The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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JANUARY 2018 THE WOLVERINE 17 INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 2 Of the top three recruits in Rivals.com's class of 2016 rankings will be on the U-M roster next season — No. 1 Rashan Gary at defen- sive end and No. 3 Shea Patterson at quarterback. 3 Straight top-10 finishes for the Michigan women's cross country team after a ninth-place showing at the NCAA Championships Nov. 18 in Louisville, Ky. The men also placed 10th, giving the Wolver- ines a pair of top-10 placements for the eighth time in program his- tory. If all three running disciplines from the 2017 calendar year are taken into account, only two schools posted top-10 finishes in cross country, top-25 placements in indoor track and field, and top-50 show- ings at the outdoor championships for both genders: Michigan and Oregon. Gender NCAA Indoor NCAA Outdoor NCAA CC U-M Women 14 21 9 U-M Men 21 41 10 4 Of the nation's most watched games by week were played by Michigan, meaning they took part in the most-watched game nationally more than any other team in the country, according to rat- ings compiled by SportsMediaWatch.com. U-M finished among the top six in the weekly ratings nine times, including a pair of No. 2 games. 4 Is where Michigan's Outback Bowl contest with South Carolina is listed on Sports Illustrated's ranking of the most entertaining non- College Football Playoff matchups. 64 Percent of the 6,101 votes in Pro Football Focus' poll on Twitter asking which of the four individual performances they awarded a 99.9 percent overall grade to this year was best were cast for U-M sophomore viper Khaleke Hudson. He earned the grade for his week 10 performance against Minnesota that included a NCAA-record-tying eight tackles for loss. 71 Yards needed from junior KARAN HIGDON in the Outback Bowl to reach 1,000 for the season. He would become the first 1,000-yard running back at U-M since Fitzgerald Toussaint in 2011 (quarterback Denard Robinson eclipsed the landmark each year from 2010-12). Higdon needed just 147 totes to reach his current yardage total, a clip of 6.3 yards per carry. A U-M running back hasn't reached quadruple digits on the ground with an average of at least 6.0 since Tshimanga Biakabu- tuka rushed for 1,818 yards on 303 carries (6.0 average) in 1995 (though Robinson did so twice). 280,000 Square feet is the size of the just- opened South Competition and Performance Project. The new state-of-the-art competition and training space for nearly two-thirds of U-M athletes was officially unveiled with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 25. The $168-million facility features an indoor track and field facility with a hydraulic track, a 2,000-seat lacrosse stadium and the university's first indoor rowing tank. The first pub- lic event at the new facility will be the Wolverine Invita- tional track and field meet on Jan. 13, 2018. By The NUMBERS PHOTO BY PER KJELDSEN