WSJ: Michigan tops OSU in all sports by 2-1 margin

Submitted by Blue in St Lou on November 23rd, 2018 at 10:58 AM

The Wall Street Journal reports that, all time, Michigan has beaten Ohio State in 18 sports, OSU has won 9 and one (men's gymnastics) is disputed. Here's the url (though I think it's behind a pay wall):  https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-school-that-really-owns-ohio-state-michigan-1542899865?mod=hp_listb_pos1

The key passage:

The Journal looked at every time Michigan and Ohio State played each other in every sport. In nine of the 28 sports in which the schools don’t often compete directly against one another—golf, cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field for both women and men, along with women’s rowing—we measured success by conference championships.

It boiled down to a simple question: Who has beaten whom head-to-head most often in every sport? And Michigan has won more in more sports. From football to field hockey, the Wolverines have the all-time edge.

Informed of the results, Michigan president Mark Schlissel wrote in an email: “While we are thrilled to boast considerable on-field success, we’re even more delighted with our standing as the top public research university, just ask the nearly 1,000 O-H-I-O students on our campus this fall.”

An 18-9-1 "edge?" I'd say it's more like a trouncing.

 

JPC

November 23rd, 2018 at 11:01 AM ^

Michigan being compared to OSU is an insult. Michigan is elite as an academic institution and OSU can win every sports match in the world and it wouldn’t really matter. 

JPC

November 23rd, 2018 at 11:19 AM ^

We’re all sports fans, so it “matters” but I’ll tell you that Michigan’s awful performance in the game had zero impact on all the wonderful things that graduating from Michigan did for me. 

Im in a place in my life that going to OSU would have NEVER made possible. 

Wolverine Devotee

November 23rd, 2018 at 11:13 AM ^

Lazy record keeping by the universities.

I did months of research this past summer at Bentley Historical Library on Michigan Men's Golf alone and am almost complete and will have the actual all-time record vs OSU soon as well as other records.

Michigan and OSU directly compete in golf every single season, multiple times. Now the same can't be said for track where they only have head-to-head results in dual meets which are so few and far between nowadays. The files are there for all of those sports who have very little in their MGoBlue.com record books but eventually I'm gonna have the info for all of them. 

Bentley, Newspapers.com's ($) archive as well as archives of student newspapers at the opposing schools have been great resources. 

Michigan handled OSU and Jack Nicklaus pretty well when he was there. Michigan had a winning record against him and he got beat a couple times in match play individually. None bigger than in 1961 when Nicklaus won the NCAA title, Dick Youngberg beat him on 5/13/1961 in the regular season finale at the U-M Golf Course.

Indy Pete - Go Blue

November 23rd, 2018 at 11:28 AM ^

Leaders and Best

 I absolutely love that Schlissel is dropping a little heat from the top. osu is a solid school with a very good sports tradition. Michigan is an elite school with an elite sports tradition. 

Perkis-Size Me

November 23rd, 2018 at 12:02 PM ^

Love seeing Schlissel throw a little shade OSU's way. 

That being said, I will credit OSU for making massive investments into improving its academic image. The school has come leaps and bounds from where it was 30-40 years ago. I know that may be a relative term when your reputation was zero before the improvements were being made, but OSU is certainly not a bad school. An impartial observer can certainly make the argument that it's a good school in its own right. 

Not Michigan, but it's good. Certainly far better than some of our other Big Ten brethren. 

YoOoBoMoLloRoHo

November 23rd, 2018 at 12:27 PM ^

Schlissel’s comment is exactly how the Pres at a top university should respond. It also mirrors Harbaugh’s statements that he wants players who win at everything and our motto of Leaders & Best.

OSU sold their soul long ago to close the gap on the field, but character wins over time and UM aims for excellence in all areas.

Now the team needs to win tomorrow on the field. Go Blue.

A Lot of Milk

November 23rd, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^

The only school in the world that can compare to Michigan in both athletics and academics is Stanford. They have a strong program in a lot of non revenue sports, but if you're looking for a school that dominates in the classroom and shows up on ESPN every season (football, basketball, hockey) you'll find that Michigan is unrivaled.

Sincerely, 

A Columbus, Ohio public school student who saw the light and now goes to the greatest university in the world 

 

Section 1.8

November 23rd, 2018 at 2:47 PM ^

Lulz.

Rachel Bachman, in addition to being a terrific writer, is one of the finest OSU-trollers of all of the countless Michigan grads in media today,

 

B1GGY smalls

November 23rd, 2018 at 2:58 PM ^

They want to be "us". They pine for what we have. Look where they live. I can't blame them. I know Michigan is mostly a democratic state, but I think it's time for Michigan to build the wall! :-)