Even after winning its first national championship since 1997, Michigan cannot escape Ohio State's shadow.
In a stroke of investigative brilliance Sherlock Holmes, Batman and Lieutenant Columbo would be proud of, Reddit user NorthwestPurple discovered a mistake from Michigan football's creative team involving the school's archrival Ohio State.
Back in January, Michigan posted four wallpapers commemorating its College Football Playoff national championship. In the third wallpaper, the Wolverines' creative team included an Associated Press Trophy the program received for ending the 2024 season as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 poll.
You've been asking for them, so we made a few for everyone!
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) January 17, 2024
National Championship Wallpapers#GoBlue pic.twitter.com/fOCNeCw9gC
After examining that prize, the Reddit user sensed that Michigan's 2024 Associated Press Trophy shared similarities to the one Ohio State received in 2014. Upon further examination, the user's suspicions were correct. The trophies are identical, including the reflection of Ohio Stadium in the trophy, except for one small, seemingly insignificant, change: Michigan's creative team scrubbed Ohio State's name from the engraved plate.
Unfortunately for Michigan, there are no seemingly insignificant matters in the greatest rivalry in all of sports. Five months after the Wolverines celebrated their national title, one Reddit user noticed their mistake, and all of Buckeye Nation can laugh.