Michigan has long been known as a “football school.” There have been times it has been a “basketball school,” too, as Tuesday’s Michigan basketball broadcast showed in numerous flashbacks to the “Fab Five” days. Frequently, it has been a “hockey school,” with the second-most national titles in NCAA history.
But right now? It’s an “everything school.”
Michigan has its football, men’s and women’s basketball and hockey teams all in the top 15 in their respective national rankings. The last athletic department that could say that? Well, that, too, was Michigan – in November of 2021.
“To have your four biggest, you know, premier sports to all be ranked as part of the top teams in the country … is an unbelievable achievement,” athletic director Warde Manuel recently told the Free Press. “For our teams to all be that highly ranked that high, I can’t recall a place that has that level.
“It just has me like, wow, it’s an unbelievable place to be.”
The football program enters the final weekend of the regular season at No. 15, gearing up for a massive showdown with No. 1 Ohio State on Saturday, Nov. 29 (noon, Fox). A win over the Buckeyes could put U-M in position to grab a College Football Playoff berth next month.
The Wolverines have won four consecutive games against the rival Buckeyes; one more victory, either over OSU or a bowl foe, would give U-M its fourth 10-win season in five years, the first such run since 1976-80, when iconic coach Bo Schembechler roamed the sidelines.
If Michigan does in fact make the CFP, it would be its fourth berth in five years – the Wolverines would be just the fifth team in the 12-season history of the CFP with at least four appearances. (Notre Dame can join the four-timers’ club this season, too.)
On the hardwood, the men’s basketball team entered the season with lofty goals and went on a tear in Las Vegas at the Players Era Festival tournament.
Dusty May’s group dismantled San Diego State 94-54 in its Monday opener, hammered Auburn 102-72 on Tuesday and gored Gonzaga on Wednesday to win the tourney and an additional $1 million in NIL funds for the program. The men’s basketball team (7-0) could earn some first-place votes, and will likely move into the top five in the upcoming coaches poll on Monday after the impressive wins.
The schedule gets no easier in December, though, with Villanova visiting Ann Arbor and a pair of Big Ten games (home vs. Rutgers, on the road at Maryland).
The women’s hoops program, meanwhile, is now 6-1 following a 102-53 beatdown of Detroit Mercy on Wednesday. The lone loss? That came on the road at No. 1 UConn, in a game Michigan trailed by 18 in before climbing within one in with 13 seconds to go.
Kim Barnes Arico’s program is No. 6, tied for its highest ranking in its 45-year history.
And on the ice, Brandon Naurato’s group has rebounded from missing the NCAA Tournament (after three consecutive trips to the Frozen Four) by climbing back to the top of the rankings.
Most recently, the Wolverines delivered what Ann Arbor fans hope is a tone setter for football, hammering Ohio State in a pair of games at Yost Ice Arena by a combined score of 13-3 to improve to 13-3 overall (and 6-2 in the Big Ten).
“Proud of the coaches, but especially the student-athletes,” Manuel said. “Always say, as a former student-athlete, I give a lot of credit to the student-athletes. You know, they have to be the ones to perform, right? But the coaches do an unbelievable job at preparing them and building the teams that they’ve built.”
Michigan hasn’t always dominated in these sports: just last season, football was 5-5 in mid-November and hockey missed the tournament. Two years back, men’s basketball went 8-24 and finished last in the Big Ten. Women’s hoops is riding a seven-season NCAA streak, but that followed a four-year run of missing the tournament under Barnes Arico.
All of this is to point out, on this Thanksgiving, Michigan athletics has given its fans plenty to be thankful for.
“Knock on wood, they all got to finish their seasons,” Manuel said. “But immensely proud.”
Tony Garcia is the Wolverines beat writer for the Detroit Free Press. Email him at apgarcia@freepress.com and follow him on X at @RealTonyGarcia.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan Wolverines fans have a lot to be thankful for in 2025
Reporting by Tony Garcia, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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