The End Zone: Ohio State

Ohio State beat writer Matt Markey

The Buckeyes against Indiana — if you've seen Road Runner drop that anvil on Wile E. Coyote's head, then you know how this relationship has gone. Never has one neighbor dominated another like this since the Soviet Union had its thumb on Latvia's throat for half a century.

Ohio State has won 65 times against Indiana, the Hoosiers have won 12. Four of those Indiana wins came more than 100 years ago. So what's wrong in Indiana? The Hoosiers have just four wins over OSU since the end of World War II. Only Ralph Nader and the French have fewer victories in that span.

Maybe the difference is advanced education — Indiana has a Princeton, but Ohio has Oxford. Maybe it's royalty — Indiana has Knightstown, but Ohio has King of Prussia. Maybe it's just defense, since Indiana has Fort Wayne, but Ohio has Fort Jennings, Fort Laramie, Fort Recovery, Fort Seneca and Fort Shawnee.

Or maybe it's a leadership issue — seven U.S. presidents were born in Ohio, and none in Indiana. But Indiana did give us Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa, who disappeared in 1975, in the middle of Ohio State's 23-game winning streak over the Hoosiers.

And just maybe the difference is football players. Indiana has 16 Buckeyes on its roster — Ohio State has one Hoosier — defensive lineman and former Indiana state champion heavyweight wrestler Dexter Larimore. Watch out, here comes that anvil.