Michigan Wolverines

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Michigan Wolverines
University	University of Michigan
Conference	Big Ten
NCAA	Division I
Athletics director	William C. Martin
Location	Ann Arbor, MI
Varsity teams
Football stadium	Michigan Stadium
Basketball arena	Crisler Arena
Baseball stadium	Ray Fisher Stadium
Other arenas	Yost Ice Arena
Mascot	None
Nickname	Wolverines
Fight song	The Victors
Colors	Maize and Blue
Homepage	M-Go Blue

The Michigan Wolverines comprise 24 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan which compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except men's ice hockey which competes in the NCAA D1 Central Collegiate Hockey Association, and women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisional Collegiate Water Polo Association. Team colors are maize and blue—which are different shades of "maize" and "blue" than the university at large.^[1] The Winged Helmet is a recognized icon of Michigan Athletics.

In seven of the past 10 years, Michigan has finished in the top six 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. UM has finished in the top eleven of the Directors' Cup standings in each of the award's twelve seasons and has placed in the top six in each of the last eight seasons.

[edit] Championships

The University of Michigan remains the only school in NCAA history to win at least one national championship in all four of these sports: baseball (2), basketball (men's - 1), football (11), and ice hockey (men's - 9). The Wolverines have won NCAA Division I national championships in women's field hockey (1), men's golf (2), men's gymnastics (3), women's softball (2), men's swimming and diving (11), men's tennis (1), and men's outdoor track and field (1).

Overall, UM's 32 official NCAA Division I titles ranks ninth all-time, trailing only UCLA, Stanford University, USC, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, LSU, Texas, and Penn State. In NCAA D1 men's sports only, UM ranks sixth all-time in championships behind USC, UCLA, Stanford, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas. UM's official NCAA Division I national championships have come from ten different sports — this broad-based success matches the University of Texas for fourth place in the NCAA record book. Only UCLA and Stanford, each with titles in 16 varying sports, and USC in 15, have more diverse championship histories than the Wolverines.

The Wolverines' 32 official NCAA D1 titles are complemented by seven unofficial NCAA men's swimming and diving championships from 1927 through 1936, when no team championships were awarded; by men's trampoline NCAA titles in 1969 and 1970; and, by 11 unofficial NCAA/NCAA Division I football "consensus" championships recognized by the university, for a total of 52 national championships. In four additional seasons national number one rankings by at least one recognized authority were given to the UM football team.

University of Michigan teams have also been national runners-up an incredible 39 times in 13 different sports: men's basketball (4), women's cross country (1), women's field hockey (1), men's golf (4), men's gymnastics (2), women's gymnastics (2), men's ice hockey (2), women's rowing (1), women's synchronized swimming (2 in AIAW), men's swimming and diving (13), women's swimming and diving (1), men's outdoor track and field (1), and wrestling (5).^[2][3][4]

[edit] Football

Main articles: Michigan Wolverines football and 2008 Michigan Wolverines football team

The best-supported of the Michigan varsity teams is the football team. Michigan's football program is among the most successful in college football history. Michigan won the first Rose Bowl game in 1902, has won an NCAA-record 860 games and has an all-time winning percentage of .745, also an NCAA record. The Wolverine football program has claimed 11 national titles.^[5]

Michigan's famous football coaches include Fielding Yost, Fritz Crisler, Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr. Their current coach is Rich Rodriguez, who was hired after former head coach Lloyd Carr announced his retirement on November 19, 2007.

Michigan Stadium is the largest football-only stadium in the world, with an official capacity of 107,501, and with attendance regularly exceeding 110,000. The NCAA single-game attendance record is 112,118 at the 2003 contest with Ohio State. The capacity, after each expansion, has always been listed as "-01", with the "extra seat" being in honor of Fritz Crisler. The University of Michigan Board of Regents has approved an expansion project for the stadium widely known as the “Big House”. Construction is scheduled to begin in 2007 and be completed prior to the 2010 season. The expansion project will accommodate home games for the 2007-2009 seasons. The plan is to build a new press box, add luxury boxes, widen aisles and seats, and increase capacity to over 108,000. Michigan Stadium has witnessed 200 consecutive crowds of greater than 100,000 - a streak that dates back to 1975.

[edit] Rivalries

A football game at Michigan Stadium

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.^[6] Michigan's meeting with Ohio State is almost always the last game of the regular season and has provided many memorable contests, such as the "Snow Bowl" of 1950. The game has frequently decided the Big Ten champion. Michigan leads the series 57-41-6. The contest on November 18, 2006 marked the first time ever these teams had been ranked #1 and #2 going into the game, and the first time they were both undefeated since 1973. The 2007 college football match-up between Ohio State and Michigan was predicted to be the #2 college football game to watch in 2007 by SI.com's "Top 20 Games To Watch In 2007" list.^[7]

Michigan has an intrastate rival in Michigan State; the schools' football teams compete for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. Michigan leads the series 67-28-5.

Michigan also enjoys a spirited rivalry with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. Michigan leads the series 20-14-1. Michigan (#1) and Notre Dame (#2) are the top two college football programs in both wins and winning percentage in Division 1-A, so it is perhaps fitting that when college football was in its infancy, students from the University of Michigan traveled to South Bend to teach the game to students there. The schools went on to play each other often in the early years of American college football, and continue do so today.

The Wolverines also 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 was the first trophy played for between college football teams. Michigan leads the series 69-24-3.

[edit] Ice hockey

The Wolverines ice hockey team, which is a member of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association, plays its home contests at Yost Ice Arena. It is coached by Red Berenson, a former UM player. Altogether, the program has won nine NCAA national championships (1948, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1964, 1996, 1998), which is also an NCAA record. In 2008, the team was invited to the NCAA tournament for a record 18th year in a row. Michigan has reached the national semi-finals (now referred to as the "Frozen Four") an unprecedented 23 times.

Vic Heyliger led Michigan to a record six NCAA titles, including the first one in college hockey history in 1948. Heyliger, who played for the Wolverines from 1935-37, also won national titles as Michigan coach in 1951, 1952, 1953, 1955 and 1956. He was inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame in 1974, in recognition of his lifetime achievement. Heyliger is considered instrumental in getting the NCAA tournament off the ground. Following the 1946-47 season, Heyliger wrote to each of the college coaches around the country to see if they would be interested in creating a national tournament. They obliged and the inaugural four-team NCAA tournament began the following season in 1948. Heyliger was 228-61-13 as head coach at Michigan, and his .776 winning percentage is the best at the school. His only losing season was his first year, 3-6 in 1944-45.

In 1980, Heyliger was inducted into the University of Michigan Hall of Honor. The Vic Heyliger Trophy has been given out at the end of each season by the Michigan hockey team to recognize its most outstanding defenseman.

[edit] Men's basketball

The men's basketball team plays its games at Crisler Arena. The Wolverines have won 12 Big Ten regular-season conference titles, as well as the inaugural Big Ten Tournament in 1998, which it later forfeited due to NCAA violations. The team has appeared in the NCAA Final Four on six occasions (1964, 1965, 1976, 1989, 1992* and 1993*) and won the national championship in 1989 under Steve Fisher. The program later forfeited its 1992 and 1993 Final Four appearances due to NCAA violations. Other notable players who played for Michigan include Daniel Horton, Bernard Robinson, Gary Grant, Terry Mills, Glen Rice, Jalen Rose, Rumeal Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Juwan Howard, Chris Webber, Cazzie Russell, and Mark Hughes.

During the 1990s, the program became involved in a scandal involving payments from a booster named Ed Martin to four players: Chris Webber, Maurice Taylor, Robert Traylor, and Louis Bullock. The scandal ultimately resulted in four years' probation and a self-imposed ban from postseason play in the 2002-03 season. UM also voluntarily forfeited regular season games and "vacated" NCAA tournament games from selected past seasons. Vacating the results of 114 games won while the four players were eligible, including the 1992 and 1993 Final Fours, the entire 1992-93 season, and all seasons from fall 1995 through spring 1999. Since the scandal Michigan basketball has posted a 144-131 record and has not made the NCAA tournament.^[8]
In April 2007, the university announced that its new head coach will be John Beilein. The 2007 recruiting class commits include Manny Harris, Kelvin Grady and Martell Webb.

[edit] Other sports

Michigan has a world-renowned men's swimming program, which won the 1995 NCAA championship and has produced a number of Olympic medalists. The men’s swimming and diving teams have won 11 NCAA and NCAA Division I national titles and 147 individual titles.^[9]

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 men's baseball team won national championships in 1953 and 1962 and has sent 138 players to the major leagues.^[10][11]

In 2008, the ladies gymnastics team was invited to the NCAA championship tournament for the 16th consecutive year [1].

The men's and women's cross country teams have been nationally renowned since 1974 when Ron Warhurst started coaching the men, and more recently as alum Mike McGuire took on the women's team in 1991. The women's team has qualified for the NCAA championships every year but two since 1988, finishing 2nd in 1994, and has won the last five Big Ten titles.[2]. The men's team has qualified for the NCAA 24 times in the last 34 years, with a highest finish of 4th. Michigan men have won seven Big 10 titles in that period.

Legendary athletic director Donald Canham coached the track/field team from 1949 to 1968, along with the cross country team. The men's team has won 56 Big Ten men's team titles indoors and out.[3] Notable alumni include Greg Meyer, 1983 Boston Marathon champ, Brian Diemer, 1984 Summer Olympics bronze medalist in the steeplechase, Bill Donakowski, US Marathon champion in 1986, Kevin Sullivan, Canadian 1500 meter record holder, and Alan Webb, U.S. mile record holder. The women's team has won 15 Big Ten titles.[4] Most notable alumna is Lisa Larsen Weidenbach Rainsberger, who won the Boston and Chicago Marathons. She qualified for the 1980 Olympic team in swimming but the U.S. did not go to Moscow. She then finished 4th in the Marathon Olympic Trials three times in 1984, 1988 and 1992, again missing the Olympics.[5]

The University of Michigan is also home to an internationally competitive synchronized skating team, who have medaled at competitions around the world. The Wolverines synchronized skating program consists of a senior team, which competes internationally as well as a collegiate level team which is competitive among the top university and collegiate teams from around the United States.

Other varsity teams include: baseball, golf, gymnastics, rowing, soccer, diving, tennis, volleyball, water polo, and wrestling.

[edit] Olympians

Through the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, 178 Michigan student-athletes and coaches had participated in the Olympics. The university has had medal winning alumni 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.^{[12] [13]}

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.^[14]

[edit] Michigan Olympians

[edit] See also

• University of Michigan Athletic Hall of Honor

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• Official University of Michigan Athletics website
• Athletics at the University of Michigan

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