The Ohio State Buckeyes football program was accused of taking things too far with the infamous TTUN flag-planting incident after "The Game" this past November.
At Big Ten Football Media Days, Michigan Wolverines EDGE Derrick Moore made a potentially political remark about how red state Ohio took things too far by putting the word "criminal" under his picture.
"It's actually crazy. For, like, a whole month straight, they had a picture of me with the flag on the field. And they pretty much just said, like, criminal or something like that under the picture. And I'm like, bro, wow. I'm a criminal now just because I tried to run around with a flag or flying a flag? I feel like that's actually crazy. But all I got to say, man, hey, that's Ohio for you. That's Ohio for you. That's all I can say," Moore said.
While there's an "all schools do this" line of defense out there, it's fair to admit that the optics weren't great. Moore has every right to feel that way.
In response to the incident, a law was proposed that would criminalize flag-planting as TTUN did the past two times they won in Columbus, named the O.H.I.O. Sportsmanship Act.
As Scarlet and Game's Ryan Stano noted at the time, the bill had "no chance" of being passed, and it was potentially even a troll from Toledo lawmaker Josh Williams, a known Detroit Lions fan who may also back the maize and blue.
As things stand, nothing will happen anytime soon. "The Game" is in Ann Arbor this November, so the issue will be buried for at least another year.
If and when this issue pops back up into the mainstream in 2026, expect the ugly tropes, the jokes, and the controversy to fire back up -- especially if Ohio State or Michigan wins the College Football Playoff National Championship for the third time in two years this coming campaign.