I just read a good part of Ramzy's front page piece on the so-called "rivalry" between Michigan and OSU. It hurts, because I am a 61 year old fart, and I remember when it wasn't a sure thing OSU was going to win. I was a Freshman in 1977, so I witnessed the last two games when Woody and Bo were coaching respectively. As a Michigan fan, I always expected Michigan to win, whether they were favored or not. From that point through 2000, it was a good time to be a Michigan fan. The overall record was 16 - 7 - 1, if I counted correctly. Then came Tressel, who fixed things for OSU. And then Urban Meyer, who shot OSU into the stratosphere. It largely has been a miserable time to be a Michigan fan.

What makes it much worse is the current national championship format. Here's an mgoblog article from today, and a relevant quote:

The current four-team playoff is set up to send Ohio State, Alabama, and Clemson every year. If one of those teams falters on the way, their league championships and a gatekeeping committee will find a way to put them in the playoffs anyways. Recruits can hardly be faulted for wanting to go to a program that gives them a 90 percent chance of a title appearance versus the 124 FBS teams who’ve never been to the CFP national championship game, and probably never will.

I cannot blame any high school player for the mentality of wanting to go to a team having a 90 percent chance of a title appearance. The reality is that OSU, Alabama, Clemson, and maybe one or two others (Oklahoma, LSU) are going to fight over most of the 5 star recruits. And if a player blows up his senior year, you and those few others can swoop in and have a good chance of flipping them.

I'm kind of whining and complaining, but not exactly. This is the system we have, and it is virtually impossible to compete with you. Until OSU has a full scale, verifiable scandal and corruption, or NIL radically changes things, you are going to have the pick of the litter as far as recruits go.

Just to be clear, if the shoe was on the other foot, I'd be (mostly) happy. Who wouldn't be happy to be in your position. The one thing I'll say:  it is mostly about talent, and less about coaching. Nick Saban wasn't a great coach when he was at MSU? No, Nick Saban didn't have unreal talent. Now, I will fully grant that Urban Meyer was a great coach, and may be once again. But Jim Harbaugh being a terrible coach? Naw, he is doing what he can, but he is on a completely different planet as far as the talent he has available.

If you're interested, here's the link on the mogblog article. The relevant part is near the end of the article, and the section is called "The Ladder Problem."

LINK:  https://mgoblog.com/content/2022-recruiting-board-714#read-more

And to close, for me, the perfect world would be a level recruiting playing field between OSU and U of M. I don't mind losing some of the time, but the way things are set up now is pretty miserable.