Where will this season rank among those since Bo was hired?
Obviously, this will depend greatly on how the Playoff goes so I decided to take my personal crack at it given three scenarios:
Winning the CFP National Championship: I honestly don't see how this isn't #1 ahead of 1997 if it plays out like this, even with the rivalry loss to Sparty. NO ONE, not even Nebraska or whoever would share the national title with us, would be able diminish it, because it wouldn't happen now. It would undoubtedly be totally undisputed and far harder to achieve than that national title in '97 with who'd we likely have to go through
Winning the Orange Bowl but, assuming Bama is the opponent, losing the CFP National Championship: Objectively, as painful as the end would be, you got to say #2 behind only 1997 itself. Since the inception of an official national championship game for College Football's FBS division, either BCS or CFP National Championship, Michigan has NEVER played in one. Just getting to one is a marked improvement for our program's ceiling in the modern era and would represent uncharted waters for us
Losing the Orange Bowl to Georgia: This one would be a bit conflicting. It would still be a quite successful season, but it would be our 5th straight postseason bowl loss. We have been racking up the bowl losses lately in general and losing here would give us our 28th bowl loss overall as a program. But given all the suffering to Ohio State is at least temporarily given a reprieve and we finally busted that dreadful Big Ten title drought, I'd have to, in this scenario, rank this season #8, behind seasons 1969, 1980, 1985, 1988, 1997, 1999 and maybe 2003
Did I get this right?
December 8th, 2021 at 7:50 PM ^
Ignore me.
December 8th, 2021 at 9:29 PM ^
Gladly.
December 8th, 2021 at 7:51 PM ^
Ask me on January 11th.
December 8th, 2021 at 7:52 PM ^
Beat me to it. +1, sir.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:02 PM ^
As of right now before the Georgia game I'd say top 5:
1980
1985
1988
1997
2021
December 8th, 2021 at 8:07 PM ^
were these in order?
I'd love to hear the rationale.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:19 PM ^
chronological it appears
December 8th, 2021 at 9:00 PM ^
Well good question, the rationale is that all of those teams won the conference and Rose Bowl, 2021 remains to be seen.
However, there were so many great teams or teams that overcame great obstacles like 1969. but they are:
1971,'73, '74, '76, '77, '78, '89, '91, '99, '03, '06
December 8th, 2021 at 8:08 PM ^
Great choices. I'd probably put in 1973 over 1988, but those were all great teams.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:19 PM ^
Interestingly though, and I might be really wrong here, but I don't sense that the talent is near some of those other teams so I would make a distinction--greatest season, which I think this team is fighting 97 for--and greatest team which I think 97 would win handily.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:24 PM ^
I was gonna say something a dick would say, but this is better.
December 8th, 2021 at 7:56 PM ^
Win two more games.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:28 PM ^
Honestly, my eventual opinion of Michigan 2021 will have much less to do with the 2021 CFP than M’s success in successive seasons.
If, for example, Michigan begins a new era of “~4+ wins out of 10 tries” success versus OSU, I’ll rate this season as arguably the most valuable since 1969, even exceeding 1969, given the historic drought we just exited and the especially intense national hegemony of the current era and its relation to recruiting asymmetries.
December 8th, 2021 at 10:52 PM ^
Yeah, how it fits matters. Matters for bad events, too—the Colorado Hail Mary in ‘94 would be objectively the worst single event in a game, but between the team not being elite at other points that season and then the redemptive ‘97 season a couple of years later, it doesn’t sting as much to me as the ‘16 spot play that kept us out of the playoff and stalled the program for five years, or the 2006 loss that thwarted us from a level that we haven’t since approached until this year.
So if this starts a run, it gets sweeter. If things tail off, it becomes more like (though significantly better than) 2011, which wound up being a flash in the pan for Hoke.
December 8th, 2021 at 7:57 PM ^
Username checks out.
December 8th, 2021 at 7:58 PM ^
Yeah, much too soon for me, as well.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:01 PM ^
with life circumstances and the world as it existed back then, this year is much more accessible and able to be examined and enjoyed than 1997. social media, radical differences in TV and fan access make it so. combine that with the game v. ohio 10 days ago i'd say this year is numero uno regardless of the outcome at the orange bowl. celebrating that win vs. the red menace with 111,000 of my best maize and blue friends (and one of our sons) was something i won't ever forget. saturday v. iowa took that up a notch. if we win 12/31 it'd get even better of course, but for me it's already at the top.
December 8th, 2021 at 11:54 PM ^
I bought DirecTV and illegally (well against apartment rules) installed it to watch the games in 1997. I had to hide the dish under a patio furniture cover so management didn't notice it.
December 9th, 2021 at 5:45 AM ^
jamie, you cable gangster! kidding aside, it was a whole lot easier to 'get' cable back in the day. i guess nowadays its those streaming services with loads of pop-ups and viruses that people utilize.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:01 PM ^
Win two more and it's GOAT.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:05 PM ^
Fuck Bo. Fuck everything about him forever into the Sun. I almost named my dogs after him 10 years ago and I guarantee people have named PEOPLE after that POS. Who gives a flying fuck about anything that happened during that time football wise? Go watch the HBO documentary and then type his name like he's "Someone". That coward is no one.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:10 PM ^
Wasn't really trying to excuse him or say he was a good person. Just was looking for a cutoff point where most of the older fans started to watch Michigan football in modern era
December 8th, 2021 at 8:18 PM ^
You can't erase history. Our head coach played for him in one of Michigan's single most memorable wins. You can't condemn hundreds of players, decades of football history and fandom because of one person. The world is not black and white. Michigan football existed then on the backs of many great young men as it does today.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:20 PM ^
Can we get an admin to perma-block this guy, for the good of the mgoblog website?
Thanks.
#GoBlue
December 8th, 2021 at 8:44 PM ^
I do. A lot.
Bo was a crap human. He was also a fantastic football coach who established the principles that the program still lives by to this day.
The world we live in wasn’t created by good people. Civilization itself was forged out of horrors we are unfortunately all too familiar with. Ranting and getting angry about things we cannot change is pointless.
Don’t honor Bo,but don’t forget him either. For we can learn from the good and bad he did. There are lessons there.
December 8th, 2021 at 9:20 PM ^
Can someone please just perma-ban this clown. We get it…Bo may have done some shitty stuff. But there were thousands of amazing young men who played here and bled maize and blue during the 70s and 80s. They define Michigan football, not Bo.
December 9th, 2021 at 4:51 AM ^
Well, he’s dead, so keep piling on him, you feckless piece of shit. There is no legal footing for claiming to know what someone else knows. So go fuck yourself.
December 9th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^
Take it from someone who knows. You sound *exactly* like one of the JoeBots at Penn State. If you’re bothered by those delusional Penn State alumni who bristle angrily every time Paterno’s legacy is rightly condemned, it might be good to seriously examine your response and do some self reflection.
I get that the whole Bo enabled and covered up the sexual abuse of his own players for decades rant is an off-topic reply to the original post
But you have to realize there are many people invested in Michigan football who have very good reason to feel *extremely* strongly about this issue. Some of them are going to comment on this online-chat board.
Might be best to just realize that mention of Bo is going to provoke strong condemnation from some people, try to understand why, and just let it go if you’re not here for that conversation.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:05 PM ^
Bo era nor the man himself resonate with me considering I became a fan in 2006. This season is easily #1 for me already followed by 2011 at #2, 2006 at #3, 2015 at #4, and 2016 at #5.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:13 PM ^
OP, I think this is already ahead of some of the years you listed regardless of what happens in the playoff. 1969 aside, I'm pretty sure there's never been a bigger talent gap between OSU and UM than there has been the last few years (ever since Meyer bumped up their recruiting ceiling). Beating them by 15 points was huge.
Let's look at 2003:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Michigan_Wolverines_football_team
A 14-point win over OSU was great, but (again) the talent gap wasn't as big back then. The 38-0 win over ND was awesome. (I was there.) But, they were 5-7 in 2003. There were two regular season losses. Oregon was part of a series of West Coast stumbles. They beat Sparty on the road. Sparty went 8-5 that year and their ranking peaked at #9. None of the other wins (like Minnesota on the road) really move the needle.
1999:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1999_Michigan_Wolverines_football_team
We'll be able to compare it better in a few weeks. Two regular-season losses, here, too. The Illinois game stands out in a bad way. There's nothing remotely like it on this year's schedule. I think 2021 is better.
December 8th, 2021 at 10:56 PM ^
Agree with most of this. This year is definitely better than 2003; more cathartic, less underachieving, didn’t have those disaster games at Iowa or Oregon, the win against OSU and conference title sweeter than those.
1999 is a bit tricky because that was cathartic and the bowl win was spectacular; no Michigan season since has been as good… until this year. Right now I have to think that this year ranks better if we don’t get embarrassed against Georgia because we’re in the playoff, and we just weren’t that close to this level in ‘99 (though maybe we should have been).
December 8th, 2021 at 8:14 PM ^
I'm not old enough to remember when Bo Schembechler was hired, or even when he retired (I was 6 the year he retired), but I do remember vividly the '97 season. I would say this season is every bit as exciting as to what I remember of the '97 season.
Woodson has always remained my favorite football player of all time because of how incredible he was that year, and their unblemished record creates a special dynamic that stands alone in modern Michigan football history. That said, what this team achieved when you think about the creation of the CFP and the dynamics that has created from a recruiting and player attrition perspective stands alone in it's own right.
This is right up there with the '97 team in terms of the most impressive Michigan football season I have seen personally.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:17 PM ^
If the games follow the point-spread on Dec 31st, here is how the correct order will be on January 1st, 2021. From greatest to least-greatest:
1997> 1973 > 1969 > 1980 > 1999 > 2021 > 1985 > 2011
#GoBlue
December 8th, 2021 at 8:25 PM ^
1997 is #1.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:26 PM ^
Surprised none of the Moeller teams are on here. I think the 1991 team with Desmond winning the Heisman (striking the pose against OSU) should be up there with some of the teams being listed here. Lost to eventual National Champ Washington in the Rose Bowl, but they went undefeated in the Big Ten and beat a ranked ND with the famous Desmond TD catch. Low point of the season was losing at home to #1 FSU but recovered to roll through the Big Ten.
But 1997 is #1, no question.
December 8th, 2021 at 9:17 PM ^
I know the 3 ties kind of tarnishes it some but the '92 team was pretty darn good. Beating Washington in the Rose Bowl in a great game after Wahington crushed UM the year before was pretty sweet.
December 8th, 2021 at 11:58 PM ^
The 92 team remains one of only 2 undefeated Michigan teams of the past 50 years.
Admittedly, 3 f***ing ties is a bit annoying. Thankfully we have overtime now.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:30 PM ^
Well, before 2011, we would have been BiG10 champs after the Ohio State game. Then, if this were any earlier than than 2014, we would playing for the National Championship game against Bama in January with BCS, pre 1998, we would be in a matchup in the Rose Bowl against Utah, and likely getting at least a share of the National Championship. So if we win, or by far surpasses all others considering the murderers row that college football has become to obtain a National Championship.
Right now, considering we’ve beaten the #2 OSU team, won the BiG10 title, and won 12 games for the 3rd time in school history, regardless of outcome in the CFP, it should be no lower than #3 since the Bo Era…..of course I wasn’t around for the majority of the Bo years so I don’t know how that felt.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:30 PM ^
I would say this year is already #2 for me behind 1997 (first year I had season tickets) in my time as a fan (mid 70's to date). Becomes #1 with two more wins.
Some other great years in my memory in no particular order...loved 1980. The 2006 team until the last two games.....same for 2016.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:31 PM ^
I only became a fan in 1991
since then I have rarely missed a game when it was on live
looks like you got it right for the 90's and on ......except this year is probably better than 2003 and 1999 -- I'd have to think about it.... we won a lot back then
December 8th, 2021 at 8:35 PM ^
Losing my virginity to a girl with a playboy centerfold body was #1.
December 9th, 2021 at 8:13 AM ^
Butter Face
December 9th, 2021 at 8:49 AM ^
No man she had a pretty face too.
She broke up with me to date a Senior but didn’t like him so she wanted to get back together with me. I was too proud to take her back.
Another time my pride got in the way of good decision making.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:39 PM ^
Been watching since 65. They have done nothing but win a B1G Championship. I've seen several. Now this is all new, We have never experienced Championship games and playoffs. This subject is about a month early IMO.
December 8th, 2021 at 11:07 PM ^
Don’t worry
This thread will reappear as a question about five more times in the next 3 weeks
December 8th, 2021 at 8:44 PM ^
Given the gravity of ending the 17-year title drought and resurrecting Harbaugh's tenure, my HAWT TAKE is that this season is already #3 behind 1997 (#1) and 1969 (#2).
If this year triggers a new golden era of Michigan Football, we're looking at 2021 the way many look at 1969.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:56 PM ^
When titles were plentiful they had less importance. Making the playoffs and winning the Big Ten in the modern era is a program changer. Much like 69.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:49 PM ^
It is my favorite of all time.
December 8th, 2021 at 8:59 PM ^
1. 1969
2. 2021
3. 1997
December 8th, 2021 at 9:14 PM ^
1997 would rank higher. Undefeated, heisman winner.