<p>Nirvana, Michigan's first football season, if I recall, was in 1879, just 8 seasons before Notre Dame's first season, and in those days, teams only played 2-3 games each season. We also didn't play any games in 1882. So in short, Michigan 18-20 games more than Notre Dame in its 127 years. Hardly an advantage.</p>
<p>ND actually had the highest winning % until a few years ago. We have all time records accumulated over a hundred years and we have recoreds that are still going so to speak. </p>
<p>The leaders and the best.</p>
<p>Michigan and Notre Dame due to their national academic and athletic reputation are two of a handful of schools that can successfully recruit 4 star football recruits (note schools like Stanford and Duke can recruit from all over, but rarely get 4 star players) outside of their regional area. This is a tremendous advantage and is why expectations at UMich are so high - and why Lloyd Carr catches so much grief when the team goes 7-5. It is difficult to be negative about ND, and they get their fair share of recruits, but I was raised in the Midwest and could never understand how one could choose the cold and dreariness of South Bend over one of the most vibrant college towns in the country.</p>
<p>Also, let us remember that UM has just one national title since 1950 and it was shared. Just one. Even the buckeye's have two, although i'm not sure of that.</p>
<p>in alexandre's defense schembechler's Michigan teams outpointed Woody Hayes' great, great Ohio State teams - 5-4 -1. And John Cooper's OSU teams were consistently beaten by Michigan, which led to his firing despite what would be considered a stellar record by virtually any other school. So Michigan has earned its success both in the past and recently. </p>
<p>By the way, any student of sports should take a look at the life and career of Woody Hayes. A great and honorable man (he endowed a history chair at the school - and really cared about education) who demonstrated a repeated capacity to self destruct. He got fired for hitting a Clemson player who intercepted a pass at the end of a bowl game in 1979. As a kid growing up in the Midwest, I always thought Schembechler accomplished the same things as Hayes without the outrageous fits of temper and loss of control, so I always really took to Michigan (forget following Illinois where I am from - not only did they generally stink, they were often on probation so watching them on tv was not an option). Oh, yes, and Michigan has the best helmets in football, bar none. But if possible (and I am not sure it is), strip away the negatives and Woody was a man of principle, surely out of place in today's chase the buck Div. 1 NCAA world. The purpose of this is not gush about Woody Hayes (Schembechler's mentor, oddly), but to gain an appreciation of just how much football is woven into the fabric of people in Ohio and Michigan and surrounding areas. We bought one of the first available 31 inch (I think) screens the day before the Ohio Michigan game in 1973, and even in Illinois, it was one of the biggest tv buying weeks of the year - the game was that big.</p>
<p>I checked and Michigan's only 4th for winning percentage post-WWII. Still impressive, but not quite the best.</p>
<p>I think Michigan and Notre Dame are still close enough in winning percentage that it could still switch up. I was counting on last season to put Notre Dame away for good, but...</p>