Michigan leads Ohio State 62-52-6 in a series that has been played 121 times since 1897. It is the closest thing American sport has to a permanent argument, and the margin — ten games across 129 years — explains why neither side has ever been able to end it.
The Buckeyes won the most recent meeting, ending a Michigan run that had lasted since 2019.
| Michigan | Ohio State | |
|---|---|---|
| Series record | 62 wins | 52 wins |
| All-time wins | 1,021 — most in college football | Top five nationally |
| Claimed national titles | 12 | 8 |
| Conference titles | 45 | 41 |
| Heisman winners | 3 | 7 |
How the Lead Was Built
Michigan’s advantage is almost entirely a product of the first half of the rivalry. Fielding Yost’s teams dominated the early meetings so completely that Ohio State did not win in the series until 1919, more than two decades after it began.
Ohio State has been the better team for most of the modern era and has spent a century closing a gap it inherited. The Buckeyes have narrowed it from insurmountable to ten games, but have never led the series.
| Era | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1897-1918 | Michigan dominance. Ohio State did not win a game in the series until 1919. |
| 1951-1968 | Woody Hayes builds Ohio State into a national power and starts chipping at the deficit. |
| 1969-1978 | The Ten Year War. Bo Schembechler against his old mentor Hayes, with the Big Ten title on the line nearly every year. |
| 2001-2019 | Ohio State’s longest sustained edge, beginning with Jim Tressel’s upset in his first season. |
| 2021-2024 | Michigan wins four straight, including the 2023 national championship season. |
| 2025 | Ohio State wins for the first time since 2019. The game drew 18.4 million viewers, the most-watched regular-season matchup of the year. |
The Ten Year War
The decade from 1969 to 1978 is what most people mean when they call this the best rivalry in sports. Bo Schembechler had played for and coached under Woody Hayes before taking the Michigan job, and the two met every November with the Big Ten championship and a Rose Bowl berth almost always at stake.
The 1973 meeting ended 10-10 and produced the rivalry’s strangest outcome. Both teams were unbeaten, the tie left them sharing the conference title, and Big Ten athletic directors voted to send Ohio State to the Rose Bowl. Michigan, undefeated, played no bowl game at all that season.
Where It Stands Now
Michigan won four consecutive meetings from 2021 through 2024, the middle of which produced a 15-0 season and the program’s first College Football Playoff championship. Ohio State ended that run in 2025.
Both programs enter 2026 under changed circumstances. Michigan has a new head coach in Kyle Whittingham after Sherrone Moore was fired last December, and a sophomore quarterback in Bryce Underwood who threw for 2,428 yards as a freshman. See our Michigan schedule and Ohio State schedule for this year’s meeting, and our Michigan national championships history for the titles behind the series.
The Bottom Line
Michigan leads Ohio State 62-52-6 over 121 games, a lead built almost entirely before 1920 and defended ever since. There have been six ties, none since 1992. Ohio State holds the current bragging rights after winning in 2025, ending a four-game Michigan run that included a national championship.