And it all comes down to this. The Wisconsin Badgers football team finished the regular season undefeated for the first time in 105 years and head into the Big Ten championship ranked No. 3 nationally. But before any celebration can really begin, they must defeat a pretty formidable opponent: THE Ohio State University.
The Buckeyes will be the toughest test the Badgers have faced yet this season, especially if quarterback J.T. Barrett is able to return from the camera-induced knee injury the Ohio State senior suffered last week against Michigan. Hopefully coach Urban Meyer’s not-at-all grandstanding “all-out investigation” led to some poor schmuck losing press credentials.
Before the two teams take the field in Indianapolis on Saturday, get to know THE enemy.
There can only be one
If you’ve ever watched an NFL game like, ever, you’ve probably seen former Buckeyes introduce themselves as coming from THE Ohio State University. But why? It’s not like there’s another Ohio State out there.
When the school was founded in 1870, it was initially called “Ohio Agricultural and Mechanical College,” aka Mech. It initially only trained students in those two fields, but under the guidance of Ohio governor and future U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes, it expanded into a more expansive university, covering a wider array of academic subjects. Accordingly, it was renamed “The Ohio State University.” There’s no real reason for the “the,” but campus legend has it was meant to show other colleges who’s boss. No, seriously.
What exactly is a buckeye?
It’s a tree, plainly. “Buckeye” is a colloquial term that refers to people from Ohio, derived from the state tree, the Ohio Buckeye. Their mascot, Brutus Buckeye, is supposed to be a buckeye nut, but objectively just looks like an anthropomorphic turd.
Negative, Ghost Rider, the pattern is full
THE Ohio State is located in Columbus, which has been home to some of the most distinguished figures in aviation history. In World War I, six Columbus pilots — led by legendary fighter ace Eddie Rickenbacker — shot down a staggering 42 enemy planes in WWI, which made up 10% of all aerial wins for the United States. Columbus was also home to Geraldine Fredritz Mock, who in 1964 became the first woman to fly around the globe, in a plane aptly named the Spirit of Columbus.
The Dahmer Connection
One of Wisconsin’s most infamous stories is that of Jeffrey Dahmer, the Milwaukee man who killed at least 17 men and boys in horrific fashion in the late 1970s through the early 1990s. He was born in Milwaukee but spent much of his childhood in both Doylestown and Bath, Ohio. In 1978, just weeks after committing his first murder, Dahmer enrolled at THE Ohio State University as a business major. He washed out after one term, and after a short stint in the Army he returned to the Milwaukee-area and, well, you know. If you want any more details, just ask him: Despite dying in Wisconsin, Dahmer supposedly haunts Morrill Tower, his old residence hall at The OSU.
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