Oregon Football's New Big Ten Conference Opponents: Michigan, Part 1

Michigan has been playing football since 1879, with a rich history that includes national championships, Heisman Trophy winners, and legendary coaches. The Wolverines are among the programs Oregon is joining in the Big Ten Conference.

Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy lifts the Rose Bowl trophy to celebrate. / Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK

There is no better Big Ten Conference team to begin with than the defending national champion Michigan Wolverines, one of the original members of the league.

“In times of difficulty, those brave enough to stay the course will be victors in the end.”

- Bo Schembechler, Michigan coach 1969-89

School History

The University of Michigan was conceived in 1817 when Michigan Territory Governor Lewis Cass and several territory judges enacted a bill to establish a “University of Michigania”. The initial product was more of a high school, leading to the territory’s/state’s free public primary system, but in 1837 a gift of 40 acres in Ann Arbor sealed what would become the University of Michigan.

The first classes were held in 1841. The first commencement, featuring 11 men, was seen in 1845. The medical school was founded in 1848, which helped UM begin the first university-owned hospital in the U.S. in 1869.

Enrollment in 1865 was around 1,200 students. That number would eventually grow to more than 50,000 in modern days.

Michigan’s role as a prominent research university began in 1920 with the reorganization of the College of Engineering. More than 263,000 research outputs have been produced by Michigan academics, including clinical work, traffic light optimization, nature’s effect on health and wellbeing.

The U of M is also known for its initiatives with the U.S. Navy. One of the universities taking part in the V-12 Navy College Training program during World War II, Michigan contributed to a number of weapons development breakthroughs.

Today, the Ann Arbor campus is divided into four main areas and includes more than 500 major buildings. In the latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, Michigan in No. 21 among national universities and No. 3 among public schools.

Football Program History

The only program with more than 1,000 wins in their history (1,004), Michigan’s first victory came in its first game: 1879 against Racine College at White Stocking Park in Chicago. Michigan players were known to stop at other campuses over the years, introducing the game to the students. In 1887, one of those stops was in South Bend, Indiana, leading to the beginning of the fabled Michigan-Notre Dame rivalry.

The Wolverines, named as such due to an early 1800s border dispute with Ohio known as the “Toledo War” in which Michiganders camed to be called “woverines”, joined the Intercollegiate Conference of Faculty Representatives, or Western Conference, 1896. This was the beginning of what would become the Big Ten Conference.

Michigan lost the inaugural Western Conference title to the Chicago Maroons, a football powerhouse in the early years, but got the best of them in 1898 with a win that inspired “The Victors”, the school’s eventual fight song.

Led by coach Fielding Yost, UM dominated after the turn of the century, grabbing national titles from 1901-04. Yost led the team to other national championships in 1918 and 1923, only losing more than two games three times in 25 seasons.

Yost became the school’s athletic director in 1921 and completely stepped aside from football in 1926. He oversaw the construction of Michigan Stadium. With an initial capacity of 72,000, “The Big House” has since grown to the more than 100,000 seat cathedral we know today.

Despite a number of national championships in the 1930s and 40s, Michigan’s role in the national conversation saw a dip as the decades went on, at least compared to the Yost years. Michigan saw lagging results in the 1950s and 60s, before Bo Schembechler took over in 1969. While Schembechler did not win a national championship, he finished as Michigan’s all-time leader in wins at 234-65-8 and held a winning record against Ohio State (11-9).

All this time, Michigan was still winning conference championships. Under new leadership in the 1990s, the Wolverines notched Big Ten titles in three consecutive years, including the 1991 season that saw Desmond Howard win the school’s second Heisman Trophy. From 1990-99, Michigan never lost more than one league game in a season, including an undefeated 1997 where the Wolverines ultimately shared the national title with Nebraska.

Since that 1997 national championship year, the Wolverines have had five head coaches. Jim Harbaugh, a starting quarterback under Schembechler in the 1980s, finally got them another national championship with 2023’s College Football Playoff run. The next era of Michigan football begins this fall under Sherrone Moore.

Championships and Heisman Trophy Winners

National Championships: 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1918, 1923, 1932, 1933, 1947, 1948, 1997, 2023

Confrence Titles: 45

Heisman Trophy Winners: Tom Harmon (1940), Desmond Howard (1991), Charles Woodson (1997)

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Oregon is set to join the Big Ten Conference in 2024. For information on the league as a whole and where to read about the other programs, refer to Oregon Football's New Big Ten Conference Opponents: Rich History, Distance.