The biggest rivalry in college football, ‘The Game’ between the Ohio State Buckeyes and Michigan Wolverines truly doesn’t take one day to rest. The hatred between the two schools is ever present, even when neither school is playing. Michigan freshman Bryce Underwood didn’t waste time when meeting his idol, LeBron James, making a stern six-word comment to the Ohio native.
The Wolverines and Buckeyes are inseparable, each side unable to truly exist without the other, despite what either may say about wishing the other would disappear. Their identities are as much built on tradition as they are on the fierce rivalry and disdain for everything the other stands for.
It’s no wonder the two schools are the most recent NCAA football champions in the nation. After Michigan was crowned in 2023, Ohio State said ‘whatever the team up north can do, we can do better‘, before going on to secure their championship.
Ahead of the 2025 NCAA campaign, both schools are already feeding off each other, eagerly marking off the days for the regular-season finale showdown at Michigan Stadium. Michigan freshman Bryce Underwood hasn’t experienced ‘The Game’ yet, but he’s already confident that he will dismantle the Buckeyes on the gridiron.
So confident, in fact, that he made sure to remind Buckeyes fan LeBron James of what Ohio State will be facing this season. After meeting James during a Los Angeles Clippers-Los Angeles Lakers NBA game, Underwood made a bold six-word promise to LeBron about the Ohio State University.
“It’s over for Ohio State,” Bryce Underwood told LeBron James, as he revealed during an appearance on The Rich Eisen Show. “You know I’m going to Michigan, right?”
Better walk the talk
If there’s one thing that should be crystal clear by now, it’s that the North remembers. Everything. If Underwood fails to back up his bold words when Michigan hosts Ohio State in the 2025 campaign, the freshman will have a hard time living them down.
Even LeBron, who is a Buckeyes fan though he didn’t attend the school in Columbus, will make sure to remind Underwood of his statement if they come across each other in the future.
This year’s showdown will be an intriguing matchup between the two schools, as always. This time around, it will have an added twist: both programs are expected to be led by freshman quarterbacks. While Underwood should take the reins in Ann Arbor, Julian Sayin would command the Buckeyes into a hostile environment.