Amidst a cluster of students walking to and from class yesterday, I saw someone wearing a shirt that read “Ann Arbor is a whore.”

After a moment laughing to myself over how clever that insult was, the shirt reminded me the end of the college football season must be near. Because with the final week of Big Ten football comes the greatest rivalry in the history of sports — Ohio State versus Michigan.

It’s been a good season but this is the ultimate finale (just ignore for a moment that every other conference has another week of games).

We Ohioans don’t have a lot going for us as far as any other football teams; and neither does Michigan for that matter. So nobody needs to be reminded of how big a deal this game is.

Earlier this year, a group of Kent State students got in trouble for defending their honor of Ohio State football to a couple of Michigan fans. These people didn’t even go to those colleges, and they still got in a fight.

I know tensions among football fans tend to grow strong — especially when one or more is drunk and feels the need to prove their masculinity — but that wasn’t an isolated case.

TV and newspapers are littered with human-interest stories about Buckeye and Wolverine fans this week declaring their allegiance for the game.

While I was listening to a radio show on boxing last night, the DJ took time out to break format and talk about the football game. As one guest put it, if the teams were winless this game would still be a big deal.

You can’t avoid hearing about this game.

Usually I get annoyed with media saturation on anything, but I’m going to make an exception with the game just this one time.

This game means decades of bragging rights. It’s undefeated versus undefeated with the national championship on the line. People who need a reason to fight whilst drinking at their local bars will have another one tomorrow.

I’m neither a Ohio State nor Michigan fan, but I’m going to savor this one.

And after the game, if we’re lucky, the BCS rankings will work out so we’ll get to see them again in the National Championship.

Contact assistant sports editor Sean Ammerman at [email protected].