ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A scarlet-and-grey hammer. A maize-and-blue nail.

Ohio State-Michigan remains a rivalry because the fans, the media, the institutions declare it so. This is especially true in Ohio, where the Buckeye fans have never tired of not giving a damn about the whole state of Michigan.

Emotion is one thing. Reality is another. The annual result remains precisely what you’d expect when hammer and nail meet.

This year it was Buckeyes 56, Wolverines 27. That’s Ohio State’s 15th victory in 16 years, its 17th in 19 and its eighth consecutive. That includes all five against Jim Harbaugh, who long ago as a player defeated the Buckeyes (twice), but hasn’t been able to prevail as a coach.

The seasons change. The coaches and players, too. Nothing else does. This is pushing toward two decades of a mismatch with no end in sight.

It’s like watching two programs on two different tracts, just pretending it’s still the 1970s and things were equal. This game is all about nostalgia, the weather usually as grainy and black and white as the old television clips of Woody and Bo.

View photos Michigan Wolverines coach Jim Harbaugh watches pregame warmups prior to kickoff against the Ohio State Buckeyes. (Leon Halip/Getty Images) More

Michigan seems to spend its year arguing with Michigan State about who is or isn’t the big brother around here. Then dad shows up in late November to remind them who is the real boss.

“I just think we take it more seriously than they do,” quarterback Justin Fields said. “We prepare for it all year. I think it just means more at Ohio State.”

That’s debatable, because Michigan takes it very seriously. That Ohio State has more talent isn’t in question.

“In this game, it’s about the players,” coach Ryan Day said.

The Buckeyes, once again, are off to bigger and better things, the Big Ten title game next week in Indianapolis, the College Football Playoff (presumably) after that. These days, the program’s true focus is the teams down south, not The Team Up North.

It’s just polite to not admit it.

Michigan is, well, back to the drawing board, although what exactly can be drawn up is anyone’s guess. The Wolverines can’t beat Ohio State and haven’t won the Big Ten since 2004. They are 9-3 again, and while Harbaugh has returned the team to respectability (it’s at least back to beating MSU with some regularity), he remains a mile behind the Buckeyes.

Ohio State has better players, a better system ... a better everything, really, other than perhaps the fight song and helmets (a matter of personal taste).

It’s been that way for awhile, but when Urban Meyer arrived in 2012, he established the closest thing he could to an SEC program in the Midwest. He demanded Ohio State competed outside the region … in recruiting, in development, in chasing championships.

Ryan Day is in his first year in Columbus, but thus far he’s shown no sign of letting up. He’s 15-0 as a head coach, including 12-0 this year.

Day, 40, looks like Ohio State’s next great coach. Michigan’s best hope is that it’s somehow all a mirage. It’s happened before. Larry Coker took over a Miami juggernaut in 2001 and started his career 24-0 with a national title. He was fired four years later as the program sagged. Mark Helfrich replaced Chip Kelly in Oregon in 2013, started 24-3 and was in the national title game. He was canned two years later as the Ducks went 4-8.

View photos Ohio State running back J.K. Dobbins (2) darts past Michigan's Daxton Hill during the first quarter on Saturday. (Leon Halip/Getty Images) More

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