Heart of the Rivalry is a Blade-produced YouTube series and podcast that is available on all major platforms.

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

With college football on the doorstep of its first ever championship game from a 12-team playoff, we of course zag where others zig, and examine how our Buckeyes — ney, all of college football — may still be impacted by the Italian Bowl played at the Glass Bowl in 2023.

Nevertheless, it is coincidentally timely as the Italian American Football League announced the return to Toledo in 2025.

Past that, Dave tells us all about Ohio State’s Cotton Bowl matchup against Texas. He will be there with his most prized holiday treasure, a gift both practical and professional to shield him from the worst part of his job: commercial airline travel.

Phil continues to claim accurate prognostications surrounding all our teams. However, he also advises that he did not gain any weight over the holiday, but that his height and age did fluctuate wildly. So what’s to believe?

We revisit the motion sickness of Toledo’s bowl game trophy crew racing onto the field three times in the Rockets’ six-overtime thriller. And what shall be known as the The Great Michigan Monsoon delivers a victory for the Wolverines.

All that and more will come from your new favorite college football show — the only one to cover exclusively the rivalry programs of Ohio State and Michigan, and Bowling Green and Toledo.