Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines football team represents the University of Michigan in college football at the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision level. Michigan has the most all-time wins in college football history. The team is known for its distinctive winged helmet, its fight song, its record-breaking attendance figures at Michigan Stadium, and its many rivalries, particularly its annual, regular season-ending game against Ohio State, known simply as “The Game,” once voted as ESPN's best sports rivalry.

Michigan began competing in intercollegiate football in 1879. The Wolverines joined the Big Ten Conference at its inception in 1896, and other than a hiatus from 1907 to 1916, have been members since. Michigan has won or shared 43 league titles, and since the inception of the AP Poll in 1936, has finished in the top 10 a total of 39 times. The Wolverines claim 11 national championships, most recently that of the 1997 squad voted atop the final AP Poll.

Michigan Stadium, nicknamed "The Big House," is the football stadium for the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It is the largest stadium in the United States and the Western Hemisphere and the third largest stadium in the world. Official capacity is 107,601, but has hosted crowds in excess of 115,000.

Michigan Stadium was built in 1927 at a cost of $950,000 (equivalent to $11.6 million in 2020 and had an original capacity of 72,000. Prior to the stadium's construction, the Wolverines played football at Ferry Field. Every home game since November 8, 1975 has drawn a crowd in excess of 100,000, an active streak of more than 300 contests. On September 7, 2013, the game between Michigan and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish attracted a crowd of 115,109, a record attendance for a college football game since 1948, and an NCAA single-game attendance record at the time, overtaking the previous record of 114,804 set two years previously for the same matchup.

Michigan Stadium was designed with footings to allow the stadium's capacity to be expanded beyond 100,000. Fielding Yost envisioned a day where 150,000 seats would be needed. To keep construction costs low at the time, the decision was made to build a smaller stadium than Yost envisioned but to include the footings for future expansion.

Michigan Stadium is used for the University of Michigan's main graduation ceremonies; President Lyndon B. Johnson outlined his Great Society program at the 1964 commencement ceremonies in the stadium. It has also hosted hockey games including the 2014 NHL Winter Classic, a regular season NHL game between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Detroit Red Wings with an official attendance of 105,491, a record for a hockey game. Additionally, a 2014 International Champions Cup soccer match between Real Madrid and Manchester United had an attendance of 109,318, a record crowd for a soccer match in the United States.