Ohio State isn’t just trying to shake off its Michigan curse—it’s been living with it. It’s been more than a couple of months since Ryan Day walked off the field at home, empty-handed and pale-faced, after a gut-wrenching 13-10 loss to their arch-rivals, the Wolverines. No words can truly capture the void, the pain, and the misery Buckeye fans endured—including Day himself, whose job and personal security were suddenly in question. The only way to silence the doubt? A national title.

The No. 8 Buckeyes went on a remarkable playoff run, taking down No. 9 Tennessee, No. 1 Oregon, No. 5 Texas, and No. 7 Notre Dame. And it wasn’t rocket science. It was pure hard work, fueled by an unshakable hunger to rise above the heartbreak.

But now, as the confetti settles, Michigan has once again found a way to make a mockery of Ryan Day and OSU. Whether it was Tennessee, Texas, or Notre Dame, every Ohio State win was powered by the silent torment of that painful Michigan loss—heartbreak turned into fuel. Even when the Buckeyes secured their ticket to Atlanta, that dark day in November still loomed over them.

Imagine you’re an Ohio State player and hear the analysts talking about the Michigan woes right before you suit up for the grand final of the college football regular season. Scary right? But not more than the burning will to win a title. So, you just walk past and claim the 34-23 on the scoreboard. The win surely didn’t wipe out the tears or heal up the pain; it just made it a little more bearable with the biggest solace (a national title under the belt).

Ryan Day, on a personal note, needed that title more than anyone ever. He has been perhaps one of the rarest head coaches in history who just went from receiving death threats to receiving congratulations on his DM within a month’s gap. Kirk Herbstreit spilled the beans about how badly Day and his family were banged up after some “lunatic fans” crossed the limits on social media. The situation went to such an extreme that the veteran head coach had to turn to 24*7 security protection for the sake of his life.

However, despite the national title healing up the wound temporarily, it’s instilled in the veins vividly. Michigan fans were finding an excuse to vent out all the grudges they have, and they finally found their shot as Michigan once again ‘upset’ the Buckeyes in Columbus with an 86-83 victory, but this time not in the gridiron but in the basketball court.

The Wolverines have won the past six games in a row by a combined 19 points, including the last one at Columbus. Ohio State got their chances to capitalize on and make it a win—a lot like football, but they made some easy misses. The Wolverines held the upper hand for more than 28 minutes, but the Buckeyes chipped away, and veteran guard Bruce Thornton could easily tie the game with seconds on the clock. But he made a nasty miss while making a 7-foot Danny Wolf fall to the floor in the process.

It again made Ohio State a laughingstock to the Michigan nation.

Michigan fans got the better of Ryan Day and Co.

On IG, fans hilariously photoshopped the OSU graveyard sticker, showing their mascot laid out with the entire Wolverines basketball team celebrating around it. The comment section made it clear that a national championship wouldn’t make up for Michigan’s fourth consecutive football loss to Ohio State and the damage that loss does to the school’s image across all sports.

Although Michigan basketball was ranked 20th in the nation, the Wolverines were slight underdogs to the Buckeyes in Columbus on Sunday. It was not even close to the football, where they were heavy underdogs against OSU. But the scenarios are quite the same. The Wolverines have beaten up the Buckeyes in their home game as an underdog. Fans couldn’t help dragging the parallel saying, ”And we are underdogs in this game too.”

Just the way OSU lacked pass protection, faltered in the red zone, and missed crucial opportunities, Bruce Thornton made a mistake and never got the chance to recover. Making a cheeky joke out of it, one fan wrote, “What’s the feeling of missing another easy shot OSU fans?”

The rivalry between Michigan and Ohio State is alive and well, with fans on both sides throwing jabs. One fan, dripping with sarcasm, wrote, ”Columbus is in Shambles.” Another took it a step further, savagely shortening the Buckeyes’ name to ”Su-keyes.” And you can’t really blame them. This intense dislike goes way back, possibly even to the Toledo War, which still lingers in the collective memory of the region, fueling the animosity. Now, fans just love to state the facts—and then twist them with some good old-fashioned trolling.

While the Wolverines dominate the football rivalry, the Buckeyes have the edge in basketball, even after this recent Michigan win. Adding fuel to the fire, one fan commented, ”It’s so nice too have two lil bros.” It’s clear this rivalry isn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

The comment section is pathetic to undergo for any OSU fan, but hopefully, Ryan Day can flip the script heading to another brand new year at Columbus.