Next story from Big Ten media day (so many more to come): As #OhioState and Michigan return to a home-and-home, #Buckeyes senior Bruce Thornton has a prediction for this year.

“We’re going to beat them twice before I leave out.”

Story below:

— Adam Jardy (@AdamJardy) October 10, 2025

The bad blood between Ohio State and Michigan on the football field may never have been at more of a higher fever pitch than it is these days. The Wolverines have won four in a row against the Buckeyes, took home a College Football Playoff national championship two years ago, and even tried to plant the Michigan flag at midfield on the Block O in the middle of the ‘Shoe last season. To make matters worse, there’s the understanding that the Wolverines broke NCAA rules during that time period and seemed to get off scot free with a slap on the wrist from the governing body that determines punishment on these types of things.

Players and recruits from both sides have made predictions on winning the matchups between the two arch-rivals, but it has now spilled over to the basketball court as well. This season, Ohio State and Michigan will play twice, and OSU point guard Bruce Thornton has now gotten caught up in the emotion of the rivalry heading into his last season in Columbus.

At Big Ten basketball media days on Thursday, Thornton couldn’t hold back his thoughts and emotion when it came to playing against the Maize and Blue twice this year.

“We’re going to beat them twice before I leave out,” he said, according to The Columbus Dispatch’s Adam Jardy. “I feel like there ain’t no better feeling than that. I feel like we’re very capable this year of making that happen. Why not us?”

It may be a little surprising coming from Thornton, who by all accounts and measures is the leader of this year’s team with the combination of his skill and experience. He is often reserved and measured, so his coming out with a bold take seems to go against character.

Maybe Thornton’s record against Michigan plays into it. Ohio State has played against the Wolverines four times with Thornton in the program and has only won one of those matchups. The Buckeyes beat That Team Up North in March of 2024 after Chris Holtmann got let go and Jake Diebler was acting as interim head coach. The Wolverines won the last matchup between the two in Columbus by a score of 86-83 in February of this year.

There’s no doubt Diebler and Ohio State need a bounce-back year. The Buckeyes have missed the NCAA Tournament the last three seasons and need a momentum-building season to begin to turn things back to where the program has been accustomed to being. One — and yes two — wins over Michigan, which was picked to finish second in the league in a media poll, would go a long way towards making that happen.

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