Michigan at Ohio State, "The Dual"

In just a few minutes, I'll be leaving Toledo for Columbus.  A carload of us are going to see Ohio State take on that team up north in a meet that has been dubbed "The Dual".

The meet had been an annual affair for decades but died out in the mid-90s.  Since the revival, which is a home-and-home indoor/outdoor series, Ohio State leads by a score of four wins to two.  I've doped out the meet, and Ohio State is a fairly strong favorite today.  But it's not impossible for Michigan to win. 

An early indicator will be the long jump, where Michigan's senior Robert Peddlar will got toe-to-toe with Ohio State sophomore (and northwest Ohio native) Korbin Smith.  Smith is the defending Big Ten outdoor champion, Peddlar the defending indoor champion.  If Peddlar can pull off the win, then Michigan has a somewhat of a chance.  Otherwise, the Wolverines will be in a big hole.

In terms of online coverage, there's plenty.  The meet schedule is here.  Flotrack will have a live webcast beginning at noon.  I will be doing updates via Twitter.  Live results are online via Finish Timing.  And then there are the Facebook pages for the Ohio State and Michigan teams.

In what I consider to be a very smart move (in that  they're doing what I suggested a year ago), there are two Ohio State versus Michigan dual meets happening today.  The women's teams face off in Ann Arbor at the same time the men are competing in Columbus.  A home-and-home series splitting men's and women's teams has multiple advantages.  The meets can be much more tightly scheduled affairs if there's only one gender competing.  It's much easier to keep track of team scores if there's only one score being kept.  And, best of all, it doubles the exposure (and likely doubles the attendance).