Clemson, Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan State, Texas and Ohio State's modern mini-rivalries

We talked about whether the Buckeyes could ever have a second rival. Here's a scale rating those possibilities on rivalry points.

Clemson coach Dabo Swinney is 3-1 against Ohio State and served as a perfect rivalry villain before the Buckeyes finally got revenge in a playoff semifinal at the end of the 2020 season. (Photo courtesy of the Fiesta Bowl)

COLUMBUS — Ohio State vs. Michigan is a maximum rivalry. Create whatever scale you want, use any categories, the Buckeyes vs. the Wolverines gives you everything you could ask for.

As we discussed on a recent Wednesday episode of The Bill and Doug Show, can Ohio State have a second rival? A rotating rival? An opponent that over a period of time — five years, 10, 20 — plays enough interesting, competitive, meaningful, antagonistic games against the Buckeyes that the matchups become about more than just that game?

Can Ohio State have another opponent that the Buckeyes and their fans don’t just want to beat because it’s part of the season, but also beat because they just don’t like those guys?

I think the answer is yes. Over my time covering the Buckeyes, especially when Ohio State was drubbing Michigan and going 15-1 against the Wolverines between 2004 and 2019, I was always on the lookout for a second rival.

I asked Urban Meyer about banning green in the Woody Hayes Athletic Center when Michigan State beat the Buckeyes three times in five years in 2011, 2013 and 2015. There was the dual-sport Wisconsin rivalry when Bret Bielema and Bo Ryan annoyed Ohio State in the early 2000s. There was Dabo Swinney being Dabo Swinney when Clemson faced the Buckeyes in postseason games after the 2013, 2016, 2019 and 2020 seasons.

The rivalries didn’t last, didn’t embed themselves in the consciousness of Ohio State fans. But during those eras, I’d argue the matchups went beyond individual games and leaned toward something that invoked some proximity, history, familiarity, stakes and/or personality — the five categories we used to break down possible rivals.

As we said on the show, Indiana and Oregon could be burgeoning rivals for Ohio State. The Buckeyes have dominated the Hoosiers forever, but they’ve split with Curt Cignetti the last two years, they have a massive game in October, and Cignetti is the type of guy that could annoy the opposition. This could become a rivalry for the Cignetti era if the stakes remain high.

With Oregon, the Buckeyes are 4-2 against the Ducks over the last 17 years. That started with a Rose Bowl win to conclude the 2009 season and continued with the national title victory to end the 2014 season. Then Oregon won in Columbus in 2021 and in Eugene in 2024, and the Buckeyes embarrassed Oregon in a Rose Bowl quarterfinal on their way to the 2024 title.

Now they’ll play again in Columbus in November.

We’ll check on those rivalry possibilities after the Buckeyes get through the Hoosiers and Ducks this season.

For now, I present a more detailed look at five other rivals this century that I mentioned on the show. I created a score of Rival Points to judge them. Think of this as Michigan setting the maximum standard in each category.

• Proximity (5 points) — Are you near each other geographically or intimately linked in another way?

• History (5 points) — Is there something from the wayback machine that adds to modern-day feelings?

• Familiarity (10 points) — How often are you playing now and how well do you know these guys?

• Stakes (10 points) — How much do the games matter in the big picture? Are they affecting the national championship race?

• Personality (10 points) — Are there people on the other side (primarily coaches) that get under the skin of Ohio State fans and add to the rivalry through annoyance?

I didn’t necessarily includ every game the Buckeyes have played against some of these rivals. I only used the era when the rivalry was really thriving. Some eras have ended. Some haven’t. But the list of games I used shows you the time period in which the rivalry was really popping.

The max Rival Points is 40. Here are my Top 5 candidates for second Ohio State rival in the modern era. There’s a question at the bottom to vote for the team you think should be No. 1.