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.

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 and Phil give live reports from the weekend’s games, as respectively they each attended UT’s bare-bleacher win and BGSU’s standing room-spectacle loss.

Briggs correctly predicted Ohio State pulling punches, but doesn’t pull any when talking about the Michigan vs. Michigan St. rivalry missing its punch this year.

Phil wasn’t punched, but puts the over/under for times he was reprimanded by field security at 2.5, and for mentions of Pudge the Cat at even odds with comparable Eddie George mentions.

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, big winds blow in the coiffeurs of the Big Ten and it’s Scrooge McDuck vault of media rights riches being tinkered with by Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti. Take the money and run... your program.

Briggs gives his expert understanding of the situation. Phil gives his heartfelt opinion of the dollar’s value in sport and “Sports.”

Toledo controls its own destiny, which unfortunately looks like every other year they finish 8-4... or 7-5. Michigan is on upset alert and BGSU is on cruise control for the 2026 season.

Cameos include Gino Torretta, Sam Bradford, the Saudi Royal Family, a temporary stadium for the battle of I-75, and the worst field in college football.

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, bubbles are poppin like the pads in the Autumn wind.

MACtion returns to the Glass Bowl for a transcendent preter-football Toledo experience, Dave is there. Phil returns to Ohio State to witness bubble-on-bystander assault against Penn State, Dave is there. Eddie George shakes up his Falcons coaching staff, Dave is there. Michigan wheezes past Purdue but still looks to face Ohio State with only two losses, Dave is not there for it. Can Northwestern get a second coach fired?

Cameos include a freak Division V high school soccer goal, Ronnie Lott, regional statehood history, Troy Smith’s training regimen, and a self proclaimed “one-man-whiteout.”

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, no one’s favorite segment is back: Hot Seat!

Though our respective program leaders are all in good graces, the wild, wild life of any college football coach in today’s business can be a road to nowhere.

So we revisit program histories when the hot seat took coaches to the river mid-season.

Briggs finds fine Italian in Idaho. Phil has a unique marching band experience with David Byrne. And there are cameos from Lewis & Clark, Toledo Tom Amstutz, Earl Bruce, and of course many, many talking heads.

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.

Phil attended his couch, but as the Falcons slowly clawed their way out of a 21-0 hole — a deficit in which they had been 0-75 — they made it to the big TV of the house.

Ohio State continued its grotesque, plodding deforestation of opponents. Michigan’s Bryce Underwood takes a bad loss, but is still a superstar in the making, we just can’t figure out which one.

Joe Germaine, Pudge the Cat, Jason Candle’s esprit de corps, Phil’s new sneakers, and the Acme Co. all make cameos.

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.

This week is rivalry week number one.

The Rockets will travel south to Doyt Perry Stadium for a noon tilt with Eddie George’s Falcons and one cat.

Briggs has the insights and inside info as each team comes off a bye-week to prepare for their rival.

Will Pudge the Cat be fan-manned in at the last second? No. But does he have a busy schedule on gameday?

Busier than Phil’s — who looks to over-emphasize UT’s de-emphasizing of the idea of a big game being just any game, without understanding why over-investing emotion can lead to meandering performance and sideways results.

Ohio State and Michigan get notes of efficiency, but all eyes remain on the rocket pointed at BG’s campus in this episode.

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.