CFB Most Influential Programs
#7 Michigan Wolverines
School: Michigan Wolverines
First Game: May 1879
Winning Percentage: .734 (2nd)
Appearances in AP/Rank: 919 (2nd)
Average AP Ranking: 9.4
National Titles: 12
Claim to Fame: Iconic fight song, iconic uniforms, iconic stadium, a driving force behind football’s westward expansion. Michigan has been instrumental in it all. Also, the first college football program with over 1,000 wins.
Why I have them in my Collection: Michigan is easily one of the most iconic and influential programs on name recognition and brand alone. During the early years of college football they often won the title of “champions of the West”, which is kind of funny to think about now. Though there’s no denying that Michigan and University of Chicago were the teams to beat that weren’t concentrated in the northeast at the time.
Interesting fact that I learned while doing this research, Michigan actually taught Notre Dame how to play football. If you know anything about that rivalry you’ll understand not only how funny that is, but also how you’ll never hear a Notre Dame fan admit that fact. It messes up their lore. Michigan has a historic rivalry with Notre Dame as is, and it is one of many that Michigan has.
While they won most of their national championships prior to the Civil Rights act of 1964, Michigan has been an incredibly consistent team, period. From 1968-2007 Michigan did not have a losing season and won tons of conference championships. In fact, during that time they only had seasons with less than 8 wins twice. They also won a national title in 1997 during that time as well.
Michigan was also a part of the first official conference to be formed around collegiate athletics. The Big Ten as it is now known was formed in 1896 and is the oldest Division 1 conference in collegiate athletics. Michigan was a massive part of the formation of this conference and the conference continues to be a massive player in collegiate sports as a whole. Michigan also boasts the most Big Ten conference championships ahead of their bitter rival, Ohio State.
Speaking of Ohio State, I would be negligent if I did not at least mention one of the most famous rivalries in all of American sports. Michigan vs. Ohio State was often a game that would not only decide conference championships, but had national title implications as well. While national pundits of course add juice to this game with excessive coverage and looking ahead, the match up stands on its own as one of the pillars of college football rivalries. Believe it or not, Michigan still leads the series 61-51-6. If you want to feel tension come through a television screen, turn this game on in November.
No one has more wins than Michigan, and few teams have longer sustained excellence. The only thing a Michigan fan could probably gripe with is the lack of national titles post 1950. As other teams on our list reached the pinnacle of college football, Michigan was either just coming up short or nowhere to be found for their own standards. That said, the Wolverines are college football royalty. So much so that no matter how much some people may hate it, their fight song “Hail to the Victors” is one almost every college football fan knows within the first few notes played.
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