Rivalry game critical for Michigan

During the Subway Series in the fall of 2000, New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani said you can't root for both the Mets and Yankees.

I graduated from The University of Michigan and The Ohio State University and found out that you can't root for both teams in this rivalry either, which is perhaps the greatest in college football.

In the 1990s, Michigan owned this rivalry. At the time, Ohio State was stocked with future NFL draft picks, but losses to the Wolverines killed its national championship dreams in 1993, 1995 and 1996.

However, under coach Jim Tressel, the Buckeyes were able to forget the ghosts of the past and finally reach the top in 2002.

The Ohio State-Michigan game is meaningful every year. At stake is one or more of the following: pride, a Big Ten title or a shot at a national championship.

There are a many reasons why a lot is at stake in this year's game. For Michigan, here's just three of those reasons...

1. John Navarre: This senior wants to prove he's a big game quarterback. He's come up short in his last two games against Ohio State. In 2001, he was benched in favor of a redshirt freshman who quickly gave up a safety to put the Buckeyes ahead 23-0 just before halftime. Last season, Navarre moved the Wolverines up and down the field, but could not deliver the knockout punch. Michigan's only points in the game came from three field goals.

2. Lloyd Carr: Even though Coach Carr took Michigan to a national co-championship in 1997, the fans are starting to become unhappy with him. In Ann Arbor, the expectations are high. Losing to the Buckeyes two years in a row, and watching them win a national championship, is unacceptable. Carr is 0-2 against Tressel. A third loss could be harmful to Carr's job security.

3. Michigan Athletics as a whole: The athletics program lost face big time last year because of the basketball scandal, as a fairly talented hoops team lost the opportunity to play in a postseason tournament last season. Members of the Fab Five had to be purged from Wolverine basketball history and several maize and blue banners no longer hang from the rafters at Crisler Arena.

This year, Michigan has a legitimate shot at a BCS bowl. Clinching that with a win over the defending national champions would give the athletic program a big lift.

I'm looking forward to November 22. In case you're wondering, I'll be rooting for Michigan to come up short again.