Sports: Ohio State vs. Michigan

That is the huge game on Saturday. Much of local sports radio even in Los Angeles is talking about it.

The odds-makers have Ohio State favored to win by 7 and most of the radio-talking-heads are picking the Buckeyes.

As a follower of college football in California and as a UCLA alum, many of my memories are of the U$C vs. UCLA game which this year won't occur until December 2. Unfortunately, for most of my life, UCLA came out on the losing end of these affairs.

The most memorable college football sports moment in California doesn't involve USC nor UCLA. Rather it was "the play" from the 1982 California-Stanford game. John Elway drove the Stanford team down field in the final minute to take a 20-19 lead on a field goal. Unfortunately, there were still FOUR seconds left on the clock and the team was penalized 15 yards for excessive celebration. Thus, the kickoff was at the Stanford 25 yard line. It was a squibb kick and the rest was history.

To see the (in)famous play, check the Berkely alumni page and click on the links to see the video.

Wikipedia has an entry for the renown episode and recounts it also from the Stanford and the referee perspective.

Obligatory prediction worth every cent you are paying for it: OSU 20 UM 17.

update: Stewart Mandel of SI.com thinks UM defense will win the game for them.

Update: It is not even half time and the score is already OSU 21 UM 14. Unless the second half turns into a defensive struggle, they will blow past my 37 point over/under forecast!