CBS Sports ranks Harbaugh-Day feud among top coaching rivalries in the past 25 years
While The Game had been a somewhat respectful affair, dating back to the Bo vs. Woody days, it's become increasingly hostile as of late. And the heat really turned up once Ryan Day took over the Buckeyes program from Urban Meyer -- who had gone 7-0 in his tenure against hte Wolverines.
Day followed suit, winning in his first year, 2019. The two teams didn't play in 2020 due to COVID-19 hampering the maize and blue. But in 2021, when OSU considered it to still be its birthright to win The Game, Michigan upset the mighty Buckeyes and took away everything they thought they deserved that year.
And the next. And the next. And the next.
Well, Ohio State did win the national championship this year, but it cannot boast that it did so while having beaten its rival.
CBS Sports put together a list of the greatest rivalries among coaches over the past 25 years, and Jim Harbaugh vs. Ryan Day made the cut -- mostly for obvious reasons.
Ohio State beat Michigan 56-27 in Day's first year as coach, which propelled it to a Big Ten title and an appearance in the College Football Playoff. In Aug. 2020, during a private Big Ten coaches teleconference, Harbaugh reportedly interrupted Day while he was speaking to accuse Day of violating NCAA rules against early on-field instruction and drills during the COVID-19 pandemic.
During a team meeting later that day, Day told Ohio State's players and coaches that the Big Ten better have a mercy rule because the Buckeyes were going to "hang 100" on Michigan in their next game. Ohio State and Michigan did not meet in 2020 due to COVID-19 complications, and in 2021 Michigan cruised to a 42-27 victory, its first win in the series since 2011.
After the game, Harbaugh was asked about Ohio State throwing shots at Michigan during its winning streak.
"Let's move on with humble hearts. Take the high road," Harbaugh said. "But there's definitely stuff that people said that spurred us on even more. Sometimes people that are standing on third base think they hit a triple, but they didn't."
Ahead of 2022's installment of "The Game," Harbaugh told the Stoney & Jansen with Heather Show that his "third base" comment was in response to Day saying Ohio State was going to "hang 100" on Michigan. The Wolverines won in 2022, and again in 2023, before capping that 2023 season with their first national championship since the BCS era began.
Those wins weren't without controversy, though. News broke in Oct. 2023 that the Big Ten was investigating Michigan for an alleged impermissible sign-stealing operation constructed by former staffer Connor Stalions. Initial rumors swirled that Ohio State tipped the NCAA off, and Day had private investigators looking into the issue.
Day refuted his involvement. The NCAA later confirmed that neither Ohio State nor anyone associated with the Buckeyes are involved in its investigation.
Harbaugh is actually on the list twice, as he also appeared on it for his rivalry with then-USC head coach Pete Carroll during his time at Stanford.
Of course, this past win for the maize and blue over the scarlet and gray came under new head coach Sherrone Moore -- who also beat Day and the Buckeyes in 2023 with Harbaugh having been suspended due to the alleged advanced scouting scandal. Will the coaching rivalry carry over between Moore and Day? Moore is a bit more genteel than Harbaugh, but it kind of feels like that will still be the case.
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