Michigan Wolverines: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 23:17, 21 March 2007
| Michigan Wolverines | |
|---|---|
| Logo | |
| University | University of Michigan |
| Conference | Big Ten Conference |
| Division | Division I |
| Athletic director | William C. Martin |
| Location | Ann Arbor, Michigan |
| Football stadium | Michigan Stadium |
| Arena | Crisler Arena |
| Other venues | Yost Ice Arena |
| Mascot | None |
| Nickname | Wolverines |
| Fight song | The Victors |
| Colors | Maize and Blue |
| Website | www |
The University of Michigan features 24 varsity sports teams called the Wolverines, 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. The origin of the name is the subject of much debate. Team colors are maize and blue. The Winged Helmet is a recognized icon of Michigan Athletics.
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. 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.
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 also won NCAA Division I national championships in women's field hockey (1), men's golf (2), men's gymnastics (3), women's softball (1), 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 eighth all-time, trailing only UCLA, Stanford University, USC, Oklahoma State, Arkansas, LSU, and Texas. 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).[1][2][3]
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 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 .746, also an NCAA record. The Wolverine football program has claimed 11 national titles.[4]
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. 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.
Rivalries
| Heisman Trophy winners | |
|---|---|
| Year | Player |
| 1940 | Tom Harmon |
| 1991 | Desmond Howard |
| 1997 | Charles Woodson |
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.[5] 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. Frequently the game has decided the Big Ten champion. 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.
Michigan has an intrastate rival in Michigan State; the schools' football teams compete for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. History connects the Wolverines with the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame: The schools played each other often in the early years of American college football, and do so also today. Michigan (#1) and Notre Dame (#2) are the top two college football programs in both wins and winning percentage in Division 1-A. 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 was the first trophy played for between college football teams.
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 and 1993) and won the national championship in 1989 under Steve Fisher. Presently the team coaching job is vacant. Other notable players who played for Michigan include Daniel Horton,Bernard Robinson, Gary Grant, Terry Mills, Glen Rice, Jalen Rose, Rumeal Robinson, Jamal Crawford, Chris Webber and Cazzie Russell.
During the 1990s, the men's basketball program became involved in a scandal involving alleged 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 voluntarily forfeited its games in selected past seasons, including its Final Four appearances in 1991 and 1992.[6]
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 2007, the team was invited to the NCAA tournament for a record 17th year in a row.
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.
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.[7]
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.[8][9]
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 student-athletes and coaches had participated in the Olympics. The university has had medal winning alumnae 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.[10] [11]
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.[12]
Notes
- ^ Michigan Men's Track and Field All-Time NCAA Indoor Champions. MGOBlue.com
- ^ NCAA Championship History
- ^ Michigan Wolverine Athletics. University of Michigan Athletics History- Bentley Historical Library.
- ^ University of Michigan Football - National Championships. University of Michigan Athletics History (2002).
- ^ The 10 greatest rivalries (1-3-2005). ESPN.com
- ^ 1992.http://espn.go.com/ncb/news/2002/1107/1457316.html
- ^ Michigan Men's Swimming and Diving All-Time NCAA Champions - Through 2005 NCAA Championships (2006). MGoBlue.com.
- ^ Bergquist, Kevin (June 1, 2004). Prof: U-M baseball among University's storied programs. The University Record
- ^ 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.