Jackson Buchanan (right) attends Ohio State’s 20-12 win against Penn State with Chris Wright (left) at Ohio Stadium Oct. 21. Courtesy of Jackson Buchanan.To most Ohio State students, rooting for Michigan is unthinkable.
To most Ohio State students, rooting for Michigan is unthinkable.
But for Jackson Buchanan, a third-year in finance and aviation management and die-hard Buckeye fan, supporting Michigan was an important part of his life as a sports fan.
Growing up in three different states, Buchanan didn’t latch on to a college sports team because of his proximity to a school; rather, it was his grandparents who introduced him to the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes.
Jackson Buchanan grew up with one grandparent on each side of the rivalry: Bob Buchanan, a Michigan alum and decadeslong Ann Arbor, Michigan, resident, and Mark Kawa, an ex-Detroit-Ohioan whose love for the Buckeyes began out of spite toward Michigan.
With influences on both sides of the rivalry, Jackson Buchanan ended up falling in love with the Wolverines.
“Going to Ann Arbor and visiting my grandpa was a thing I did in my childhood a lot that really shaped that,” Jackson Buchanan said. “I went to two or three games at the Big House, and I was just a kid being like, ‘Whoa, this is really cool,’ you know, the big football stadium.”
Although Jackson Buchanan grew up wearing maize and blue, his level of animosity toward Ohio State never matched his fellow Michigan fans.
“I think because of the influence of my other grandpa, I never really had a hatred of Ohio State,” Jackson Buchanan said. “I didn’t like them as much because I’m always a person who roots for the underdog, and growing up, especially in those late 2010s years, Ohio State was pretty dominant, especially in the Ohio State-Michigan rivalry.”
While most Michigan fans would never consider attending Ohio State, Buchanan said his unique perspective on the rivalry and desire to attend a strong business school with a “good culture” led him to Ohio State. Soon after enrolling, the allegiance-switching process began.
“Early on, it was really hard to switch, but over the years, I’ve gone from liking Michigan to being neutral towards them to hating them,” Jackson Buchanan said “One of the appeals of college for me was rooting for all these cool teams and having that affiliation with the school. It’s kind of hard to just decide you’re rooting for a team, but now that I’ve experienced heartbreaking Ohio State losses like the Michigan loss and the Georgia loss last year, I’ve become way more emotionally invested in the outcome of these games.”
Since arriving in Columbus, Jackson Buchanan has attended every home conference football game, as well as several nonfootball sporting events. In addition to making memories in the ’Shoe, Jackson Buchanan said he grew closer with the Ohio State fanbase through Buck-I-Watch.
Buck-I-Watch, founded in 2022, is a student organization dedicated to hosting watch parties for Ohio State away games. After attending various watch parties last year, Jackson Buchanan joined the Buck-I-Watch executive board.
“I went to a lot of events my sophomore year, and I really like the culture of watching the games together and sharing that bond that we all have for Ohio State,” Jackson Buchanan said. “What truly made me an Ohio State fan — watching Ohio State sports with Buck-I-Watch definitely is one of those.”
Buck-I-Watch founder and president Blaze Fletcher-Broderson said seeing students’ passion for Ohio State grow was exactly what he hoped for when creating the organization.
“Coming to campus and seeing how passionate people were about the Buckeyes, but then not seeing that materialize as much when it was away games, that was something I wanted to foster during away games as well, and I think we have done that,” Fletcher-Broderson said.
Supporting Michigan throughout the 2010s and switching to Ohio State in 2021, Jackson Buchanan hasn’t seen his preferred team win The Game since 2011.
“It’s funny, I tell my family all the time, whoever I root for in this game never wins, so I definitely do feel cursed,” Jackson Buchanan said.
After spending last Thanksgiving with the Michigan side of his family, Jackson Buchanan will hope his luck turns around this year when he watches Ohio State play Michigan with Kawa Nov. 25.
