Michigan – Ohio State football rivalry The Michigan – Ohio State football rivalry , known as The Game by some followers , is an American college football rivalry game played annually by the Wolverines of the University of Michigan and the Buckeyes of The Ohio State University . It has attracted particular national interest over the last four decades as most of the games have determined the Big Ten Conference title and the resulting Rose Bowl match ups , and many have influenced the outcome of the national college football championship . The game was ranked by ESPN in 2000 as the greatest North American sports rivalry . The annual match up between the two Midwest state schools has been held at the end of the regular season since 1935 ( with exceptions in 1942 , 1986 , and 1998 ) . Since 1918 , the game ' s site has alternated between Columbus , Ohio , and Ann Arbor , Michigan ( Michigan hosts it in odd years and Ohio State in even years ) , and has been played in Ohio Stadium since 1922 and Michigan Stadium since 1927 . Through 2010 , Ohio State and Michigan have decided the Big Ten Conference championship between themselves on 22 different occasions , and have affected the determination of the conference title an additional 27 times . Following the Big Ten ' s addition of the University of Nebraska – Lincoln , effective beginning in the 2011 football season , the conference has been split into two six - team divisions . Big Ten officials placed Ohio State and Michigan in separate divisions , but the Michigan – Ohio State rivalry continues to take place at the end of the regular season every year . Conceivably , the teams could thereafter meet again the following week in the Big Ten Football Championship Game . Series history . Early years ( 1897 – 1949 ) . The inaugural meeting between Ohio State and Michigan at Ann Arbor in 1897 resulted in a lopsided victory for Michigan , with the Wolverines posting a 34 – 0 win over Ohio State ' s Buckeyes . the first game foretold a long Michigan winning streak , with Michigan winning or tying every match from 1897 to 1912 and thereby compiling a 12 – 0 – 2 record before the contest was postponed for several years . The Ohio State Alma Mater " Carmen Ohio " was written on the train ride home to Columbus following the 1902 contest , which saw Ohio State losing to Michigan 86 – 0 . The lyrics and melody ( Spanish Chant ) have remained largely unchanged since its conception . Ohio State became a member of the Big Ten Conference in 1912 . In 1917 , Michigan rejoined the conference after a ten year absence . In 1918 , the teams played their first conference matchup , with Michigan prevailing 14 – 0 and lodging its eleventh shutout over the Buckeyes . In 1919 , the Buckeyes ( led by legendary halfback Chic Harley ) won their first game in the series , defeating the Wolverines 13 – 3 . The Buckeyes won the following two contests as well , to bring the series record to 13 – 3 – 2 . Harley ' s prowess spurred the university to campaign to build a stadium for Ohio State football . The stadium was completed in 1922 , and the first of many historic games in Ohio Stadium took place on October 21 , 1922 , the day the stadium was dedicated in Columbus . In front of a record 71 , 000 fans , the Wolverines posted another shutout of the home team Buckeyes , 19 – 0 . According to lore , there was a wager on the outcome of this game , and yellow flowers on a blue background still exist today in the upper part of the stadium ' s rotunda . Michigan won the next five games before OSU picked up the final two victories of the decade . At the end of the 1920s , the series stood at 19 – 5 – 2 in favor of Michigan . Michigan won three of four contests between 1930 and 1933 , claiming the national championship twice . In 1934 , Francis Schmidt came on as the head coach for Ohio State . The team had lost nine of the previous 12 Michigan - OSU contests , and when a reporter asked Schmidt if Ohio State could beat Michigan that year , he replied , " Of course we can win , Michigan puts their pants on one leg at a time just like we do " . The Buckeyes thereupon ran off four straight shutout victories against Michigan , outscoring the Wolverines 112 – 0 from 1934 to 1937 . Schmidt ' s quote spawned an OSU tradition — since 1934 , every Ohio State player receives a gold pants pendant after a victory against Michigan . Michigan won the three games from 1938 to 1940 . The 1940 game , won by Michigan , 40 – 0 , was the benchmark performance of what some consider to be the greatest Michigan team in history , and was the final collegiate game of the legendary tailback tandem of Tom Harmon and Paul Kromer . In 1941 , Michigan and Ohio State met for the first time with each team ranked in the AP Poll , which had started in 1936 . The 14th - ranked Buckeyes played the 5th - ranked Wolverines to a 20 – 20 tie in Ann Arbor . Five more times during the 1940s , the teams were both ranked for their annual matchup . Michigan won five of the next seven games before playing to their second tie of the decade in 1949 . The series record stood at 30 – 12 – 4 at the mid - century mark . " Snow Bowl " and Woody Hayes ( 1950 – 68 ) . One of the more famous games in the rivalry is the 1950 contest , colloquially known as the Snow Bowl . Eighth - ranked Ohio State , coached by Wes Fesler , was scheduled to host the game on November 25 in Columbus amidst one of the worst blizzards on Ohio record . The Buckeyes , who led the Big Ten , were granted the option to cancel the game against Michigan , which would have , by default , given the Buckeyes the Big Ten title outright and won them a trip to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl . Ohio State refused , and the game was set to be played . Amid howling snow and wind , in a famous example of a " field position " game , the teams exchanged 45 punts , often on first down , in hopes that the other team would fumble the ball near or into their own end zone . Ohio State ' s Vic Janowicz , who would claim the Heisman Trophy that year , punted 21 times for 685 yards and also kicked a field goal in the first quarter for the Buckeyes ' only points . Michigan capitalized on two blocked punts , booting one out of the back of the end zone for a safety and recovering another one in the end zone for a touchdown just before halftime . Despite failing to gain a single first down or complete a single forward pass , Michigan gained a 9 – 3 victory , securing the Big Ten title and a Rose Bowl berth . Heavy criticism of Fesler ' s play calling led to his resignation and the hiring of Woody Hayes as his successor . Between 1951 and 1968 under Hayes , the Buckeyes won 12 of 18 contests , including a 1957 victory in Michigan Stadium , the first game in the series attended by over 100 , 000 fans . In 1958 , Ohio State had a 20 – 14 lead towards the end of the game . On the final play , Michigan fullback Gene Sisinyak ran the ball from the one - yard line for what might have been a game winning touchdown , but Ohio State defensive tackle Dick Schafrath hit Sisinyak , forcing a fumble . In the 1968 game , Ohio State won 50 – 14 , outscoring its foe 29 – 0 in the second half and attempting an unsuccessful two - point conversion attempt on its final touchdown . When asked why he went for two points with an already insurmountable 50 – 14 lead , Woody Hayes is rumored to have said , " Because I couldn ' t go for three . " The victory gave top - ranked Ohio State the Big Ten title for the first time in seven years en route to an AP national championship . The Buckeyes had also narrowed the series margin to 37 – 24 – 4 . " Ten - Year War " : Hayes vs . Bo Schembechler ( 1969 – 78 ) . Wolverines coach Bump Elliott resigned after the 1968 loss and Michigan hired Miami ( Ohio ) head coach Bo Schembechler , who had previously been an assistant at Ohio State under Hayes , to revitalize its football program . On November 22 , 1969 , Hayes led his top - ranked Buckeyes into Michigan Stadium to face Schembechler ' s Wolverines in the first matchup between two coaches who would come to define the rivalry between the two programs . The Buckeyes brought a 22 - game winning streak into Ann Arbor , but behind an inspiring 60 - yard punt return by Barry Pierson that set up a Wolverine touchdown in the second quarter , and a defense that intercepted Ohio State six times ( three by Pierson ) , the Wolverines won a defensive battle ( both teams were scoreless in the second half ) for a 24 – 12 upset . The contest was the first in the famous " Ten - Year War " between Hayes and Schembechler , which pitted some of OSU ' s and UM ' s strongest teams against one another . Four times between 1970 and 1975 , Ohio State and Michigan were both ranked in the top five of the AP Poll before their matchup . The Wolverines entered every game during those years undefeated and won only once , a 10 – 7 victory in Ann Arbor on November 20 , 1971 . The Michigan graduating class of 1975 shared or won the Big Ten championship every season , yet went to the Rose Bowl only once , in 1972 . They only lost or tied with Ohio State during the regular season in that period . In 1973 , both teams entered undefeated , with the winner guaranteed a trip to the Rose Bowl . The rivals played to a 10 – 10 tie in Ann Arbor on November 24 , and the athletic directors of the other Big Ten institutions were forced to vote on the Big Ten representative for the bowl game . In a secret ballot , Ohio State won the vote , to the outrage of Michigan athletic officials and fans . Schembechler argued that Michigan was robbed of its on - field achievements , and for months afterward , Ohio State newspapers were flooded with angry Wolverine letters and threats of lawsuits . Woody coined the phrase " That state up north " and " That team up north " , so he would not have to say the word " Michigan " . He was famous for his intense hatred of all things Michigan and according to legend , once refused to get gas in an empty tank , saying : " No , goddammit ! We do NOT pull in and fill up . And I ' ll tell you exactly why we don ' t . It ' s because I don ' t buy one goddam drop of gas in the state of Michigan ! We ' ll coast and PUSH this goddam car to the Ohio line before I give this state a nickel of my money ! " During the " Ten - Year War , " Ohio State and Michigan shared the Big Ten title six times . Between 1976 and 1978 , Michigan won the game each year , and Ohio State failed to score a touchdown in each of those contests . Woody Hayes was fired at the end of the 1978 season after punching an opposing player during the Gator Bowl , which ended the " War . " The 1978 game was won by Michigan , 14 – 3 , giving Schembechler a record of 5 – 4 – 1 against Hayes . At the end of the Hayes tenure , the series stood at 42 – 28 – 5 . The War ' s aftermath : Schembechler vs . Earle Bruce ( 1979 – 87 ) . Earle Bruce took over for Hayes and led the Buckeyes to a 5 – 4 record against Schembechler ' s Wolverines between 1979 and 1987 , perhaps the most balanced stretch of the rivalry , during which neither team won more than two consecutive games . In 1987 , Bruce was fired in the week before the Michigan game due to a poor season record , but was allowed to coach anyway , and the inspired Buckeyes ( each wearing a sweatband labeled " Earle " ) won an upset over the heavily favored Wolverines . After the game , Bo Schembechler told Bruce , " I always mind losing to Ohio State but I didn ' t mind so much today . " After 1987 , the series stood at 46 – 33 – 5 in favor of UM . John Cooper era ( 1988 – 2000 ) . The 13 games during John Cooper ' s tenure as Buckeye coach were dominated by Michigan , as the Wolverines went 10 – 2 – 1 during the stretch . Schembechler coached Michigan through the 1989 season and then turned over the reins to one of his assistants , Gary Moeller , who led the team for five seasons before another longtime Michigan assistant , Lloyd Carr , became the head coach in 1995 . The most notorious matchups of the era took place in 1993 , 1995 , and 1996 , in which Ohio State entered the game each year undefeated . The Buckeyes had a 9 – 0 – 1 record heading into the 1993 game and were looking to claim an outright Big Ten title against a Michigan team that had already lost four times . Michigan receiver Mercury Hayes and running backs Jon Ritchie , Che Foster , and Ed Davis each scored a touchdown as the Wolverines shocked the Buckeyes , 28 – 0 . After the game , Cooper said : " This is one of the most embarrassing games I ' ve ever been involved with . " " They outplayed us on offense , on defense , and in the kicking game . If you ' d told me we would come up here and get beat 28 - 0 , I ' d have probably stayed home . " In 1995 , # 2 Ohio State was led by eventual Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George and future NFL stars Orlando Pace , Terry Glenn , Mike Vrabel , Shawn Springs , and Rickey Dudley . Glenn insisted there wasn ' t anything special about the Wolverines : " Michigan ' s nothing , " he said . Perhaps inspired by this remark , the Wolverines manhandled the Buckeyes at the line of scrimmage from the very first play . Michigan senior running back Tim Biakabutuka amassed 313 yards rushing in Michigan ' s 31 – 23 upset . The Buckeyes had high expectations again entering the 1996 contest . They boasted an unblemished 10 – 0 record and were ranked # 2 in the nation as they entered the finale with 8 – 3 Michigan . When Ohio State jumped to a 9 – 0 halftime lead , the OSU crowd sensed a special finish and perhaps a rise to # 1 . The Wolverines ' defense shut the Buckeyes out in the second half while Brian Griese replaced the struggling Scott Dreisbach and led Michigan to 13 unanswered points and another victory over their rivals , 13 – 9 . The game would turn out to be the Buckeyes ' only loss of the season and ended up costing them a chance at a share of the national championship . In 1997 , Ohio State hoped to return the favor : the 10 – 0 Wolverines sat atop the AP Poll entering their matchup with the 10 – 1 Buckeyes , who were ranked # 4 . Spearheaded by the play of eventual Heisman winner Charles Woodson , who ran a punt back for a touchdown , intercepted a pass in the Ohio State end zone , and caught a 37 - yard pass that set up freshman running back Anthony Thomas ' touchdown run , the Wolverines prevailed , 20 – 14 . The Wolverines then defeated Washington State in the Rose Bowl by a 21 – 16 score , winning their first national championship since 1948 . Ohio State came back with a win in the 1998 contest , but Michigan went on to win in 1999 and 2000 . Senior quarterback Tom Brady hit sophomore receiver Marquise Walker for the game - winning touchdown pass with five minutes to go to for a 24 – 17 victory in 1999 . In the 2000 game , Michigan grabbed a 31 – 12 lead and held on to win , 38 – 26 . Michigan junior quarterback Drew Henson went 14 for 25 passing for 303 yards and three scores and added a touchdown run . At the end of the 2000 season , Cooper was fired . While he consistently fielded strong teams , his 2 – 10 – 1 record against Michigan , including his failure to ever win in Ann Arbor , was , along with disciplinary problems and a losing record in bowl games , a major contributor to his dismissal . Michigan students held a " John Cooper Day " celebration in Ann Arbor on February 10 , 2001 in mock celebration of Cooper ' s record in the rivalry . Enter Jim Tressel ( 2001 – 07 ) . In 2001 , Youngstown State head football coach Jim Tressel took over as Buckeye head coach . Unlike his predecessor John Cooper , Tressel put a special emphasis on the rivalry . In his introductory speech at halftime of a January basketball game , against Michigan , he said " I can assure you that you will be proud of our young people , in the classroom , in the community , and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor , Michigan on the football field . " In his first year , Tressel registered the Buckeyes ' first defeat of the Wolverines in Ann Arbor in 14 years , by a 26 – 20 score . Led by senior running back Jonathan Wells , the Buckeyes raced to a 23 – 0 halftime lead . With Wells out , Michigan mounted a second half comeback that fell just short . The next year , Tressel achieved what Cooper could not : Beating Michigan in consecutive years with a 14 – 9 victory . The game was decided on the last play when defensive back Will Allen intercepted a pass in the end zone as time expired to clinch the victory . The Buckeyes were led by freshman running back Maurice Clarett , who ran for 119 yards and one touchdown . He also had a key reception to set up Maurice Hall ' s game - winning score . The Buckeyes went on to win the national championship that season , as they defeated Miami in the Fiesta Bowl . In 2003 , Michigan struck back and won the 100th meeting between the historical rivals by a score of 35 – 21 in Ann Arbor . Senior running back Chris Perry , a Heisman finalist , had 154 yards rushing and two touchdowns to lead the Wolverines to the victory . Braylon Edwards contributed seven catches for 130 yards and two big touchdowns . The game ' s attendance was 112 , 118 , the largest crowd ever for an NCAA football game . In 2004 , the 6 – 4 Buckeyes defeated the heavily favored 9 – 1 Wolverines , 37 – 21 , behind the leadership of quarterback Troy Smith and true freshmen receiver Ted Ginn , Jr . The Buckeyes added another win in the 2005 game by overcoming a 21 – 12 deficit with less than eight minutes in the game . In the closing minutes of the game , the Buckeye offense scored two touchdowns to claim a 25 – 21 victory . Smith threw for 300 yards and completed 73 % of his passes . Ginn had a game high nine catches for 89 yards . 2006 : # 1 vs . # 2 . On November 18 , 2006 , Ohio State and Michigan met for their annual showdown , each carrying an 11 – 0 record . The day before the epic match up , legendary Michigan coach Bo Schembechler died . For the first time in the history of the rivalry , the two rivals faced off while holding the top two spots in the Bowl Championship Series rankings . Ohio State won the game by a score of 42 – 39 and became the outright Big Ten champion , earning the right to play for a national championship at the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale , Arizona . Michigan struck first blood with a touchdown run by junior running back Mike Hart , but the Buckeyes then scored 21 unanswered points , and at halftime , they were up 28 – 14 . However , the Wolverines weren ' t ready to back down . Thanks to an interception and a fumble recovery by junior defensive tackle Alan Branch , Michigan made it 35 – 31 Ohio State with 14 minutes to go in the fourth quarter . But after appearing to have forced Ohio State into a fourth down situation with six minutes to go , junior outside linebacker Shawn Crable was called for roughing the QB , giving the Buckeyes a fresh set of downs . Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith then passed to Brian Robiskie for a touchdown , increasing the Buckeyes ' lead to 42 – 31 with five minutes remaining in the game . The Wolverines still had fight in them , and after Ohio State was called for pass interference on a failed 4th down attempt , giving Michigan an automatic 1st down , junior quarterback Chad Henne found senior tight end Tyler Ecker for a 16 - yard touchdown with two minutes to go to cut the OSU lead to 42 – 37 . Senior wide receiver Steve Breaston caught the two point conversion to bring the Wolverines within a field goal . Michigan needed to recover the ensuing onside kick , and they failed to do so . The Buckeyes ran out the clock for the victory , and a trip to the BCS national championship game . Troy Smith completed 71 % of his passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns , essentially clinching the Heisman trophy . Ginn caught eight passes for 104 yards and a touchdown . Ohio State running back Antonio Pittman ran for 139 yards on 18 carries for a 7 . 7 yards - per - carry average . Michigan running back Mike Hart carried the ball 23 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns against a stout Buckeye defense . Chad Henne also turned in an excellent performance with 267 yards , two touchdowns , and no turnovers on a 60 % completion percentage . Neither performance was , however , sufficient to turn the tide in favor of the Wolverines . The game was highly touted by ESPN / ABC ( there was even a game countdown clock for a week before kickoff ) and was viewed by the largest television audience for a regular season college football game since 1993 , averaging 21 . 8 million viewers . The victory marked the first time in 43 years that the Buckeyes had won three consecutive games in the series . The game gained even more significance when , on the eve of the meeting , legendary Michigan head coach and former Ohio State assistant coach Bo Schembechler died . Schembechler was honored with a video tribute at Ohio Stadium as well as a moment of silence before kickoff . Half an hour after the game ended , the Ohio Lottery PICK 4 evening drawing was 4 - 2 - 3 - 9 , matching the final score of the game and paying out up to $ 5 , 000 per winner , for a total payout of $ 2 . 2 million . Following the game , there was a chance of a rematch in the BCS title game , but Florida was chosen over Michigan to be Ohio State ' s opponent . Florida ultimately defeated Ohio State for the BCS Championship . Sea change at Michigan ( 2008 – 10 ) . Lloyd Carr retired as coach at Michigan following the 2007 season and another loss to Ohio State . Tressel had compiled a 6 – 1 record against Carr ' s Michigan teams , leaving Carr with a 6 – 7 career record against Ohio State . In December 2007 , Michigan hired West Virginia head coach Rich Rodriguez to take over the football program . Rodriguez , known for his expertise in the spread offense , represented a significant departure from the Wolverines ' traditional offensive style . Furthermore , both Carr and his predecessor Gary Moeller had been apprenticed by the now - legendary Schembechler , and Rodriguez ' s hiring marked the first time in 40 years that a Michigan football team would not be coached by a member of the " Schembechler school . " The 2008 game , Rodriguez ' s first against the Buckeyes , featured an Ohio State team that needed a win to secure at least a share of the Big Ten championship for the fourth straight year . Michigan by contrast entered the game with a 3 – 8 record , having already suffered more losses than in any other season in its history . The Buckeyes posted a 42 – 7 win . OSU scored its largest margin of victory over Michigan since 1968 and pushed its winning streak against the Wolverines to five games , their longest in the rivalry ' s history . Ohio State beat Michigan , 21 – 10 , in the 2009 game to extend their winning streak against Michigan to six games and improve Jim Tressel ' s record versus Michigan to 8 – 1 . Ohio State wore throwback uniform s to commemorate their 1954 national championship team . The 2009 meeting also saw Buckeye guard Justin Boren , who had transferred to Ohio State from Michigan in 2008 , become the third player in school history to play for both teams ( J . T . White and Howard Yerges , Jr . being the others ) and only the second to play for both teams in the rivalry game . In 2010 , Ohio State again prevailed , 37 – 7 . Two schools , two new coaches ( 2011 – present ) . Rodriguez was fired following Michigan ' s 2010 season , ending Michigan ' s flirtation with the spread — and with non - " Michigan Man " coaches . Rodriguez was succeeded by Brady Hoke , who served as Michigan ' s defensive line coach from 1995 to 2002 . Hoke held head coaching positions at Ball State from 2003 to 2008 and San Diego State from 2009 to 2010 before returning to Michigan . In early 2011 , the Ohio State football program came under NCAA investigation for an incident in which several prominent players were discovered to have traded memorabilia for tattoos . Evidence surfaced that Tressel had known about the situation but had not reported it to school compliance officials , and that the abuses were more widespread and longstanding than originally reported . On May 30 , 2011 , Tressel resigned as head coach and former Buckeye player and assistant coach Luke Fickell was appointed interim head coach for the 2011 season . In July 2011 , in response to the ongoing NCAA investigation , Ohio State vacated all wins from the 2010 season , including the win over Michigan . If the vacated wins are not counted , Tressel ' s record versus Michigan stands at 8 – 1 , with a win streak of six . Michigan won the 2011 meeting , 40 – 34 , which was the first between two first - year coaches since the 1929 match - up of Harry Kipke and Sam Willaman . The Wolverines were led by junior quarterback Denard Robinson who accounted for 337 total yards rushing and passing , and five touchdowns . On November 28 , 2011 , Urban Meyer , who served as an assistant at Ohio State from 1986 to 1987 , was named the 24th head coach for the Buckeyes , replacing Fickell . In the 2012 matchup , OSU ' s Carlos Hyde ran for 146 yards , and the fourth - ranked Buckeye ' s defense shut out No . 20 Michigan in the second half to prevail , 26 – 21 , capping a 12 – 0 season for OSU . Big Ten expansion . In 2010 , the Big Ten Conference announced that the University of Nebraska would be joining the Big Ten the following year , and that the Big Ten would be split into two divisions . When rumors surfaced that Ohio State and Michigan would be placed in different divisions , concerns arose that the teams might no longer play the last game of the regular season to avoid potential back - to - back games if each team won their division and earned the right to play in the Big Ten Championship Game . Fans bombarded the athletic directors of both schools , as well as the Big Ten commissioner with emails , creating pressure to keep The Game as the regular season finale . The Michigan – Ohio State game is now a " protected crossover " game , to be played every year at the end of the regular season . The " protected crossover " status of The Game will remain after the 2014 additions of the University of Maryland and Rutgers University to the Big Ten . In popular culture . During the mid - 2000s , ESPN aired several commercials mentioning certain situations that would be " normal , if it wasn ' t for sports " . One such commercial had a couple making out , which after starting out as a close - up , pans out to show the man wearing an Ohio State shirt and the woman wearing a Michigan shirt . At the end of the commercial , the caption reads " Without sports , this wouldn ' t be disgusting . " After ESPN launched ESPNU , another commercial aired for ESPNU , showing a couple on a blind date that goes well until the woman tells the man that she ' s from Michigan , and " Go Blue ! " . The man then jumps out of the woman ' s Jeep Grand Cherokee while it is moving , tumbles down an incline , jumps up and yells " Go Buckeyes ! " as the woman peels out , stranding him . In 2006 , as part of their " Midwest Midterm Midtacular " , " The Daily Show " visited Ohio State University and made fun of the rivalry on the final night by having correspondent Rob Riggle report while wearing a Michigan sweatshirt . This brought boos , jeers , and a few laughs from the OSU audience . After the sketch was over , Jon Stewart compared the rivalry to the disputes between Sunni and Shiite Muslims . The 2007 HBO documentary " Michigan vs . Ohio State : The Rivalry " focused on the rivalry , chiefly the " Ten - Year War " through the present . The book " Myth Directions " by Robert Asprin , who attended Michigan , features a thinly veiled version of the Ohio State vs . Michigan game , parodying both sides and their fanaticism regarding the event . The 1942 movie " The Male Animal " , based on a play of the same name by Ohio State alumni James Thurber and Elliott Nugent , also features a version of the game . Accomplishments by the two rivals . does not include the 2010 Big Ten Championship vacated by Ohio State , nor the 2010 wins vacated by Ohio State Game results . Winning team is shown in bold font . Years of a Michigan victory are in blue . Years of an Ohio State victory are in scarlet . Years with a tie are in white . Vacated victories appear in gray . Big Ten games . In Big Ten Conference play , Michigan leads the series 46 – 44 – 4 . Michigan was a charter member of the Big Ten in 1896 before leaving the league after the 1906 football season . Ohio State began league play with the 1913 season , and Michigan returned for the 1917 season . The 1918 matchup between the two schools was the first between them with both as Big Ten members .