The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/382426
MICHIGAN FOOTBALL "Those programs, with presidents who are under pressure to make their budgets work — and I'm sure their presidents don't enjoy sending $10, $12 million a year to their athletic de- partments to subsidize their losses — will all be highly interested in finding a new home, if that new home means it brings more resources. I see it out there. "There's a catalytic event. If the right team leaves conference A to go to conference B, that opens up an opening in conference A, and things start to happen. In many of these con- ferences that have an even number, you're not going to want to go from 14 to 15. Chances are you're going to bring on two at a time to balance out your divisional construct. Now you're creating even more voids that are going to have to be filled by more schools. It's a snowball. "At some point in time, my per- sonal view is that's going to happen. But it may be years into the future. Who knows?" MICHIGAN-NOTRE DAME: A QUICK LOOK BACK Since 1978, Michigan has played Notre Dame 31 times, in a modern- day series that has now come to an end for the foreseeable future. The head-to-head record during that stretch is 15-15-1, with the lone tie coming in 1992 in South Bend. The re- cord alone is a testament to how great this rivalry has been. For the most part, it was as dead even as it seemed. The Irish managed winning streaks only three times since the series resumed (1979-80, 1987-90 and 2004-05) to Michigan's four (1985- 86, 1994 and '97 [with two-year hia- tus], 2006-07 and 2009-11). Michigan outscored the Irish, 716-660, in the 31 games, with an average score of 23-21. Michigan and Notre Dame were both 10-5 at home, with the one tie occur- ring in South Bend. The 31-0 shutout was the third in the series since 1978 — the other two were 38-0 Michigan home wins in both 2003 and 2007 — and the first ever for the Irish in 42 games dat- ing back to 1887. The night win also capped a perfect record for the home team in night games in the series' his- tory. Michigan was 2-0, winning 35-31 in 2011 and 41-30 in 2013, while the Irish finished 5-0, winning 23-17 in 1982, 19-17 in 1988, 28-24 in 1990 and 13-6 in 2012 before the Sept. 6 win this year. The loss gave the Irish the last laugh in the series, but history indicates that Michigan's seasons aren't dependent upon what happens in the Notre Dame game. Out of the 15 times that Michigan has lost to Notre Dame in the past 36 years, 11 times the Wolverines were still ranked inside the top 25 at the end of the season. In fact, during 10 of those 11 instances the Maize and Blue found themselves in the top 20 in both polls. Head coach Brady Hoke has made it well known that Michigan's goal each year is to win the Big Ten. The Wolverines haven't managed to do that since 2004. That 10-year hiatus is unprecedented over the course of