<p>Notre dame, hands down!</p>
<p>^^^With a name like Riley, I wouldn’t expect anything else! ;-)</p>
<p>My name’s Italian and I still say ND.</p>
<p>And I still say Michigan. :-)</p>
<p>rjkofnovi’s Michigan fetish is equivalent to RML’s Berkeley fetish in many ways. They fail to understand that their fethished up universities aren’t for everybody.</p>
<p>OP, I suggest you make a chart considering everything you want. Show it to you parents. Examples include cost, weather, visit experience, perceived prestige (idk, go up to random people, make small talk and slowly include the subject that you study at “UMichigan” or “Notre Dame” to different people and gauge the reaction).</p>
<p>Thanks for all the great thoughts and comments, guys! It’s greatly appreciated!</p>
<p>I am planning to visit Ann Arbor soon (then it’s off to South Bend), so I will definitely check some of the places you mentioned. Here’s a question for you, though:</p>
<p>I’d like to check out Schembechler Hall, see the trophies and whatnot. Problem is, I’m not an athlete (or at least not a football player), nor am I a student (yet). Is Schembechler Hall only open to U-M students, or to just athletes? I’d like to see inside there. I figure that’s where a lot of Michigan’s tradition resides.</p>
<p>Obviously I’d like to do the same thing in South Bend, so I guess the same question applies there too.</p>
<p>Idk about Fichigan, but on the second floor of the Joyce Center there is ND trophies and stuff. Pretty cool, free and open to the public. Def worth seeing. Also the College Football Hall of Fame is in South Bend (for a fed more months) so if your a big fan than you can see that too.</p>
<p>“Also the College Football Hall of Fame is in South Bend (for a fed more months) so if your a big fan than you can see that too.”</p>
<p>Thanks for bringing that up. Even the CFHOF is leaving SB. Nobody wants to visit that dive hole.</p>
<p>You should call the University Operator (734) 764-1817 to find out if and when Schembechler Hall is open to the public. If my recollection is correct there is an entry hallway that is open the public. I think the Little Brown Jug (the oldest rivalry trophy in college football) is stored there. There are also some athletic displays in the concourse of Crisler Arena but that is undergoing renovation so I don’t know if it is accessible. If you are in Ann Arbor on April 16 the football team will be playing its spring scrimmage which is open to the public. Yost Ice Area is also interesting to see but it may be locked for the off-season. The nine national championship banners (most in NCAA) hang from the rafters - we are hoping to add a tenth tomorrow night! They have public skating there when the hockey team isn’t using the ice.</p>
<p>If you watached the Fab Five documentary you will have learned that some of the basketball team parephernalia is in the archives of the Bentley Historical Library. I am not sure how you get to see that. Another question for the university operator.</p>
<p>If you want to see the Paul Bunyan Trophy you will have to travel 60 miles to the north and west because it is in East Lansing. Rich Rod could not beat little brother in three tries. It’s the ugliest trophy and I have been looking for a way for Michigan to beat the Spartans and let them keep the trophy.</p>
<p>My favorite rivalry trophy is Floyd of Rosedale. It is a bronze pig awarded to the winner of the Iowa Minnesota Game. It is currently in Minneapolis. There is no trophy for beating Notre Dame. Ending national championship hopes is trophy enough!</p>