The offseason is a perfect time for rivalry fodder, and the Michigan-Ohio State rivalry is as heated as it has ever been.
Ohio State fans have been celebrating the departure of Michigan AD Warde Manuel at the end of the year, as though that will change the fact that the Buckeyes went 0-4 against Michigan from 2021 to 2024.
The fact that Jim Tressel paid improper benefits along with "half the team," in the words of Maurice Clarett, hasn't changed what happened between Michigan-Ohio State in 2002, or the decade that followed.
Both fanbases can say that they want, neither program vacated wins and each kept their national championship. That won't stop the back-and-forth, though. We have broken down some of the most memorable moments, greatest upsets, and the players Michigan fans love to hate the most. Now, here are three Buckeyes who went to the dark side, but should have been Wolverines.
C.J. Stroud
C.J. Stroud probably wishes he had played for Michigan instead of Ohio State for the simple fact that he would get to avoid Aidan Hutchinson, who single-handedly ruined Stroud's campaign to win the Heisman Trophy.
If Stroud signed with Michigan, he probably would have started some games in 2020, avoiding the major disaster that was that season. Michigan's 2021 squad would have been better suited to win it all, while J.J. McCarthy could have sat for another year, before starting in 2023 and 2024.
It could have set up a run of elite quarterback play. Stroud was great in Columbus, at least in terms of putting up gaudy numbers, but he never beat Michigan and didn't win a championship.
That would have been a different story had he signed to play in Ann Arbor.
2. Zach Harrison
The five-star recruit signed with the Buckeyes in the 2019 recruiting class. That ended up being a mistake.
Harrison, a future third-round pick, had 13 sacks in four seasons with the Buckeyes. Hutchinson had 14 in 2021, all by himself. Hutch ended up as the No. 2 pick. That's what a five-star EDGE should look like, not Harrison, who is just a guy in the NFL, too.
If he had gone to Michigan, and been properly developed in the trenches, Harrison's college career would have had more production, and he would have been a better NFL player.
Instead, the results speak for themselves. Harrison was 1-2 against Michigan and played worse than Michigan recruits ranked much lower than he was.
The dude also got embarassed twice in "The Game" playing as part of defense that allowed 45 and 42 points in back-to-back losses to the Wolverines.
1. David Boston
One of the emptiest careers in the history of Ohio State football, David Boston was embelmatic of the John Cooper era: incredibly talented, but outside of receiving yards, there is little to show for it.
Boston led the Big Ten in receiving yards in 1998, the only season in his career when the Buckeyes beat Michigan, which allowed Ohio State to earn a three-way tie with the Wolverines for the conference title.
Boston was part of two top-5 teams that lost to Michigan, and he will always be inferior to Charles Woodson, who not only won the fight, the matchup, and "The Game" in 1997, but he also had a better pro career, won a national title, and the Heisman.
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