The Game: Where Did It Come From?

As a Michigan student, Thanksgiving break is marked by more than good food and family gatherings. In fact, there is a good chance that every other year, moments after the festivities come to an end, you will be saying goodbye to friends and family and heading back to campus early. Each year, The Game is one of the most-watched matchups in college football. It is only inevitable that we feel as though all eyes are on us. Bets are placed, the media speculates, and everyone we know feels compelled to ask whether or not we can “pull it off again.” 

As a sophomore, this year’s game was my first. I rushed back to Ann Arbor on the Friday-night Amtrak, woke up before sunrise, and rallied all day in the cold to support the Wolverines as they faced the Ohio State Buckeyes. The loss that followed cut deep. From the moment I committed to Michigan, I absorbed the deep-rooted hatred for Ohio State, internalizing it until it felt like second nature. So, as I left the Big House in sub-freezing temperatures, I felt disheartened, frustrated, and humbled. It was in this moment that I began to wonder how a football game could evoke such raw emotion in someone who, otherwise, didn’t care for the sport to any real extent. Today, the Michigan/Ohio State rivalry seems like a universally accepted truth, but why? Where exactly did The Game come from? 

The Game: A Simple Explanation

Unlike most rivalries, ours doesn’t stem from an arbitrary or convenient feud between two schools that simply came to an agreement one day. Rather, its origins trace back to a real political conflict stemming from a land dispute known as the Toledo War. It all began when the Congress of the Confederation enacted the Northwest Ordinance of 1787, which was established to create the border between the territories of Michigan and Ohio. But there was one problem. The Ordinance was based on inaccurately drawn maps, which placed Lake Michigan miles north of its actual location. This cartographic error resulted in years of speculation over where exactly the border between the two states truly lay. According to the American Battlefield Trust, the dispute was over a 468-square-mile grey area that both states believed they assumed control over, known as the Toledo Strip, which included the Maumee Bay. In essence, “whoever controlled the bay would command a great deal of trade on the great lakes, along with the 1821 completion of the Erie Canal” which would enable trade access to the east coast. With both sides passing legislation to hurt the other and take control of the sought-after land, it is no surprise that the conflict took a hostile turn. 

Through a series of miscommunications, with both sides threatening to initiate and preparing for war, the federal government, led by President Andrew Jackson, took action to de-escalate a crisis that they believed could result in a civil war. Given that Michigan was in serious debt, Jackson knew that the best strategy to diffuse the situation would be to give the territory an offer that they couldn’t refuse. The offer in question, according to an article from HISTORY, was the distribution of a $400,000 surplus and compensation of the 9,000 square-mile Upper Peninsula under the condition that Michigan relinquish the Toledo Strip to Ohio, and, only after doing so, could they gain admittance to the union as the 26th state. Seeing no other way to relieve themselves of their financial burden and gain statehood, Michigan leaders reluctantly accepted the offer, laying the conflict to rest. 

If you are a Michigan or Ohio fan, however,  you know that the hostility and animosity stemming from this feud lingers. It can be heard in Ohio State’s famous fight song, “We don’t give a d*** for the whole state of Michigan,” or Michigan’s favorite chant, “F*** Ohio.” It can be seen on our respective campuses as we cross out every M or O in sight. And, it can be felt in the tension that grips our campus every November. Knowing the history of this rivalry only heightens this tension because it’s no longer solely about football. The shared and contested history between the two states transforms The Game into a symbolic continuation of a much older conflict. 

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