MM#209 / JapanJoyful#803
UMich (14-0) / UWash (14-0) football factoids
Odds: Michigan is a 4.5 point favorite
Previous National No. 1 rankings
(polls between 1936 and BCS
Bowl Championship Series in 1998)
UMichigan - 1947, 1948, 1997
UWashington - 1960, 1991
notes
1. two UW players' father
(Mark Bruener) was on
the UW 1991 national team
2. Most famous UMich player
was President Ford in 1932/33.
3. Most famous UWash player: none
Though Monday's championship game for the 2023 national title will be their first championship
game against each other, it will be the 14th time the University of Michigan and University of Washington have played each other with Michigan winning 8 times, including the first four times and 2-2 in four Rose Bowls but 5-5 for the last ten times.
9/11/21...UM31-UW10 (A2)
8/31/02...UM31-UW29 (A2)
9/08/01...UW23-UM18 (Sea)
1/01/93...UM38-UW31 (RB)
1/01/92...UW34-UM14 (RB)
9/14/84...UW20-UM11 (A2)
9/17/83...UW25-UM24 (Sea)
1/01/80...UM23-UW06 (RB)
1/02/78...UW27-UM20 (RB)
9/26/70...UM17-UW03 (Sea)
9/25/54...UM14-UW00 (Sea)
9/26/53...UM50-UW00 (A2)
purple and gold
"Heaven help the foes of Washington"
note: the original UW fight song
was directed towards the then bitter
rivalry with UCal and first used
in 1916 in Seattle at the UCal game)
note: nobody famous from UW football
but Aaron Rodgers played for UCAL.
.
Washington QB Michael Penix and Coach Kaleb DeBoer
In April 2017, current UW quarterback Michael Penix not only committed from his high school team in Tampa to UTennesee but also stuck by his word to them as other recruits scattered to the winds when the coach was fired and took the rest of the Tennessee staff with him. Unfortunately for Penix, the new coach called up in August and threw him to the wind with a "your services won't be needed anymore, after all." Fortunately, Penix got the QB slot at the UIndiana for their 2018 season but, unfortunately, only made it through three games before being sidelined with a torn ACL and then only through six games in 2019.
In 2022, after a miserable 4-8 record for 2021, the UW hired Coach Kaleb DeBoer from Fresno State California but who, having served as an assistant coach at UIndiana in 2019 during Penix's six games there, including a 39-14 drubbing of the Hoosiers by the University of Michigan, brought on Penix to QB the Huskies for a greatly improved 11-2 finish in the Pac12 in 2022 and, of course, this year's perfect finish (13-0) as the UW (and nine other colleges, including the University of California Golden Bears) junked the Pac 12 for the better TV ratings and, supposedly, better profit$$$$ of the Big 10.
UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN (1817)
maize and blue
"Champions of the West"
Fight song written in 1898
after perfect season
in the then Western League
1. Coach Jim Harbaugh was QB for the UMichigan from 1983-1988, NFL for 14 seasons, e.g. Chicago Bears, and coach of the San Francisco 49'ers from 2011-2014 before going to Michigan for their 2015 season.
2. James McCarthy has QB'ed for UMich since 2021 and started since 2022, including three bowl appearances (Orange/Fiesta/Rose) and the first three straight wins over Ohio State since 1995-1997.
"Enjoy yourself. Your younger days never come again." 100yo T. Igarashi to me in geta at top of Mt. Fuji (8/2/87)
Nice summary, Tet! I hope that I can stay up for the entire game tonight and that whoever wins does so without any controversial calls making the difference.
Doug, runnin' cycling in Rochester, MI
"Think blue, count two, and look for a red shoe"
Nice tet.
As a neutral and looking for a fun and entertaining game.
"He conquers who endures" - Persius "Every workout should have a purpose. Every purpose should link back to achieving a training objective." - Spaniel
http://ncstake.blogspot.com/
January 8, 2024
UM - 34 / UW - 13
Though I hated Jim Harbaugh when he was coaching the hated San Francisco 49'ers from 2011 - 2014, I pretty much got over it when the Seahawks beat them in the NFL semifinals in January 2014 and won the Superbowl in 2014 thereby making Seahawk's Pete Carroll the only coach with both a Superbowl win and also college championships (with USC in 2003-2004) that Harbaugh's win over Washington would have matched except for his 49'ers losing Superbowl LVII in February 2013 to his brother John Harbaugh's Baltimore Ravens.
Though Michigan fans probably hope not only Harbaugh but also junior quarterback JJ McCarthy will stick it out at Michigan, this season's championship has finally permitted Jim Harbaugh, who had been the school's quarterback in the 80's, not only to redeem his five straight losses to the hated The ohio state from his inaugural year back at Michigan 2015 before winning the last three contests but also his miserable 1-6 bowl record before this year's championship so he deserves to do whatever he wants, even it it's just for a substantial raise.*
Though I have a grudge against the UW's junking of the beloved Pac 12 for the Big 10, even though it will probably keep one or the other out of next year's college championship series, maybe it's not so bad, after all, as the new alignment will be allow a Michigan-Washington rematch here in Seattle on October 5, 2024.
Go Blue!, . . . I mean, Go Dawgs!
* Coach Harbaugh salary - $7,500,00
Quarterback McCarthy NIL value - $1,400,000
NIL - name/image/likeness new economic realities .
- thnax and a tip of the RA hat to Tramps)
** I also hope that any Harbaugh departure will absolve the Michigan's players of any undeserved guilt and fault by association with Harbaugh's NCAA issues.