At the end of the Hayes tenure the series stood at 42285

At the end of the Hayes tenure, the series stood at 42285.On November 18, 2006, Ohio State and Michigan met for their annual showdown, each carrying an 110 record. For the first time in the history of the rivalry, the two rivals faced off while holding the top two spots in the Bowl Championship Series rankings. Ohio State won the game by a score of 4239 and became the outright Big Ten champion, earning the right to play for a national championship at the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale, Arizona. Michigan struck first blood with a touchdown run by junior running back Mike Hart, but the Buckeyes then scored 21 unanswered points, and at halftime, they were up 2814 However, the Wolverines weren't ready to back down. Thanks to an interception and a fumble recovery by junior defensive tackle Alan Branch, Michigan made it 35-31 Ohio State with 14 minutes to go in the fourth quarter. But after appearing to have forced Ohio State into a fourth down situation with six minutes to go, junior outside linebacker Shawn Crable was called for roughing the QB, giving the Buckeyes a fresh set of downs. Ohio State quarterback Troy Smith then passed to Brian Robiskie for a touchdown, increasing the Buckeyes' lead to 42-31 with five minutes remaining in the game.

The Wolverines still had fight in them, and after Ohio State was called for pass interference on a failed 4th down attempt, giving Michigan an automatic 1st down, junior quarterback Chad Henne found senior tight end Tyler Ecker for a 16-yard touchdown with two minutes to go to cut the OSU lead to 42-37. Michigan needed to recover the ensuing onside kick, and they failed to do so. The Buckeyes ran out the clock for the victory, and a trip to the BCS national championship game. Troy Smith completed 71 of his passes for 316 yards and four touchdowns, essentially clinching the Heisman trophy Ginn caught eight passes for 104 yards and a touchdown.

Michigan running back Mike Hart carried the ball 23 times for 142 yards and three touchdowns against a stout Buckeye defense. Chad Henne also turned in an excellent performance with 267 yards, two touchdowns, and no turnovers on a 60 completion percentage. Neither performance was, however, sufficient to turn the tide in favor of the Wolverines. The game was highly touted by ESPN/ABC (there was even a game countdown clock for a week before kickoff) and was viewed by the largest television audience for a regular season college football game since 1993, averaging 21.8 million viewers.14 The victory marked the first time in 43 years that the Buckeyes had won three consecutive games in the series. The game gained even more significance when, on the eve of the meeting, legendary Michigan head coach and former Ohio State assistant coach Bo Schembechler died.

After thinking about it for a while I had to pick The Iron Bowl as the most intense rivalry in all of college sports While the Michigan/ Ohio St. game is really, really close (quite possibly a tie) I just feel that this one stands out from the rest. This one game has caused married couples to divorce, brothers to fight, fathers and sons to disown one another and God only knows how many brawls between strangers The hate between these two fan bases surpass any other. Joe Namath led Alabama to a 2114 victory over Auburn, and Alabama would go on to win its eighth national championship.1967 The Run in The Mud - On a night at Legion Field where thunderstorms were so bad that the field had to be constantly cleared of raincoats and other wet weather accessories that blew in from the stands, Alabama quarterback Kenny Stabler ran for a 53 yard touchdown to give Bama a 73 win.1971 - Both teams were playing for a shot at the national championship against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl.