Michigan Wolverines
The University of Michigan features 25 varsity sports teams called the Wolverines, who compete in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey (whose teams compete in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association). The name comes from a nickname for the state of Michigan, The Wolverine State, the origin of which is open to debate. Team colors are maize and blue.
In seven of the past 10 years, Michigan has finished in the top five of the NACDA Director's Cup, a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports.[1]
Football
| Retired football jerseys | |
|---|---|
| Number | Player |
| 11 | Wistert brothers (Francis, Albert and Alvin) |
| 47 | Bennie Oosterbaan |
| 48 | Gerald Ford |
| 87 | Ron Kramer |
| 98 | Tom Harmon |
The most famous, and best-supported, of the Michigan varsity teams is the football team. Michigan's football program is among the most storied and successful in college football history. Michigan won the first Rose Bowl game in 1902, has won an NCAA-record 849 games through the 2005 season, and has an all-time winning percentage of .745, also an NCAA record. The Wolverine football program claims 11 national titles: 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1918, 1923, 1932, 1933, 1947, 1948 and 1997.
Michigan's famous football coaches include Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler and Bo Schembechler. Presently, the team is coached by Lloyd Carr. Michigan Stadium is the largest football-only stadium in the world, with an official capacity of 107,501 and with attendance commonly exceeding 110,000. The capacity, after each expansion, has always been listed as "-01," with the "extra seat" being in honor of Fritz Crisler. Michigan Stadium has witnessed nearly 200 consecutive crowds of greater than 100,000 - a streak that dates back to 1975.
Michigan has a major rivalry with Ohio State, considered one of the fiercest rivalries in American sports. In a pair of ESPN fan polls, in 2000 and 2003, the Michigan-Ohio State series was voted the greatest rivalry in sports.[2] Michigan's meeting with Ohio State is always the last game of the regular season and has provided many memorable contests, such as the "Snow Bowl" of 1950. The game often decides the Big Ten title.
Michigan also has an intrastate rival in Michigan State; the schools' football teams compete for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. The Wolverines have a tradition-rich history with the University of Minnesota. The two football teams compete for the Little Brown Jug, a five-gallon jug with the respective schools' "M" on either side and the scores of previous games down the middle. The Little Brown Jug is the oldest trophy in Division I-A football, first appearing in 1903.
Finally, the University of Michigan has a rivalry with the University of Notre Dame. According to popular history, football was introduced at Notre Dame in 1887 when members of the Michigan football team taught the game to a group of Notre Dame students while spending the afternoon in South Bend, Indiana, where Notre Dame is located, en route to the University of Chicago. Michigan won the game, 8-0. The incident gave birth to a football program at Notre Dame whose tradition and history of success would come to rival those of Michigan. The game traditionally takes place early in the season.
| Heisman Trophy winners | |
|---|---|
| Year | Player |
| 1940 | Tom Harmon |
| 1991 | Desmond Howard |
| 1997 | Charles Woodson |
Michigan's most recent football season ended in a third-place finish in the Big Ten conference followed by a 32-28 loss to Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl, which included much controversy involving the officiating, and which ended with a play much like that at the conclusion of the 1982 Stanford - California game. This play, beginning at the Michigan 36-yard-line, included eight lateral passes and the inadvertent participation of many Nebraska and Michigan players, fans, and coaches who walked onto the field before Michigan tight end Tyler Ecker was pushed out of bounds at the Nebraska 13 yard-line.
Michigan's football highlights include:
- The most total wins in college football history (849)
- The highest all-time winning percentage (.74421)
- The highest NCAA home attendance every year but one since 1974
- The longest current streak of having over 100,000 at a home game (193 consecutive games)
- The longest current bowl game streak (31)
- The longest current streak of non-losing seasons (38)
- The current longest number of games in Division 1-A since last being shutout (273 games)
- The most televised school in college football history (356 televised games)
- The largest NCAA crowd to ever attend a football game: 112,118 on November 22, 2003, at Michigan Stadium
- The largest delta (points for minus points against) in college football history
- The most conference football championships (42)
- The most undefeated seasons in Division 1-A football (25)
- The highest all-time strength of schedule rating in college football [3]
- The longest time since playing a (non WWII-era) non-Division-1A opponent (74 years)
- The most winning seasons (109)
- 11 National Championships: (1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1918, 1923, 1932, 1933, 1947, 1948, 1997)
- One of only two schools with a winning record against every Division 1-A conference, including independent schools
- The number one sports rivalry: Michigan versus Ohio State, according to ESPN's "Top 10 Greatest Sports Rivalries"
- The best helmet in football, according to ESPN's "End of Century" Special
- The best uniform in sports, according to ESPN2's 64 Team Bracket Results [4]
Men's basketball
| Retired basketball jerseys | ||
|---|---|---|
| Number | Player | Years |
| 22 | Bill Buntin | 1963-1965 |
| 33 | Cazzie Russell | 1964-1966 |
| 35 | Phil Hubbard | 1975-1979 |
| 41 | Glen Rice | 1986-1989 |
| 45 | Rudy Tomjanovich | 1967-1970 |
The men's basketball team, which plays its games at Crisler Arena, is the second most popular athletic program at the university. The Wolverines have won 12 Big Ten regular-season conference titles, as well as the inaugural Big Ten Tournament in 1998. The team has appeared in the NCAA Final Four on six occasions (1964, 1965, 1976, 1989, 1992, 1993) and won the national championship in 1989 under Steve Fisher. Presently the team is coached by Tommy Amaker. In 1992 and 1993, the team was led by the "Fab Five": Chris Webber, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King, and Ray Jackson. Other notable players who played for Michigan include Gary Grant, Terry Mills, Rumeal Robinson, and Campy Russell.
During the 1990s, the men's basketball program became involved in a scandal involving payments from a booster; the program was placed on probation for a four-year period and banned from postseason play in 2002 to 2003. The program also had to officially "vacate" its games in selected past seasons, including its Final Four appearances in 1992 and 1993.
Ice hockey
Another very popular sport is the ice hockey team, which plays its home contests at Yost Ice Arena. Coached by Red Berenson, a former UM player, the program is a perennial national title contender. Altogether, the program has won nine NCAA national championships (1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1964, 1996, 1998).
Other sports
Michigan has a world-renowned men's swimming program, which won the 1996 NCAA championship and has produced a number of Olympic medalists.
Michigan's field hockey program won the 2001 NCAA title - the school's first national title in a women's team sport.
In June 2005, Michigan's women's softball team won the 2005 Division 1 NCAA Softball Championship, defeating two-time defending champion and perennial softball power UCLA two games to one. Michigan is the first school east of the Mississippi River to win this title. The decisive game was won in dramatic fashion, with a home run in the 10th inning for a 4-1 final.
The Michigan baseball program has produced 70 major league players.[5]
Other varsity teams include: baseball, cross country, golf, gymnastics, rowing, soccer, diving, tennis, track/field, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.
Olympians
Through the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 178 Michigan students and coaches had participated in the Olympics. The university has had medal winners in every Summer Olympics except 1896, and gold medalists in all but four Olympiads. A total of 22 countries, including the U.S. have been represented by Michigan athletes. Twelve athletes have been three time Olympians and 30 have been two-time Olympians.[6][7]
The total number of medals won by Michigan athletes is 116, including 54 gold, 27 silver, and 35 bronze. By total medal count, Michigan would constitute the 26th most successful country out of 122; by gold medal count, Michigan would constitute the 17th most successful country.[8]
Notes
- ^ Sports Academy Directors' Cup (2005). National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics.
- ^ The 10 greatest rivalries (1-3-2005). ESPN.com
- ^ cfbdatawharehouse.com
- ^ Hruby, Patrick (2005). Broncos DQ'd; Michigan wins bracket. ESPN - Page 2.
- ^ College Baseball Players Who Made it to a Major League Baseball Team. Baseball Almanac - The Colleges. Accessed March 27, 2006.
- ^ Michigan in the Olympics (9-28-2005). Bentley Historical Library at www.umich.edu/~bhl/bhl/olymp2/oltitle.htm
- ^ Index to Michigan Olympians (2005). Bentley Historical Library at www.umich.edu/~bhl/bhl/olymp2/olindex.htm.
- ^ Olympics - Historic Totals (9-16-2000). Sports Illustrated at CNNSi.com.