30 Reasons for 30 Days - Day 17: Because of our Rivals in the B1G East (Part III)

From now through September 3rd, I am posting a daily reason why it is great to be a fan of Rutgers football. There are a lot more than thirty, but I picked my thirty reasons, and hope you like them. If not, be sure to let me know. For the last couple of days, I have focused on the schools we face in the Eastern Division of the Big Ten. Today we look at the last of the schools, Ohio State and Michigan.

Part III: Ohio State and Michigan

Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Ohio State. Nothing else is really needed to be said. The Ohio State University football team is one of the most storied in all of sport. I mean, the accolades can go on all day. Eight National Championships (the most recent in 2014), 38 Big Ten Conference Championships, 46 Bowl games, 875 total wins, and has been in the AP Top 25 more than any other team in collegiate history. Wow.

Photo by Rich Schultz /Getty Images

Buckeye fans are omnipresent. People who have never even BEEN to Ohio consider themselves diehard fans of tOSU. It is something that transcends college. There are only a handful of teams nationwide that have that have that reputation. Ohio State is among the top two or three with that brand. Who are others? Well, you will always get disagreement on that (particularly if you don’t like the schools) but some of them include Notre Dame, Alabama, Clemson, Texas, USC, and of course, the yang to the Buckeye yin, Michigan.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Of course, Buckeye fans HATE being mentioned in the same breath as the Michigan Wolverines. These two schools have a hatred that goes far beyond football, and goes to an actual war that took place between the two states back in the 1830s called The Toledo War. Imagine anyone fighting over Toledo today?!? This actually continued until finally settled by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973! Well, the fighting today is strictly confined to the gridiron, with the exception of a few inebriated fans each year.

They are among the most storied teams in sport. Michigan has stats that measure up to the ones above. Eleven National Championships, 42 Big Ten Conference Championships, 44 Bowl games, 925 total wins, and has been in the AP Top 25 more than any other team in collegiate history, with the EXCEPTION of Ohio State.

Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Rutgers now gets to play them both every year. If you want to measure yourself up against the best, there isn’t a better way of doing it than matching yourself against the toughest teams in the country. Well, as some trolls have said, be careful what you have asked for.

However, it is a pretty special thing to be able to be in the same division of the conference with Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, and Penn State. It’s a heck of a thing, and a yet another reason why it is great to be a Rutgers football fan!