Remembering the Michigan Wolverine's last national championship season in 1997
Chris Howard #8, Running Back for the University of Michigan Wolverines runs the football during the NCAA Big Ten Conference college football game against the Penn State Nittany Lions on 8th November 1997 at the Beaver Stadium, University Park, Penns
The Michigan Wolverines' last college football national championship happened almost 25 years ago and featured the country's first primarily defensive player to win the Heisman Trophy.
The team's 1997 campaign ended with a bit of controversy as the University of Michigan took first place in the Associated Press poll but not in the final Coaches Poll. That ranking was given to Nebraska - then a Big 12 team lead by famed coach Tom Osborne in his final season.
It would be the last season that polling discrepancies between AP and the Coaches rankings would prompt debate over whom the top team in the land was before college football instituted the Bowl Championship Series the following year.
The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team was led by Lloyd Carr, who guided the team to a perfect 12-0 in his third season as head coach. The Maize and Blue capped off their unblemished record with a Rose Bowl win against the Washington State Cougars with a 21-16 victory.
But before the win, Michigan needed victories against ranked teams including multiple top-10 matchups:
- A 27-3 upset against the No. 7 Colorado Buffaloes
- A 28-24 victory against the No. 15 Iowa Hawkeyes - its closest win of the year
- A 23-7 win over the No. 14 Michigan State Spartans
- A 34-8 upset over the No. 3 Penn State Nittany Lions
- A 26-16 victory over the No. 24 Wisconsin Badgers
- A rivalry win against No. 4 Ohio State by a score of 20-14
UM's win over Ohio State gave the school it's first perfect regular season since 1971.
Michigan ended up playing Washington State after they jockeyed for the No. 1 ranking with the Nebraska Cornhuskers. Nebraska was ranked first until an unimpressive victory over an unranked Missouri team required some last-minute heroics in overtime.
Unimpressed with the victory, voters instead moved Michigan into the No. 1 after they clobbered Penn State. That's where the discrepancy in the polls grew as Florida State was ranked No. 1 in the Coaches Poll.
The Seminoles carried their top ranking into the final game of the season before losing to Florida.
Now holding both first place rankings, Michigan was selected to play No. 8 Washington State in the Rose Bowl. Meanwhile, Nebraska, also undefeated but ranked 2, played the No. 3 Tennessee Volunteers.
Despite winning their final game and earning a final season ranking of No. 1 from AP, Nebraska was selected as the top team in the country in the coaches poll - likely due to the crushing victory over the Volunteers 42-17.
The 1997-98 season would be the last year that Big-10 and Pac-10 teams would be bound for the Rose Bowl instead of a title game featuring the top two teams in the country.