Coach Rich Rodriguez on his first Ohio State-Michigan experience

None of the craziness really surprised Rich Rodriguez.

He presided over one of the most riled-up fan bases in college sports while coaching at West Virginia, where Moutaineers fans have a propensity to burn couches and hold raucous celebratory parties.

Still, Rodriguez brought the funny when he discussed his first Michigan-Ohio State game.

"Coming in on the bus, people were pretty colorful," Rodriguez said. "We saw a few old ladies hold up some hand signals while we were driving in."

Wonder what those would have been? Perhaps a one-fingered salute?

While he laughed at that, he wasn't finding his team's performance in that game all too funny.

Ohio State beat Michigan last year, 42-7, and has won five OSU-UM games in a row. (See all-time series results here).

"I wish we would have played better," Rodriguez said. "I wish we were better so the game could have been better. The intensity was what you thought it was, and I think it's the greatest rivalry in sports.

"...I didn't enjoy the atmosphere because we weren't playing well. If we had played better and been more competitive, which is certainly our plan and our intention, it would be a whole lot better."

Michael Rothstein covers University of Michigan basketball for annarbor.com. He can be reached at (734) 623-2558 or at michaelrothstein@annarbor.com.