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The results may surprise you.
The University of Michigan claims 12 national championships, with the most recent being the 2023 season (that never gets old to say). With the 2024 season fast approaching, we wanted to take a look at how previous Michigan teams have fared the years following winning a national championship.
Michigan’s first national championship came in 1901 under Fielding Yost and his first “Point-a-Minute” team. In that season, the Wolverines comically outscored their opponents, 550-0. Yost then went on to win the national championship again in 1902, 1903 and 1904 while not losing a game in that entire stretch.
The first Michigan defeat since 1900 occurred in the season finale of the 1905 season, when Michigan traveled to Chicago and lost, 2-0. The Maroons were named national champions and the Wolverines had to settle for second. Michigan then went 4-1 in 1906 at the inception of the forward pass.
Yost’s 18th season in Ann Arbor brought Michigan another championship despite the season itself being shortened by World War I travel restrictions. To follow up the championship season, Michigan experienced the worst year of the Yost era in 1919, finishing 3-4 and finishing seventh in the Western Conference. It was the only time in Yost’s entire career his team at Michigan finished below .500.
In 1920, the ship was somewhat righted, as the Wolverines went 5-2 but missed the top-five in the conference.
In the middle of a 20-game unbeaten streak, Yost brought Michigan yet another title in 1923 (despite national championships not officially being recognized at the time). The Wolverines went 8-0 and rarely gave up points. In 1924, George Little took over as coach for his one and only season. Michigan went 6-2 before Little left to take the same job at Wisconsin.
Yost would quickly return as head coach in 1925 and nearly won national championships in 1925 and 1926.
In the fourth and fifth years of the Harry Kipke era, Michigan won back-to-back national championships. Kipke didn’t lose a game in either season thanks to an outstanding defense.
Unfortunately, the wheels fell off in 1934 as the Wolverines went 1-7, good for dead last in the conference. This was the worst record Michigan had experienced since an 0-3 team in 1881. Interestingly enough, the captain of the 1934 team? Gerald Ford.
Kipke never fully recovered and was eventually replaced by Fritz Crisler.
Michigan won back-to-back national championships in 1947 and 1948, narrowly edging out Notre Dame in the AP Poll in ‘47 and blowing out the Fighting Irish in the AP in ‘48. The transition from Crisler to Bennie Oosterbaan could not have gone more smoothly, as both coaches capped off undefeated seasons in style.
In 1949 and 1950, Oosterbaan continued to have success by winning shares of the Big Ten title. However, his teams weren’t able to stay perfect and finished ranked No. 7 and No. 9, respectively. Oosterbaan then fell into some rough stretches in the early 1950s, but he’ll always have his 1948 national championship.
Fifty years later, Michigan finally returned to the mountaintop, finishing 12-0 and winning a national championship in the eyes of most, except for those in the state of Nebraska. In 1998, Carr’s Wolverines went 10-3 and achieved a share of the Big Ten title despite losses to No. 22 Notre Dame, No. 19 Syracuse and No. 7 Ohio State. A Citrus Bowl win over Arkansas helped soften the blow of the Ohio State loss, as Michigan finished at No. 12 in the AP Poll.
Carr had solid teams throughout the rest of his tenure, but never reached higher than fifth nationally in 1999.
The Michigan Wolverines are the reigning national champions. Time will tell how the 2024 team backs that up.
If we exclude the 2023 championship (as 2024 is yet to be determined), of Michigan’s 11 other claimed national championships, the Wolverines have repeated as national champions five times. Six of 11 occurrences have seen Michigan lose one game or fewer the following year, three more have seen Michigan lose 1-3 games, and only twice have the wheels truly fallen off.
Harbaugh was not the first Michigan football coach to leave following a national championship season, as both Yost (1923) and Crisler (1947) did the same, though Yost came back after a brief one year hiatus.
Most importantly, Michigan championships tend to come in groups and bunches, so hopefully Sherrone Moore can capitalize on the talent and culture in his locker room.
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