Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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IRISH ANALYTICS BRIAN FREMEAU T he first game in Notre Dame's storied college football history was played against Michigan on Nov. 23, 1887, initiating a fiercely con- tested, on-again, off-again rivalry. Last fall, the Fighting Irish whipped the Wolverines with an emphatic 31-0 vic- tory in Notre Dame Sta- dium, marking the final meeting in the series currently on the books and the most lopsided win for the Irish in the history of the series. The series is taking an indefinite hiatus, but both programs will continue to measure themselves against one another for the foresee- able future. Crack open the football media guide for each institution, and you'll find that both programs claim the mantle of "winningest" college football team of all time. The University of Michigan has tallied 915 wins in its history, 33 more than Notre Dame's 882. No other programs can claim as many victories as the Wolverines and Irish, a testament to the longevity of success both pro- grams have enjoyed. Their initial clash back in 1887, in fact, was the very first college football game played between schools that would eventually become FBS programs. The Irish have the edge in all-time winning percentage with an 882-310-42 (.7318) overall record. Michigan is only a few steps behind with a 915-328-36 (.7295) mark, and again, both schools outpace all others in this category. In the not-too-distant past, Notre Dame enjoyed a much more comfort- able margin over Michigan in this par- ticular measure of program strength. At the conclusion of the 1993 season, Notre Dame's all-time record stood at 723-211-41 (.7626), more than three percentage points better than it stands today and almost two percentage points better than the Wolverines at the time. That edge was gradually whit- tled down over the next decade, and Michigan actually took hold of the all- time winning percentage title in 2004. Mere fractions of a percentage point have separated the two schools ever since, and the Irish pulled back ahead of Michigan at the conclusion of the 2013 season. If the Irish average 10 wins and three losses over the next 20 years, Notre Dame will marginally improve its over- Top Of The Charts