For decades, UM has fluctuated between "bad" and "pretty good".
In 1999, they finished #5 in the AP Poll...
...then didn't have another Top-5 finish for 21 years.
They're plucky. They're Big Ten Boise.
True, they've had incredible peaks. But check this out...
UM has "won" 2 titles since 1948.
Did you know they're the only 2 contested championships of the modern era?
1. 1997
-Anyone can watch the closing seconds of the 1998 Rose Bowl and see Washington State (trailing by 5) was cheated out of a final play just outside the red zone.
-All objective analytical models (i.e. Sagarin, SP+) heavily favor Nebraska over Michigan, and it's not close.
This title should not have been shared.
-Heisman Trophy winner Charles Woodson was ineligible by rule after multiple documented examples of accepting cash, gifts, and travel came to light
2. 2023
This "title" is best summarized by a simple bit of trivia:
In November 2023, Jim Harbaugh became the first coach in the history of American sports to be suspended twice in one year without losing his job.
He then broke his own record with a 3rd suspension months later.
All 3 suspensions stemmed from competitive advantage violations (cheating).
All 3 were either self-imposed, or unopposed.
(a 4th sanction arrived later, effectively banning Harbaugh from the sport for 14 years; 4 years longer than the guy who operated Louisville Basketball’s brothel)
These are objective facts, and they tell the story of Michigan Football.
Indeed, every 25 years or so, Michigan elevates above its normal standard.
When they do, books are written about the illegitimacy of the anomaly.
#GOBLUE