domachowski- The Michigan-OSU game I believe from 2006.

From Andrew Domachowski

When you are talking about the greatest rivalries in sports and what are the best rivalries and what makes a great rivalry, you have to know that rivalries are between good, if not great teams and that most of the time if not every time they play each other the game has a lot of meaning. That it's very important to the teams and their fans, but also important to the league and sport they play in. Great rivalries aren't between bad teams or even mediocre team, because when those teams play each other, those games just aren't very important. 

So when you talk about the Michigan-Ohio State Rivalry (or as I call Ohio State, Columbus Ohio, because thats where they play and represent) and you are familiar with these two great football programs, the two most dominant programs in the Big 10 Conference and two of the most dominant football programs in Major League College Football. And that when they play each other, it's almost always to see who will represent the Big 10 in the Rose Bowl and who will have a shot at playing for the National Championship. As well as who'll win the Big 10. The Michigan-Columbus game is almost always a championship game.

This is just one reason why this is such a great rivalry but shouldn't that be enough to call Michigan-Ohio the greatest rivalry in football. Do I really need to expand on that, I'm going to just because there is plenty more that deserves to be mentioned. 

Let's talk regional rivalry, sort of like when the Philadelphia Eagles play the New York Giants. The Michigan Wolverines essentially represent the Detroit area, a large Metropolitan Area of 5M people or so. They come from Anne Arbor which is just outside of Detroit. and about 200 miles south of Anne Arbor, is Columbus, Ohio, where the Buckeyes come from. The biggest city in Ohio (and no, the biggest city in Ohio is not Cleveland) you are talking about a rivalry, thats a border state rivalry, Michigan and Ohio, two of the biggest states in the union. 

Michigan vs Ohio State, is not a Indiana-Notre Dame in football, where the winner of that game has either just won the closest thing that they'll see it a bowl game that season, or just another game on their schedule. Michigan-Ohio state is championship football between two programs that respect each other, but also hate the hell out of each other and almost always bring their best against each other.