Editor's Note: We were supposed to run this piece in conjunction with the playing of "The Game" but as everyone in the world knows, Ohio State's annual game with TSUN has been cancelled for the 2020 season due to a COVID outbreak within the TSUN Athletic Department.

We did not want to lose this piece so we are running it now in place of game coverage but wanted to make sure that all of our readers were aware that this piece was put together in anticipation of The Game happening. - Kevin

Here we are, once again. It’s the end of the 2020 Big Ten regular season, although nothing about this season has been regular. Despite a cancelled Big Ten season, then a rescheduled Big Ten season and COVID-19 protocols for Big Ten football daily practices and procedures, there have also been many game cancellations and postponements due to this despicable virus. Yet, we are energized, anticipating and prognosticating THE GAME this coming weekend; the 117th version of the Greatest Rivalry in North America (ESPN 2000); Ohio State vs. Michigan.

One element that has not been in the news is that if he Buckeyes beat Michigan and then beat Northwestern in the Big Ten Championship, they will not only have won a “FOURPEAT,” but they will be the first team in the history of the Big Ten Conference to win four straight OUTRIGHT Big Ten Championships. There have been eight Big Ten teams to win four consecutive championships, yet all of those teams shared at least one if not all four of their championships with another Big Ten team. Fittingly, those eight teams winning four straight championships are exclusively either The Ohio State University or Michigan. Those teams are as follows: Michigan 1930-33, Michigan 1947-50, Ohio State 1972-75, Ohio State 1974-77, Michigan 1988-91, Michigan 1989-92, Ohio State 2005-08 and Ohio State 2006-09. Currently, Ohio State has won three straight OUTRIGHT Big Ten Championships 2017-19. This season would be the record of four straight OUTRIGHT CHAMPIONSHIPS, not only setting the record….so far, but breaking the tie with TSUN!

Should the Buckeyes win Saturday, it would be the ninth straight victory for the Buckeyes over That School Up North, and nine straight pairs of “Gold Pants” earned by the Buckeye Players. The tradition of the Gold Pants awards began in 1934 when Buckeye head coach Francis Schmidt was asked by the media how the team would fare against the Wolverines that year and he responded, “They put their pants on one leg at a time, just like the rest of us.” A tradition was then created by Simon Lazarus, president of Lazarus Department Stores and Herb Levy, president of the Union Company, when they created what is still known today as the "Gold Pants Club.” Beginning in 1934, all Buckeye players and coaches received a pair of gold football pants, made by Lazurus, just like the pants that Michigan wore in their games. It was a commemorative award for their victory over the Wolverines. Over time, the Gold Pants award transitioned from an actual pair of gold football pants to a gold charm as it exists today. That charm bares the player’s or coach’s initials, the year of the victory and the score of the game. The breadth and intensity of the Ohio State-Michigan Rivalry has continued to grow and evolve to other sports at The Ohio State University. One example is that the Gold Pants tradition for football has transitioned to other sports. Head wrestling coach Tom Ryan began giving the wrestling team members a “Gold Singlet” for a team win over That School Up North. Ryan then passed the idea along to other Ohio State coaches and we now have the sports of men’s and women’s lacrosse, gymnastics and men’s basketball awarding a gold charm to their teams for victories over the Wolverines.

I have three pairs of Gold Pants myself from 1979, ’81 and ’82. Doug Worthington, a former Buckeye from 2005-09 and an NFL defensive tackle, brags –– deservedly so –– that he is one of the few former player to have earned five pairs of Gold Pants. Appropriately, since this is Michigan Week, it is ironic that former Buckeye nemesis and Michigan head coach Bo Schembechler earned four pairs of Gold Pants as an assistant coach to Woody Hayes, for Ohio State victories over Michigan in 1958, ’59, ‘60 and ’62.

The Gold Pants tradition serves as a platform for me to share how the attitude of the players toward “THE GAME” has changed over the years. Many former players, including myself, from the 1950s, ‘60s ’70s and ’80s, the eras of Woody and Earle, had a similar attitude toward That School Up North. We respected them, yet we disliked them. We rooted for Michigan to win every game, because we wanted them to be undefeated and ranked high when we kicked their ass in November. Then came Jim Tressel, who aroused a competitive passion to beat Michigan from the moment of his acceptance speech Jan. 18, 2001. As the newly hired Ohio State head football coach, Tressel told the sold-out basketball crowd at St. John Arena, “You will be proud of our young people in the classroom, in the community, and most especially in 310 days in Ann Arbor, Michigan, on the football field.” He lived that competitive spirit 365 days a year and instilled that passion in his players. Coach Tress, as he is affectionately called by his players, finished his career with a record of nine wins and one loss against TSUN. That attitude was perpetuated even further by Urban Meyer and now Ryan Day, who are both undefeated against Michigan.

While we, former players from the Woody and Earle eras, rooted for Michigan to win every game until we could kick their butts, Urban wanted them to lose at everything. Football, men’s and women’s Basketball, women’s swimming, hockey, even Tiddlywinks, as any downside for Michigan was an upside for the Buckeyes, especially regarding recruiting. He wanted his players to feel the same.

Many people may remember when Meyer opened up a practice to the Ohio State student body each year during spring ball and called it the Student Appreciation Day Practice. An estimated 2,500 to 5,000 students would descend upon the Woody Hayes Athletic Center to see a “spirited scrimmage” between the Ohio State offense and defense from a close, on-field perspective. They also had the opportunity to participate in a few drills, including a field goal kicking contest and a 100-yard dash competition. Fun and excitement were had by all. Well, almost all. Urban required –– didn’t ask, but REQUIRED –– that every student who arrived wearing the color blue be escorted from the building.

I can honestly say that due to the downfall of the Michigan football program in recent years, Jim Harbaugh, Mr. Khaki Pants, may need to “exit, stage right.” Bo and Woody would have been appalled by Harbaugh’s antics, like wearing his football cleats into a recruit’s home, chaperoning a recruit to his high school prom, let alone climbing a tree and camping out in a recruit’s front lawn. His behavior has been questionable, while his record has not been. His record has simply been bad. Michigan football has the “Harbaughvirus” and needs a vaccine. I hope the Buckeyes provide that vaccine this weekend, thus providing a shot in the arm that will restore this historic rivalry to its deserved elite status.