Reminder: Michigan Football Won the National Title
I don't think this gets talked about enough. Just a reminder, your 2023 Michigan Wolverines won the CFB National Title. Last year of the 4 team playoff and college football having some semblance of amateur athletics - and it was Michigan again, Michigan. What a way to end an era.
Best team all year, best team in the B1G the past 3 years. 3 in a row against OSU, each game with huge stakes, each year with the stakes going higher. No UM-OSU game will ever match the stakes of last year unless (with all their crying and attempts to invalidate UMs dominance) and until they meet in a National Title game, nothing will cleanse them of those losses. Nothing OSU ever does will match the misery UM put on them the past 3 years....beating them at their best - all that talent and they have nothing to show for it.
And for all the analysts thinking UM takes a huge step back next year, be careful. Top 3 defense returns, best D-line in the country, amazing back 7 and the running game will still Smash.
But no matter what happens going forward with UM football, I go to the grave with a smile on my face, from the last 3 years and the culmination with the ultimate National Title Glory.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:23 PM ^
Wear it on your shirts, read it on your blogs, hang it on your walls, carry it in your hearts. It is good to be national champions.
and...
It is GREAT to be a Michigan Wolverine!!
March 17th, 2024 at 11:33 AM ^
While true, this title comes with an asterisk. We did have the unfair advantage of sharpening our steel by playing two of the biggest games of the year without our head coach in the face of gale-force fabricated scandal. No other team had to face that kind of character-building adversity, and it clearly gave us an edge in mettle during the playoff. I mean, imagine what OSU could have done had they had the opportunity to build such fortitude.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:26 PM ^
We beat Top 5 teams: PSU, OSU, Bama and Washington to end the season
March 16th, 2024 at 10:36 PM ^
Didn't we also beat MSU 49-0?
Another thing that doesn't get talked about enough is that the movies King Ralph and Mr. Deeds have the same plots: doofus becomes rich and powerful only to have the butler be the rightful heir. Sorry for the King Ralph spoilers.
Sounds like HMS Pinafore to me.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:10 PM ^
Was PSU really a top 5 team?
You list OSU, Bama, Washington and PSU as top 5 teams. We're #1, so the math would mean you'd have PSU above UGA, Oregon, Texas, etc.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:15 PM ^
Penn State was #6 when we played them. Let's give it to him.
Edit: Stop upvoting this comment. I was wrong!
March 16th, 2024 at 11:21 PM ^
ESPN says they were #10 when we played.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/game/_/gameId/401520394/michigan-penn-state
March 16th, 2024 at 11:27 PM ^
Well, I tried but I guess I failed. You're right, Top 5 is quite a stretch. Top 5 defense, maybe?
Anyway, I thought it was 6 because of this:
Penn State tumbled in the polls Sunday following its 24-15 loss to Michigan at Beaver Stadium. The Nittany Lions dropped three spots to No. 9 in the AP Top 25 and the Coaches Poll after falling to 8-2 on the season.
I'm pretty sure I'm doing the math right. Sports Illustrated fan blog or whatever not too good at the English or the math or both.
If I remember this correctly, ESPN posts teams by their in house FEI rank rather than AP. They might switch to CFP rankings once those start coming out. But I know there has been discrepancy between ESPN and other media outlets before.
Heading into the game against us PSU was ranked 10th in the CFB playoff rankings, 9th in AP, and 9th in the coaches poll.
https://www.espn.com/college-football/rankings/_/poll/21/week/11/year/2023/seasontype/2
Little Game James
You're doing the math right, SI apparently looked at PSU's ranking before they were updated. Because they went into the Michigan game ranked 9th in both the AP and coaches while being 10th in the CFB playoff rankings.
Not top 5, but I love this short clip about that game (pretty sure I copied this from an Athletic article about Sherrone):
In a cramped corner of Penn State’s visitors’ locker room, Sherrone Moore headed straight for his offensive line.
This was Moore’s first major stress test as Michigan’s head coach, and it was a doozy: a top-10 matchup on the road, nearly 111,000 fans in the stands, Jim Harbaugh stuck in a hotel room. The team learned of Harbaugh’s suspension on the flight to State College, and Moore found out 90 minutes before the game that he’d be the acting head coach. Now he had to tear up his game plan and figure out a way to protect a five-point lead with his line struggling to block Penn State’s pass rush.
Moore let Michigan’s offensive linemen know what was coming. The room was small enough that other position groups could hear the message loud and clear.
"Fellas, we’re going to run the ball right up their ass."
The scene that day in State College is the simplest explanation for why Moore is now Michigan’s head coach. He decided Michigan was going to impose its will on Penn State, and 32 consecutive running plays later, the Wolverines walked away with a 24-15 victory. Moore, overcome with emotion, unleashed a postgame interview that will be replayed for the rest of his coaching career.
“I want to thank the Lord,” Moore said, tears streaming down his face. “I want to thank coach Harbaugh. I f— love you, man. I love the s— out of you. We did this for you.”
Moore provided a rare glimpse into the core of a coach who typically maintains a guarded demeanor in public. But for the people who know him well, nothing about that day was a surprise — not Moore’s poise under pressure, not his ability to rise to the occasion, not the emotions that poured out in his postgame interview.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:35 PM ^
And we ended Saban’s career with a loss to us. Gold, Jerry!
I didn't want any Rose Bowl gear, knowing that we were playing for the Natty and I wanted gear that said "National Champions" vs "Rose Bowl Champions".
Just bought a Rose Bowl Champ shirt yesterday because a.) they're marked down, and more importantly, b.) It represents our win in "The Granddaddy Of Them All" AND Sabin's retirement party.
And arguably the actual national championship game. Bama probably would have handled Washington similarly to us.
It felt very much like that. A la 1980 against Russia. That’s the game of the playoffs, but then still have to finish out to win the whole thing. Which we did!
March 17th, 2024 at 11:25 AM ^
The Rose Bowl means a lot to Michigan, the winningest program in a college football. And the Rose Bowl, of course, is The Granddaddy of Them All. I proudly were my Rose Bowl champions shirt.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:28 PM ^
Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter
March 16th, 2024 at 10:33 PM ^
This last year was really fun (minus dealing w the ncaa and petiny), let’s do it again!
March 16th, 2024 at 11:09 PM ^
The bullshit over cheeseburgers and Big Ten corruption was, indeed, infuriating. But the way the players rose above all of that made the end result even more satisfying. I'd never want to see a bunch of players go through the adversity Michigan's players did this year, but the fact that they overcame the efforts of so many to steal their season makes me all the prouder to be a Michigan fan.
In retrospect, I think that the players may come to realize that the increased challenge made victory all the sweeter, even if it didn't seem like it at the time.
March 17th, 2024 at 10:04 AM ^
I think the adversity definitely “circled the wagons” and brought the team closer together. I predicted at least one loss before the season, just because going undefeated is so difficult and rare.
The outside attacks, pressure and noise raised the team’s focus and I think provided another level of motivation, that wouldn’t have otherwise existed. Just my opinion.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:33 PM ^
Not just the national title, but the last real national title.
Also the most narratively significant game against OSU, and the last meaningful edition of The Game since next-week rematches will be on the table going forward.
The Game will be known henceforth as A Game.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:36 PM ^
Busy watching hockey right now.
March 16th, 2024 at 10:39 PM ^
OP must not have BTN?
March 16th, 2024 at 10:42 PM ^
BET
Michigan Beat Everybody
BET
(the) Beat Everyone Team
March 16th, 2024 at 10:52 PM ^
Always brings a smile to my face!
March 16th, 2024 at 10:55 PM ^
FUCK YEAH!
March 16th, 2024 at 10:58 PM ^
And on another note, I’ll semi thread-jack to give a shout out to another group of champions. My wife’s alma mater, Lincoln High School in Warren, MI became the first public school from the city of Warren to win a basketball state championship today.
As a product of South Warren (though attended HS on the north side) I am so proud for my hometown and community that has had a lot of struggles and it has been decimated in a lot of ways; but the community has been lifted and rallied around this team.
So hey, my mgowife and I both have alma maters as the best of the best in their sports this year so we’re happy in the Q house for a while!
"... first public school from the city of Warren to win a basketball state championship today."
I wouldn't have guessed that (big place, all those years, etc.). Good for Lincoln.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:02 PM ^
Sorry to hijack the thread with a lame segue, but if anyone is looking for a great show to start as the “off season” nears, The Gentlemen on Netflix was very entertaining.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:08 PM ^
Annnnd, so were The Crown and The Queens Gambit on Netflix. And now back to the Perfect Season.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:16 PM ^
I couldn't get into it. They lost me with the chicken suit dance.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:30 PM ^
It's great, if you like Guy Ritchie films like Snatch, this is highly entertaining. I'm also really enjoying Shogun.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:07 PM ^
Exactly. Keep your heads up, and your chests out everyone!! And oh yeah, F*CK OHIO
March 16th, 2024 at 11:12 PM ^
sure we did. right.
next thing you're going to tell me is that we landed on the moon.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:22 PM ^
Flashback to November 2020, football season is mercifully over. ‘Hey, it’s future Mgoblog calling, we beat OSU three years running, won the Big Ten championship game, made the playoff, and won it all!’ Nope, no way I would have believed it.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:34 PM ^
hit the nail on the head. incredible 3 year run, this year topping it off for eternity.
March 16th, 2024 at 11:29 PM ^
Obligatory:
March 16th, 2024 at 11:32 PM ^
frank, help me out. what is the reference in this gif?
Pretty sure that's Buzz Aldrin clocking a conspiracy nut who called him a coward. One of the more satisfying things on the internet... unless you're a conspiracy nut.
thank you. the old guy could still bring it. nice.
If you have a couple minutes, this (different flavor) is pretty funny, too: