Heart of the Rivalry is a Blade-produced YouTube series and podcast available on all major platforms that covers the heart of college football through the sport’s own treasured programs of Ohio State, Michigan, Toledo, and Bowling Green.

The weekly show is led by The Blade’s sports columnist, David Briggs, with co-host/producer Phil Kaplan.

In this episode, Dave recounts his reports Ohio vs. Michigan through Phil’s vacation-style recap game called High-Low-Ha, in which we find out the highest moment of the game, the lowest, and the funniest.

Toledo’s regular season ends on a high note for a sad song. Bowling Green is onto off-season schemes. The Big Ten championship game looms ahead of Ohio State, and a bowl outside of the playoff for Michigan can still be a launch pad for next season.

But all eyes remain mostly on The Game. Michigan’s stadium became a living snow globe. Brutus got more run in the end zone than the Wolverines. And the bands played on.

Cameos include OSU standout lineman from Toledo Luke Montgomery, UT basketball coach Tod Kowalczy and Charlotte Hornets guard Kon Knueppel’s connection to the official head-butt of the year by Michigan’s Jaishawn Barham, 1960s Brutus, Tom Brady’s glasses, Derek Jeter, Eddie George, Indiana head coach Curt Cignetti, and more!

All that and more from Heart of the Rivalry, the only show to cover exclusively the rivalry programs of Bowling Green and Toledo, as well as Michigan and Ohio State.

Heart of the Rivalry is a Blade-produced YouTube series and podcast available on all major platforms that covers the heart of college football through the sport’s own treasured programs of Ohio State, Michigan, Toledo, and Bowling Green.

The weekly show is led by The Blade’s sports columnist, David Briggs, with co-host/producer Phil Kaplan.

In this episode, The Game is here. Ohio State will play Michigan in Ann Arbor for the 122nd edition of college football’s rivalry-iest rivalry.

Dave sets the stakes with some historic quotes from both sides of the border.

Phil’s hat says more than he does, though armed with more stats than usual — they are perhaps kept inside the giant hat.

Toledo look to take care of business against Central Michigan, and hope for the weirdest series of dominoes to fall to end up in the MAC title game. As always with the Rockets, hat or no hat, confounding stats surround them. Find out what other great stat where Toledo is top-10 nationally.

Bowling Green will wrap up its 2025 campaign Tuesday at 4:30 p.m. as a 3-score favorite against UMAss, the only winless team left in FBS college football.

Cameos include the flag-planting incident of 2024, weather in the form of “precip,” Earl Bruce (again), John Cooper (again), the suddenly questionable Carnell Tate, Michigan’s psychological lock on the Buckeyes, and the extra dramatic, unique nature of this year’s edition of The Game.

All that and more from Heart of the Rivalry, the only show to cover exclusively the rivalry programs of Bowling Green and Toledo, as well as Michigan and Ohio State.

Heart of the Rivalry is a Blade-produced YouTube series and podcast available on all major platforms that covers the heart of college football through the sport’s own treasured programs of Ohio State, Michigan, Toledo, and Bowling Green.

The weekly show is led by The Blade’s sports columnist, David Briggs, with co-host/producer Phil Kaplan.

In this episode... and then there was one.

Next week is Thanksgiving and, of course, The Game. But before Ohio State can visit Michigan in an attempt to right wrongs past like so many Scott Bakula scripts, they must first battle the inevitable squads of Rutgers, in Columbus, and Maryland, in College Park.

Dave is back from Pittsburgh and thinks the MAC may have completely buckled. Phil extrapolates the machinations of money onto the Bowling Green versus winless UMass tilt going up on a Tuesday at 4:30 in the afternoon on ESPN.

Toledo wins again, and again, remains a statistical anomaly with the nation’s second-ranked defense.

Cameos include the People’s Hurdle, Dequan Finn — who might be here in reference, but wasn’t at Miami against Toledo — junior high football primetime, the Primanti Brothers (sandwich), the Antivillains (contemporary Toledo music), Ragtime Rick (old Toledo music), and Pat Narduzzi (Nuz).

All that and more from Heart of the Rivalry, the only show to cover exclusively the rivalry programs of Bowling Green and Toledo, as well as Michigan and Ohio State.