One of the aspects of college football that makes it stand out compared to the NFL is the heated rivalries that develop between schools.
Hoping to capture that characteristic, The Athletic's Scott Dochterman ranked the top 100 college football rivalries this week.
At No. 1? It's the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Here's what Dochterman wrote (in part):
"Arguably, Michigan-Ohio State football is the greatest rivalry in American sports. It unquestionably holds that status in college athletics. Their co-dependence deepens the intensity, both in victory and in defeat. There’s history from the territorial conflict over Toledo in 1835-36 that led to Ohioans referring to Michiganders as 'Wolverines.' There’s proximity, prominence, moments, stakes, frequency and longevity. There is nothing like it."
Frankly, it's an unsurprising choice.
Michigan and Ohio State... or Ohio State and Michigan... have played in 49 ranked matchups, 26 top-10 contests and 13 top-5 battles.
In those games, according to The Athletic, Michigan is 23-22-4 in top-25 games, the two teams are tied in top-10 match-ups (12-12-2) and Ohio State leads in the top-five mega-contests (7-5-1).
The two teams have combined to win 21 national titles in their celebrated histories (Michigan 12, Ohio State 9) and the not-so-friendly duo has produced 10 Heisman Trophy winners (Michigan 3, Ohio State 7).
Despite the lengthy history of the two programs, last year's clash actually provided a unique chapter in the series.
Unranked Michigan pulled off a shocking upset of a then-top-10 Ohio State, but the Buckeyes went on to win the national title - and claim that loss helped them re-focus and regroup as a launching point to a dominant postseason.
Recently, Ohio State soon-to-be-sophomore wide receiver Jeremiah Smith has vowed to never lose to Michigan again in his college career.
The elite wide receiver summed up the historic rivalry in a perfect way for both sides of the battle.
"I just hate them," he said.