The 1997 title
12-0 and a share of the championship with Nebraska — Michigan's first in 49 years
Program prestige
Zeitgeist statureBlue BloodThe Game
120 meetings since 1897 See the whole history →No fan reading for this rivalry yet this week. The heat trend and each side’s mood appear when fans start talking about it.
The last 5 · year-by-year
- L 2025 Loss 9-27
- W 2024 Win 13-10
- W 2023 Win 30-24
- W 2022 Win 45-23
- W 2021 Win 42-27
Program outlook
Program outlook
Michigan has more all-time wins than any program in the history of the sport. It finished 2025 at 9-4, losing the Citrus Bowl to Texas by 14, then dismissed its head coach for cause and hired a 21-year Utah builder to steady the institution. The record book doesn't take a year off.
Since Oct 11: W 21-18 vs Penn State; L 6-13 vs Indiana; W 28-21 at Rutgers. 5-3 this season.
Read the full essay — 4 more paragraphs
Michigan is the keeper of the record book. More wins than any program in college football history. The highest all-time winning percentage among programs with 1,000-plus games played. Fielding Yost's point-a-minute teams. The winged helmet. 107,601 seats in the Big House, the largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere. Bo Schembechler and the Ten Year War with Ohio State. Charles Woodson's Heisman. Jim Harbaugh's 2023 national title, the first in 26 years, preceded by three straight wins over Ohio State. The institution is that record and has been for over a century.
Sherrone Moore was dismissed for cause in December 2025 amid an off-field investigation. Michigan moved quickly: Kyle Whittingham, 21 seasons at Utah and one of the most respected program-builders in the sport, signed a five-year deal as the 22nd head coach in program history. Whittingham inherits a roster anchored by sophomore quarterback Bryce Underwood — the former No. 1 overall recruit who threw for 2,229 yards in an uneven freshman year — and a Big House crowd that has been trained, across decades and coaches, to expect the program to reassert itself. The 9-4 finish and the Citrus Bowl loss to Texas were the turbulent context. The institutional response was to hire a proven steady hand and call it a recalibration.
The 2026 season is Whittingham's first referendum. Not the question of whether Michigan will be competitive — Underwood's ceiling is real and the roster retained its core — but whether a 21-year Utah coach can install a culture in Ann Arbor fast enough that the program enters October as a genuine Big Ten title contender rather than a rebuilding story. Michigan Men do not use the word rebuild, and the standard doesn't make room for it. The schedule will answer which characterization fits.
Michigan is 3-2 and 0-2 in the Big Ten. After wins over Western Michigan (13-12), Oklahoma (17-10) and UTEP (52-17), it lost 20-19 at home to Iowa on September 26, then 20-14 at Minnesota on October 3 as 6.5-point favorites.
On the field
Proud-institutional football — physical, disciplined, historically run-first with a premium on trench dominance. Whittingham's Utah teams were built the same way: defensive physicality, an efficient ground game, and a culture that outlasts individual talent cycles. Michigan's offensive adaptation under this staff will involve Underwood's arm — he has the tools to make the scheme more balanced than Utah's — layered over a run-game and defensive identity the program has carried for decades. The winged helmet and the M Club banner are not decorations; they're the operating system.
Michigan has won 3 national titles since 1936
1948, 1997, 2023
How titles are counted
The final AP poll from 1936 and the Coaches poll from 1950 through 2005, then the winner of the BCS and College Football Playoff title games. A program may claim others, named by selectors we do not count.
- 1948: AP poll
- 1997: AP poll
- 2023: playoff title game
Michigan has won 72% of its games since 1881 — 79% at home, 62% on the road.
1000-361-35 all-time · 140 seasons · 1881–2026
Home
665-159-15
Away
306-171-20
Neutral
29-31
9 g
1880s
77%
1890s
88%
1900s
68%
1910s
74%
1920s
64%
1930s
80%
1940s
57%
1950s
57%
1960s
83%
1970s
74%
1980s
76%
1990s
65%
2000s
66%
2010s
77%
2020s
The CFP era
1 title, 3 CFP appearances across 13 seasons — the era the program defined.
Trajectory · quality-score line · AP rank dotted · CFP bids marked · coach regimes ribboned
Program quality
AP rank (inverted)
CFP appearance
Swipe left for earlier seasons
Michigan’s 2014–2026 record is 116-44, with 3 playoff appearances and 1 national title.
Kyle Whittingham
Kyle Whittingham took over from Biff Poggi (interim) for the 2026 season.
Era Kyle Whittingham · 2026–presentPrev: Biff Poggi (interim) (2025)OC: Jason BeckPrev OC: Chip Lindsey / Steve Casula (co) (2025)DC: Jay HillPrev DC: Don Martindale (2024–2025)
1
year · era
Michigan and Ohio State, meeting by meeting
Michigan leads the series 62-52-6 (since 1897); in the last 10 meetings, Michigan is 4-6
2025: Ohio State won 27-9. After this game, Michigan led 62-52-6.
Last 25 meetings: ▲ Michigan won, ▼ Ohio State won, by how much
Each step is one meeting: up when Michigan wins, down when Ohio State wins, flat for a tie. Counts every game in our records since 1897. The NCAA vacated Ohio State's 2010 wins, so the 2010 meeting (Ohio State 37, Michigan 7) is left out, as in published series records. Tap the line for any season.
Michigan in History
- Jim Harbaugh leaves Michigan for the Los Angeles Chargers after winning the national titleCoach change · Jan 24, 2024
- Michigan beats Washington for the national title, and its coach calls it a glorious feelingGame · Jan 8, 2024
- Michigan 42, Ohio State 27: Harbaugh’s first win against the BuckeyesNov 27, 2021
- The NCAA bans satellite camps, then lifts the ban later that monthApr 8, 2016
Moments in Michigan history
- Ohio State 30, Michigan 27Nov 26, 2016
- Michigan 27, Alabama 20CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl Game · Jan 1, 2024
- Iowa 14, Michigan 13Nov 12, 2016
What this program never forgets
Most weeks vanish. These didn’t.
2015
The punt
A botched snap on a punt hands Michigan State a last-second win; 'the punt' carries weight to this day
Heartbreak
2023
Three straight over Ohio State
Michigan wins The Game three years running (2021-2023) before the title run
The 2023 national title
Michigan beats Washington for its first championship in 26 years, vindicating the Harbaugh era
Moment of the year · 2026
Won 17-10 vs Oklahoma
Week 2 of 2026. Beat a top-11 opponent on the field.
2022–2026
Michigan has sent 40 players to the NFL Draft since 2022 — 7 of them in the first round.
Elite. Top recruit destination + development pipeline.
40
picks · 7 in round 1
#2
Aidan Hutchinson
Defensive End · 2022 · 
Detroit Lions · #1/370 final season
Detroit Lions · #1/370 final season
#5
Mason Graham
Defensive Tackle · 2025 · 
Cleveland Browns · #109/426 final season
Cleveland Browns · #109/426 final season
#10
J.J. McCarthy
Quarterback · 2024 · 
Minnesota Vikings · #13/140 final season
Minnesota Vikings · #13/140 final season
#7 all-time · 55 first-round picksthe talent factory →
More in this tab
Program facts
Program résumé
12Nat'l titles
45Conf. titles
3Heismans
3CFP apps
55Bowl apps
1879Founded
Ladder finish
Season standing · 2026 · 5-3 · AP #18
Season standing · 2026 · 5-3 · AP #18Michigan is ranked 18th (AP) at 5-3.
Ranked in the AP/Coaches polls, 16-25. National relevance achieved.
Ranked (25-16)
Sub-FBSBuildingBowlRankedContenderPlayoff
Conference
Big Ten standing · 2026
11th in the Big Ten
Michigan is 11th of 18 in the Big Ten at 2-3. The path to the title is steep — the focus is on bowl access and rivalry wins.
| # | Program | Record |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | UCLA | 5-0 |
| 2 | Indiana | 5-1 |
| 3 | Ohio State | 4-1 |
| 4 | USC | 4-2 |
| 5 | Illinois | 3-2 |
| 6 | Iowa | 3-2 |
| 7 | Minnesota | 3-2 |
| 8 | Northwestern | 3-2 |
| 9 | Oregon | 3-2 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | 3-2 |
| 11 | Michigan | 2-3 |
| 12 | Nebraska | 2-3 |
| 13 | Purdue | 2-3 |
| 14 | Washington | 2-3 |
| 15 | Penn State | 1-4 |
| 16 | Rutgers | 1-4 |
| 17 | Maryland | 0-5 |
| 18 | Michigan State | 0-5 |
Coaching history
Coaching history
- Hired Kyle Whittingham
- Hired Biff Poggi (interim)
- Sherrone Moore departs
- Biff Poggi departs (interim)
- Hired Sherrone Moore
- Jim Harbaugh departs
- Hired Jim Harbaugh
- Brady Hoke departs
Coordinator lineage
Michigan’s offense and defense, by coordinator
FBS-relative efficiency percentile per season (2014–2026), same population as the Coordinator Mirror board. Dashed vertical lines mark a coordinator change.
Offense2014–2026
2014 · Doug Nussmeier2015–2017 · Tim Drevno2019–2020 · Josh Gattis2021 · Sherrone Moore (co) / Josh Gattis2022 · Matt Weiss (co) / Sherrone Moore (co)2023 · Sherrone Moore2024 · Kirk Campbell (interim)2025 · Chip Lindsey / Steve Casula (co)2026 · Jason Beck
Defense2014–2026
2014 · Greg Mattison2015 · D. J. Durkin2016–2020 · Don Brown2021 · Mike Macdonald2022–2023 · Jesse Minter / Steve Clinkscale (co)2024–2025 · Don Martindale2026 · Jay Hill
Elite (≥70th pct)AveragePoor (≤30th pct)
Gameday customs
Rituals
Things this fanbase does every Saturday — none of them invented in the last decade.
Hail to the Victors
since 1898
more
Written by Louis Elbel hours after Michigan beat Chicago for the 1898 conference title. Played at every Michigan athletic event since. John Philip Sousa called it 'the greatest college fight song ever written.' The Big House's 110,000+ singing it after a touchdown is one of college football's universal experiences.
M Club Banner Touch
since 1962
more
Players leap to touch the 'Go Blue / M Club Supports You' banner as they enter the field. Started by Bo Schembechler when the M Club lettermen presented a banner; the ritual stabilized into a Bo-era pillar. Every Michigan player has touched it; the banner itself is replaced periodically but the pose is identical.
The Victors Walk
since 2010
more
Players walk from the team hotel to Michigan Stadium through fan-lined Main Street. Rich Rodriguez introduced it; Brady Hoke and Jim Harbaugh kept it. Less codified than Auburn's Tiger Walk but increasingly ritualized. The mid-2010s iteration grew to thousands of fans lining the route.
Winged Helmet
since 1938
more
Maize-and-blue helmet design from coach Fritz Crisler. Not a ritual per se — a permanent visual identity. So iconic that Delaware and Princeton adopted variants; Michigan's lawyers occasionally intervene. The helmet shows up in every recruiting pitch and every NFL broadcast graphic. Pure visual signature.
The Game (vs Ohio State)
since 1897
more
Not a Saturday tradition — a season-long cultural orientation. Michigan calendars are organized around The Game; the rest of the schedule is the on-ramp. Three Yards and a Cloud of Dust came from this rivalry. The 2021-2023 Michigan three-game win streak ended Ohio State's dominance era; the 2024 result restored the cycle.
Cultural identity
2025 L
2024 W
2023 W
2023 W
2022 LReddit blowups
r/CFB moments
10.1k
[Postgame Thread] TCU Defeats Michigan 51-45
3.3k
[Postgame Thread] Michigan Defeats Army 24-21 (2OT)
All-time top community posts
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