Michigan players have been using some rather interesting footballs during voluntary offseason workouts.
Receiver Bo Dever recently posted a photo on Instagram of a ball with the block "M" on it and a little shot at archrival Ohio State, too.
It reads "MADE IN USA" and below that is the following inscription: "NOT IN OHIO."
A Michigan spokesperson told the Detroit News that the Wolverines actually use Wilson footballs, which are made in Ada, Ohio, and that these were apparently test balls from adidas.
How the players got ahold of them isn't entirely clear.
It's just another twist to one of college football's most interesting rivalries.
Michigan coach Brady Hoke has riled up Ohio State fans from his first day on the job when he started referring to the school simply as "Ohio" during a news conference to introduce him as the Wolverines' coach.
To this day, Hoke still only refers to Ohio State as Ohio, which continues to annoy the Buckeye faithful.
Hoke, however, sounded a little confused about the whole football controversy and where they might have originated.
He told a San Diego radio station during an interview, "The only thing I can say is, obviously, the head coach at Michigan is from Ohio (Hoke grew up near Dayton) and we've got a lot of football players on our team from Ohio, so we think there are some good things made in Ohio."
Presumably, just not Buckeyes.
