Michigan tries to stabilize his big chip on his shoulder

"Michigan does not want to be the state of Ohio," said Nasrallah, editor-in-chief of Eleven Warriors, "because Michigan wants to be Michigan and still beats the state of America." 39; Ohio. "

Back to the future

We are in 2018. Michigan has the leanest defense of college football and, for the first time under Harbaugh, a very good quarterback in the Mississippi transfer, Shea Patterson. He launched 18 touchdowns and only four interceptions. Another auspicious – Patterson was born in Toledo.

Quarterback Dwayne Haskins of the state of Ohio was at least as good. The Buckeyes have the most points per game in the Big Ten. But in recent weeks, hampered by a breakthrough defense, the team only managed a fair performance against an inferior competition – beating Nebraska by 5 and Maryland, in overtime, by 1; and lose against Purdue, who is 4-3, 49-20.

That's enough to make you believe that the Wolverines, the slight favorite, could win.

The inferiority complex of the state of Ohio is as undeniable as it is unjustified. Even more than the Red Sox and the Yankees, the Buckeyes are the ancient Romans of ancient Greece in Michigan – valiant victors, if you like, who have supplanted the conquered civilization by imitating it.

But the future of college football is dark. As the recent struggles in Texas, Florida, Nebraska, and other blue bloods indicate, we are likely to come out of a time when pedigree and local recruiting matter most. 39; enter another where superior management prevails, as for professional franchises. Who can say which athletics program will excel in such a context?

Wolverines' sense of superiority can be off-putting. But it's rooted in history. And if they often failed, they pleasantly surprised enough time to compensate.

It is likely that we are not witnessing the rejuvenation of Michigan, but rather the last stage of the elegantly managed decline of a great empire. Which, to be honest, seems rather in step with his time.

Who has it better than Michigan? For the moment, nobody. For how long? Maybe not very long at all.