Featuring the History of the Feud, Legends and Little-Known Facts
 
Visitors to The College Football Hall of Fame can now witness a rivalry that may have started in the early 1830’s with a land dispute. The Hall of Fame’s new exhibit: “The Bucks and the Blue”: Ohio State versus Michigan, College Football’s Greatest Rivalry, features the University of Michigan – Ohio State University rivalry.

Kent Stephens, College Football Hall of Fame Curator, developed this exhibit to highlight one of the most historical and ruthless rivalries in college football.

“Beginning with the Toledo War of 1835, the states of Michigan and Ohio have had contemptuous relations since before the Wolverine State was admitted into the Union. Is it any wonder that the rivalry between Ohio State and Michigan would be judged by a consensus of experts as not only the greatest rivalry in college football but also perhaps in all of sport?” Stephens said.

The most intense, personal part of the rivalry, The Ten-Year War, lasted from 1969 to 1978 between two legendary coaches. Ohio State’s Woody Hayes and Michigan’s coach Bo Schembechler fought it out on the field in extreme battles that – in every year but one – determined the Big Ten title and the Rose Bowl bid. With nearly identical coaching styles, the games were so hard-fought that no team scored more than two touchdowns in a game, with only three exceptions.

The two schools compete so fiercely that it does seem the continuation of some ancient feud, and it’s not just the teams. Students, fans, even the states themselves get involved. Such traditions as the “Gold Pants Club” and the Mirror Lake Jump have resulted out of students and fans being involved in the battles.

The exhibit will be open from April 1 through December 31.

The exhibit includes:

• Videos featuring the Michigan Band, Script Ohio and a production on "Woody vs. Bo - The Ten Year War"
  
  
• Century old memorabilia dating back to the letterman pin of Neil Snow (Michigan's captain at the first Rose Bowl)
  
  
• Michigan legend, Tom Harmon's helmet. Tom Harmon, Ole'98, was Michigan's first Heisman Trophy winner in 1940. As a sophomore, Harmon and his Michigan teammates were the first Wolverines to
  wear the winged-helmet design that coach Fritz Crisler brought with him from Princeton.
  
  
• Holy Grail of OSU football - Helmet worn by Chic Harley - the player whose exploits forced the building of Ohio Stadium and made Buckeye football a religion.
  
  
• Memorabilia from current players and coaches, including Coach Tressel's sweater vest and Coach Rodriguez' jacket
  
  
• Items from both schools' Heisman winners - jerseys from Desmond Howard,Charles Woodson,Troy Smith, Archie Griffin, and Eddie George
  
  
• Memorabilia from the 1968 and 1969 games, which started "the Ten Year War".
  
  
• Woody Hayes' projector
  
  
• Bo Schembechler's headset