The University of Michigan football program has a long and storied history as evidenced by the fact that they have more wins than any other program in the history of the sport. As a result, the Wolverines not only have more than their share of national championships but also some great teams that didn’t win a national championship. Here we take a look at the five best of those teams. We’ve listed them in chronological order from the least to most recent. You can decide which one you think is the best.
For reference, we’re counting the 1947 and 1997 teams as national champions even though neither team was the undisputed champion.
Best Michigan Teams That Didn’t Win a National Championship
1971
The 1971 team finished with an 11-1 overall record and won the BIG Ten Championship. Several things made this team special.
For starters this team had four first-team All-Americans including defensive back Thom Darden, offensive lineman Reggie McKenzie, running back Billy Taylor, and linebacker Mike Taylor. The Wolverines had three consecutive shutouts during the regular season and held six other opponents to seven points or less. In fact, they outscored their opponents by 421-83 for the season. They finished sixth in the coaches poll and 4th in the AP poll only because of a last-minute field goal by Stanford in the Rose Bowl which handed Michigan their only loss of the season.
Had the Wolverines been able to hold on and win that game they would have undoubtedly been crowned national champions.
1973
Entering the regular season finale against Ohio State, the 1973 squad was undefeated with a 10-0 and ranked number four in the country. The Buckeyes were also undefeated and were ranked number one.
The defense was even better than the 1971 squad only giving up 68 points on the season for an average of 6.2 points per game. Unfortunately, the game with Ohio State ended up in a tie and the BIG Ten athletic directors voted to send the Buckeyes to the Rose Bowl. Michigan looked like the better team that day and had all of the momentum at the end of the game.
What made matters even worse was that the conference still had a rule that only one team from the conference could go to a bowl game so the Wolverines sat at home for the holidays.
1985
Once again Michigan put the best defense in the nation on the field giving up only 75 points during the regular season. The offense was led by quarterback Jim Harbaugh and running back Jamie Morris.
The team handled arch-rival Ohio State, 27-17 in the annual version of “The Game”. The only loss on the season was a 12-10 defeat at Iowa who was ranked number one at the time. Michigan also had a 3-3 tie versus Illinois. However, their overall impressive play throughout the season resulted in a number two ranking at the end of the season. A bowl game victory over Nebraska put a nice cap on the season.
2016
A season that started with so much promise unfortunately ended in disappointment.
The team started the season with ten consecutive wins including three wins over ranked teams Colorado, Penn State, and Wisconsin. Then came the Ohio State game. Two huge plays that went against the Wolverines were costly. Leading 17-7 late in the third quarter, Michigan had a big gain into Buckeye territory called back due to a penalty. The next play resulted in an interception and the momentum switched back to the Ohio State.
After each team scored a touchdown in overtime, Michigan was held to a field goal on their second possession. Then on fourth down, they appeared to stop the Buckeyes on a quarterback keeper. The play was ruled a first down on the field and replay said the call stood. On the next play, Curtis Samuel scored and the game and national championship dreams were both over.
Michigan then lost the finale in the Orange Bowl to Florida State 33-32. A less-than-fully motivated squad missing Jabril Peppers contributed to the disappointing ending but this group was still clearly one of the best in the country.
2022
After finally getting over the Ohio State hump the year before, this group was highly motivated to finish the job of winning a national championship and getting the bad taste out of their mouths from a poor performance against Georgia in the national semifinal game.
The team was dominant throughout the season but almost stumbled late in the year against Illinois before pulling it out late. Then the team went to Columbus and put in a dominant performance against the Buckeyes. While the game was still in doubt heading to the fourth quarter, two long touchdown runs from Donovan Edwards sealed the deal.
The Wolverines then headed back to the playoff where most people expected them to beat TCU and get to the national championship. Unfortunately, a combination of bad luck, uncharacteristic turnovers, and even more uncharacteristic bad defense did them in and they lost 51-45. This team was good-really good. They simply lacked the mentality to win it all. Had they been able to beat TCU they would have had their hands full in a rematch with Georgia.
And there we have the top five Michigan football teams to not win the national championship. Let the debate begin over which one of these teams was the best.
Main Image: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
