The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
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MICHIGAN FOOTBALL a test those games would turn out to be. If the Crimson Tide and Cornhusk- No one knew just quite how tough ers take care of business in their re- spective conference title games, the combined record of the four teams Michigan fell to this season will be 47-3. And three of them will be headed to BCS games: Nebraska to the Rose Bowl to face the winner of the UCLA-Stanford Pac-12 Champi- onship Game, and Notre Dame and Alabama to the big one, the BCS Na- tional Championship Game. The fourth, Ohio State, capped off an undefeated season with its 26-21 win over Michigan, but because of NCAA sanctions stemming from im- proper player benefits during the Jim Tressel era, the Buckeyes are ineli- gible for the postseason this year. Michigan coach Brady Hoke did not want to make excuses for his team dropping all four games. "I don't know if the schedule caused troubles," he said. "You're going out there to compete. Maybe self-inflicted troubles at times, were a problem, giving the ball up, not run- ning the ball well enough." almost never seen a more accom- plished group of teams on their slate. Since 1952, the opponents that beat But the fact is, the Wolverines have Michigan have combined to post a better record than Alabama, Notre Dame, Nebraska and Ohio State's 45-3 and 93.6 winning percentage (subject to change with conference championships and bowls) only one time. In 1988, the Wolverines lost just two games all year — the first two of the season: 19-17 at Notre Dame and 2012 Football Schedule Date Opponent Time/Result Sept. 1 vs. Alabama* Sept. 8 Air Force Sept. 15 UMass Sept. 22 at Notre Dame L, 13-6 Oct. 6 L, 41-14 W, 31-25 W, 63-13 Oct. 13 Illinois at Purdue Oct. 20 Michigan State W, 12-10 Oct. 27 at Nebraska W, 44-13 W, 45-0 Nov. 3 at Minnesota W, 35-13 Nov. 10 Northwestern W, 38-31 (OT) Nov. 17 Iowa L, 23-9 * at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas Nov. 24 at Ohio State W, 42-17 L, 26-21 31-30 vs. Miami. The Fighting Irish and Hurricanes tallied a combined 23-1 record that season (winning per- centage: 95.8). In fact, the last 60 years have seen the Wolverines fall to teams with a winning percentage of 90.0 or better just five times: • 2012: 45-3 (93.6 percent) • 1991: 23-2 (92.0 percent) • 1988: 21-1 (95.8 percent) • 1975: 22-2 (91.7 percent) • 1970: 91 (90.0 percent) Michigan's bowl opponent will be announced Dec. 2 with a few possi- bilities for foe and venue. If Nebraska wins the Big Ten Championship Dec. 1, U-M is most likely headed to the Capital One Bowl in Orlando, Fla. If Wisconsin wins, Nebraska will go to the Capital One Bowl and Michi- gan will fall to the Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla. Both games are on Jan. 1. In the Capital One Bowl, the Wol- BOWL PREPARATION verines would most likely meet Georgia (if the Bulldogs lose the SEC Championship Dec. 1) or Texas A&M, and in the Outback Bowl, the most likely foe is LSU. ❑ DECEMBER 2012 THE WOLVERINE 41