All-time series: OSU leads 108-83 (counting all meetings including since vacated games on either side).
OSU leads 9-8 when both teams are ranked, but is just 3-10 when unranked and facing a ranked Michigan team as will be the case this weekend. OTOH, OSU is 34-6 when the Buckeyes are ranked and Michigan is not.
BTT meetings: OSU leads 7-1
NCAA meetings: vacated leads 1-0 as a result of an Elite Eight OT matchup, but is heralded for wearing baggy shorts despite their shame.
Longest win streak: OSU with 8 (1967-72). OSU has had 5 other 7-game winning streaks ('43-'45, '49-'53, '59-'63, '99-'02, and '05-'08) and Michigan owns two 7-game win streaks ('74-'77 and '92-'97).
Biggest margin of victory: 47 points (OSU 99 - Michigan 52, Feb. 1, 1960)
National Championships: 1 each, OSU in 1960, Michigan in 1989
Final Fours: Ohio State has 11, Michigan 8
Big Ten Conference Titles: Ohio State has 22, Michigan 15
BTT Championships: Ohio State 5, Michigan 3
Sunday marks the 192nd meeting in the series in which Ohio State holds a 108-83 advantage. Ohio State kicked off the hardwood edition of the rivalry with a win in 1909, reeling off a 4-0 start with 2 W's that year and 2 more in the next meetings in 1918. TTUN would build a 20-14 series lead however until the Buckeye program hit its stride beginning in 1939. The Bucks swept the series that year en route to the first ever NCAA tournament NCG and would go 12-2 in the series between 1939 and 1945. U of M had some brief success again before OSU reeled off 7 straight W's in the early 50s. In fact, OSU would go 29-7 vs the Weasels between February of 1949 and January of 1972. During that time, OSU had it's golden era of basketball in the early 60's winning 7 straight over U of M while dismantling about everyone else as well. Michigan's golden era of basketball followed ours as U of M was never ranked lower than 3rd in the 4 meetings in 1964 and 1965, but the Bucks held ground and split for a 2-2 mark during that time. In 1964 the two tied for the Big Ten title, but Michigan held the tie-breaker and went on to the NCAA tournament, while OSU missed out by just a tie-breaker for the second straight year. The win in 1965 in the regular season finale marked Michigan's only conference loss that year. Our 8-game win streak in the series began in 1967 and was lost on January 29, 1972 as the Buckeyes were coming off that tragic assault that occurred in Minneapolis in the previous game's win over the Gophers. That criminal affair in Minnesota led to dark days for Fred Taylor and OSU basketball and we lost 10 of the next 12 to Michigan after that affair.
OSU took control of the early 80's, going 9-2 between 1979 and 1984, but Michigan would enter their second golden era in the later half of the decade, winning 10 of 12 themselves before Jim Jackson arrived to save us. Jackson and the Buckeyes narrowly lost at #6 Michigan who was fresh off their lone NC, but then won 5 straight against Michigan, winning back-to-back Big Ten titles along the way. The teams met for a third time in 1992 in Lexington in a game that ranks right with Kentucky in 2011 and the Cincinnati NCG losses in 61 and 62 as one of the toughest pills to swallow as the Fab Five denied OSU from sweeping all 3 contests and more importantly from a Final Four with their OT win in the Elite 8. OSU tried their best to serve up some small revenge to the even better Fab 5 in 1993, but lost both contests to the top 5 Wolverines by 2 points. The fire still burned hot in 1994 as the Buckeye program was fading, but gave their best attempts to beat the now Fab 4, losing by just 4 points and 2. Michigan would handle the Bucks in 95 and 96, but OSU delivered a surprise in Ann Arbor just a day after winning the 1996 Rose Bowl by beating #8 Michigan.
Aside from 1964/65 and 1992 the series had generally been one where either one program is good or the other. That continued in the late 90s and early 2000s as Michigan took a dive from the Fab Five fallout and OSU resurrected its program under O'Brien as the Bucks won 7 straight again in the rivalry. U of M would sneak in a couple wins after the O'Brien fallout before Thad Matta arrived and kicked things off with a 7-game win streak going 17-4 vs U of M between 2005 and 2013. 2012 and 2013 provided another rare episode where both programs were simultaneously strong, with OSU taking a 3-2 edge in those contests. Even as his program slipped, Thad ground out a 4-3 edge in the final 7 meetings, finishing 21-7 (.750) vs TTUN. Matta also went 4-1 vs TTUN in the BTT, including the amazing half-court game winning 3-pointer from Evan Turner in 2010. Holtmann's results vs. Michigan were a reflection of his time at OSU - he went a disappointing 4-6 overall, losing in 2018 in what would be just 1 of 3 critical conference losses that year, finishing only a game away from a conference title, but then getting one of the biggest wins of his career, beating #4 Michigan in the BTT in 2021. That game marked revenge for the home loss in Columbus a few weeks earlier in what was the highest combined ranking in the series history with Michigan ranked 3rd and OSU ranked 4th. Michigan prevailed late 92-87. Holtmann finished with 3 straight losses to TTUN, but in some level of fairness to him, I should point out that OSU hosted Michigan only 3 times during his tenure, while his teams visited Ann Arbor 6 times. Jake Diebler is a perfect 1-0 vs. the Wolverines with a 17-point win last season. Let's make that 2-0 this weekend!
