This weekend is a perfect storm of Ohio football rivalries. On Saturday, the Ohio State Buckeyes head north to face the Michigan Wolverines. On Sunday, the Cleveland Browns head east to battle the the Pittsburgh Steelers. Also on Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals will futilely engage their longstanding nemesis– the game of football.
Setting aside the Bengals as irrelevant, just as the game of football repeatedly affirms, this weekend marks the 14th occasion, and the first in seven years, in which Ohio’s two most popular football teams face their arch rivals in the same weekend. For the multitudes who root for both the Buckeyes and the Browns, this weekend is Loathe-aplooza. It will also mark the first all-away Loathe-apalooza since the very first one in 1953! (In between, there were seven Loathe-apaloozas that took place entirely in Ohio.)
Dual fans of the Buckeyes and Browns have reason for optimism that they will get to experience the fourth Ohio sweep in Loathe-apalooza history. Here are the results of the previous Loathe-aplaooza weekends.
1953 (Split w/ CLE win)
November 21: @Michigan 20, Ohio State 0
November 22: Cleveland 20, @Pittsburgh 16
1955 (Ohio sweep!)
November 19: Ohio State 17, @Michigan 0
November 20: Cleveland 41, Pittsburgh 14
1959 (Opponent sweep)
November 21: @Michigan 23, Ohio State 14
November 22: Pittsburgh 21, Cleveland 20
1960 (Split w/ OSU win)
November 19: Ohio State 7, Michigan 0
November 20: @Pittsburgh 14, Cleveland 10
1962 (Ohio sweep!)
November 24: Ohio State 28, Michigan 0
November 25: Cleveland 35, Pittsburgh 14
1973: (O-H! One Oh and One!)
November 24: Ohio State 10, @Michigan 10 (TIE)
November 25: Cleveland 21, Pittsburgh 10
1981: (Split w/ OSU win)
November 21: Ohio State 14, @Michigan 9
November 22: Pittsburgh 32, Cleveland 10
1986 (Split w/ CLE win)
November 22: Michigan 26, Ohio State 24
November 23: Cleveland 37, Pittsburgh 31 (OT)
1988 (Split w/ CLE win)
November 19: Michigan 34, Ohio State 31
November 20: Cleveland 27, Pittsburgh 7
1995 (Opponent sweep)
November 25: @Michigan 31, Ohio State 23
November 26: Pittsburgh 20, Cleveland 17
2003 (Opponent sweep)
November 22: @Michigan 35, Ohio State 21
November 23: Pittsburgh 13, Cleveland 6
2006 (Split w/ OSU win)
November 18: Ohio State 42, Michigan 39
November 19: Pittsburgh 24, Cleveland 20
2012 (Ohio sweep!)
November 24: Ohio State 26, Michigan 21
November 25: Cleveland 20, Pittsburgh 14
Add it all up and it breaks down in this stupendously symmetrical way:
Ohio sweeps: 3 (1955, 1962, 2012)
Opponent sweeps: 3 (1959, 1995, 2003)
Split w/ OSU win: 3 (1960, 1981, 2006)
Split w/ CLE win: 3 (1953, 1986, 1988)
And there’s the 1973 Loathe-apalooza that saw Ohio go undefeated with a Browns win and OSU tie.
*****
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