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11 months ago
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Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh believes the hostility and contempt the Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes feel for one another is 'manufactured' to expose student-athletes.
'I'm not going to go as far as to say contrived, but it is hyped up to no ends,' Harbaugh said Monday. 'And these are student-athletes that are young kids, young adults, that are playing this game.'
'And all we ask them to do is go out there and play the very best,' Harbaugh continued. 'I think that it's very manufactured for the TV show that people want to watch and see.'
Harbaugh describing the Big Ten Conference's signature rivalry as closer to 'The Hunger Games' than reality comes after 119 meetings between the schools on the gridiron alone.
The teams first met in 1897 and played annually from 1918 through 2019. The game amid the height of the coronavirus matchup in 2020 was canceled. The Wolverines and Buckeyes have met every year since.
Michigan head football coach Jim Harbaugh says the hatred with Ohio State is 'manufactured'
Every edition of the Ohio State-Michigan game since 1934 has taken place in the later half of November, giving the rivalry an annual contest that has a massive say in the entire college football landscape.
For example, this year's matchup featured No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Michigan, where the victor would clinch a place in the Big Ten Championship, and a direct path to the College Football Playoff.
The loser wouldn't play in the conference championship and would likely have any national championship aspirations dashed. Michigan's 30-24 victory was its third straight in the series.
Harbaugh wasn't at the latest edition of the showdown on Saturday, as he was finishing his three-game suspension handed down as a result of Michigan's entanglement in a sign-stealing scandal.
The alleged sign-stealing involved in-person scouting of opponents, some dating back three seasons, which isn't allowed under NCAA rules.
Both Michigan and the Big Ten Conference have been investigating the claims into cheating, all while the Wolverines' possible-national-championship season continues.
Harbaugh played in the game three times and has been the Wolverines coach for the last eight
Harbaugh has denied any wrongdoing of scouting opponents within his program, yet Big Ten Commissioner Tony Petitti didn't wait for any official ruling to hand down a three-game suspension.
Harbaugh's return to the sidelines for the first time since Nov. 4 will be in the conference championship game against Iowa.
Instead of talking only about the Hawkeyes on Monday, Harbaugh delivered his point about the propped-up, WWE-style animosity between Michigan and Ohio State.
'It's not healthy. It's not healthy for the student-athletes on either side when you're trying to put that much [pressure],' Harbaugh said. 'That somebody's practically thinking it's life or death... I would say it's not healthy for the young people.'
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