The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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2023-24 YEAR IN REVIEW BY CLAYTON SAYFIE M ichigan athletics enjoyed a successful 2023-24 year, highlighted by the football program win- ning its 12th national title and first since 1997. The Wolverines' success stretched beyond the gridiron, too, with 58 athletes earning All-America honors, 86 named All-Big Ten and 11 winning individual conference cham- pionships. Men's gymnast Paul Juda, a three-time All-American, won the national championship in the floor exercise in his fifth season in Ann Arbor. The cheer team was also crowned as Divi- sion 1A national champions. Michigan led the Big Ten with seven team conference titles (football; men's gymnastics; women's tennis, regular season and tournament; men's lacrosse, softball and rowing) marking the third straight year the Wolverines have led the league in total titles. U-M finished No. 8 nationally and first among Big Ten insti- tutions in the Learfield Directors' Cup standings with 1,030.00 points. The next-highest school that competed as a full-time member in the Big Ten in 2023-24 was Ohio State at No. 15. We highlight the best of the best with our annual list breaking down team and individual accomplishments: THE BEST THE BEST OF THE OF THE BEST BEST Superlatives For Michigan Athletics' 2023-24 Year Jim Harbaugh certainly saved the best for last. His ninth U-M football team captured its third straight Big Ten title and capped off the 2023 season by winning the national championship. PHOTO BY DOMINICK SOKOTOFF COACHES OF THE YEAR MALE SPORT COACH OF THE YEAR JIM HARBAUGH, FOOTBALL The ninth-year head coach went out with a bang, leading the Maize and Blue to their 12th-ever national champion- ship before departing for the National Football League's Los Angeles Chargers in late January. With a 15-0 season, the Wolverines won their first national title since 1997. Coming into the 2023 playoff, teams from the SEC had won 16 of 27 CFP con- tests since it began in 2014. Michigan's national championship was just the third of the century for the Big Ten Conference, with Southern schools routinely domi- nating at the top of the sport, showing how impressive Michigan's run was. Notably, it's hard to go from good to great, but it's even more difficult to push from there to elite — and that's exactly what Team 144 did. The Wolverines won the Big Ten and made the CFP each of the previous two seasons, getting bounced in the semifinals each time. A 27-20 overtime victory over Alabama in the Rose Bowl this time around served as the breakthrough, before U-M flexed with a 34-13 triumph over fellow unbeaten Washington in the championship game in Houston, standing proud atop the col- lege football world. Michigan has won 40 of its last 43 football games and 25 consecutive Big Ten tilts. Harbaugh was suspended for six regular-season games last season but still ran the program during those weeks, and his decision to tap Sherrone Moore as the acting head man in four key out- ings (all wins) also stands out. 28 THE WOLVERINE ❱ AUGUST 2024