January 8, 2024, will live in infamy in the minds of anyone in Ann Arbor or affiliated with the University of Michigan.
The Wolverines (15-0) football team capped their perfect season by bringing home a national title at the Washington Huskies‘ (14-1) expense 34-13.
It may have taken a decade in Ann Arbor for Jim Harbaugh to finally win college football’s most-coveted prize, but as the seconds ticked away just before 11 p.m. ET, it was reality.
It was judgment day in the Big Ten Conference, proving to the college football world the soon-to-be 18-team league can compete with anyone.
As my astute colleague and founder of the all-college football site, Mike Farrell, pointed out, the Wolverines didn’t need any extra motivation to prove they were the hunted all season long.
Sign-stealing? Two suspensions? An arguably weak regular-season schedule? None of it mattered.
Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards carried the offensive load for Michigan Monday night, which included a combined 238 yards and four touchdowns between them.
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There were simply no answers, and if there were, none of them were warranted. The same can be said for a defense that forced two back-breaking interceptions to ice the victory.
As Harbaugh put it bluntly after the victory, he said it’s about his team, not his future.
“It couldn’t have gone better,” Harbaugh told reporters after the win. “It went exactly how we wanted it to go to win every game. The off-the-field issues, we’re innocent and we stood strong and tall because we knew we were innocent. And I’d like to point that out. And these guys are innocent. And overcome that, it wasn’t that hard because we knew we were innocent. So yeah, that’s really what I wanted to say. It went exactly how we wanted it to go.”
And having the season and national title game go exactly as planned, including Michigan’s 27-20 heroics against Alabama in the Rose Bowl just a week ago, was all part of the story.
Michigan’s win should light the SEC’s flames
For the first time in a decade, the SEC, known by many as the best conference in the sport, did not have a representative in the title game.
If that fact does not serve as extra motivation, nothing will.
Michigan hosts newly-minted SEC foe, Texas, in Week 2 next season but also draws USC, Washington, and Oregon as the new additions to the Big Ten. Going undefeated for the second straight year will be a tall order, especially if the Wolverines have a new regime.
Nonetheless, staying with Alabama and Georgia in the rankings next fall will be the ultimate goal, proving whether or not Michigan’s championship repeat bid will be a fluke.
For now, though, Michigan’s Legacy will never be forgotten regardless of all the off-the-field distractions and tribulations the team had to go through in order to finish undefeated. People may like it. People may hate it. But respecting the art of going undefeated, which is difficult in its own right, cannot be overstated.
Is this team the greatest of all time? Probably not.
Is it one of the greatest stories of all time?
Absolutely.
In an era in which college football continues to evolve drastically daily, the Michigan Wolverines made their best impression of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, the only NFL team to finish undefeated and win the Super Bowl.
Take that for what it’s worth, and also remember, sometimes, that smash-mouth, hard-nosed, physical football is good enough to win championships in an ugly fashion.
If this Michigan team taught us anything, life is sometimes not always fair, but it’s how you handle yourself before you get back up.
