<p>Yeah they did. As for Michigan football, at least they have 2 more wins than the Detroit Lions right now. Gotta look on the bright side!!;)</p>
<p>Unfortunately, I don't see us having a winning season next year either Alexandre.</p>
<p>ring<em>of</em>fire, you are not a fan of Michigan. I remember after the Michigan win over Wisconsin, all you had to say is that Michigan is no longer respected by recruits and will never be good again. A true Michigan fan would at least have something positive to say.</p>
<p>Michigan could well have a losing season next year. Even in a couple of years. Many top programs have had consecutive losing seasons before returning to glory. Schools like Alabama and Oklahoma come to mind. RR has proven that he can win and Michigan will always appeal to talented players, so eventually, whether it is in two years or in four years, Michigan will return to its usual winning ways.</p>
<p>USC was down for a decade. Funny how soon people forget.</p>
<p>Many programs had rocky years:</p>
<p>Alabama went 4-7 in 1997, 3-8 in 2000, 4-9 in 2003 and 6-7 in 2006.</p>
<p>Nebraska went 5-6 in 2004 and 5-7 in 2007. </p>
<p>Notre Dame went 5-7 in 1999, 5-6 in 2003 and 3-9 in 2007</p>
<p>Oklahoma went 3-8 in 1996, 4-8 in 1997 and 5-6 in 1998</p>
<p>PSU went 5-7 in 2000, 5-6 in 2001, 3-9 in 2003 and 4-7 in 2004.</p>
<p>Texas went 5-6 in 1991 and 4-7 in 1997</p>
<p>USC (as you pointed out) went 3-8 in 1991 and 5-7 in 2000. </p>
<p>All of those programs had several 5 and 6 loss seasons in thelast 20 years too. No program can be a the top all of the time. Michigan had a great run, but they will have some growing pains over the next 2-3 years.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I also agree that for the next season or two, Michigan will not be great, so PSU could end this with a 2-3 game winning streak.
[/quote]
Not so sure about PSU as they are likely to go through a coaching change next year.</p>
<p>But GoBlue, I think in PSU's case, it will be one of the long-time coordinators that will replace JoePa and that the program itself will remain, for the most part, unchanged. In Michigan's case, the entire coaching staff is new and has a completely different philosophy. </p>
<p>I am not worried about the long term. With one of the richest traditions in college football, one of the largest and most storied stadiums in the nation and a very popular following, I fully expect Michigan football to return to its usual lofty position in the next 3-4 years. How fast we get there depends on many factors. A 2-10 season this year is most likely. I do not see a much better than a 0.500 season next year. But after that, I would expect 8+ win seasons from 2010 onwards.</p>
<p>I've stopped hoping for wins, and regard these next few games as a chance to practice sacking so we can make Pryor eat a little turf on his team's way to defeating us again. </p>
<p>You gotta go for the little things, you know? :)</p>
<p>
Alexandre, I'm a Michigan fan but I'm no foolish fanboy. I know when the skies are gloomy and am not afraid to voice my criticism. I loved Lloyd Carr and I can't believe that Bill Martin and his staff decided to hire that foolish trickster Rodriguez, who ditched WV and left his former team high and dry. Instead of adapting his coaching style to the type of players he has to work with, RR has forced his spread offense on a group of players who have no idea how to execute it properly. Furthermore, our defense is ATROCIOUS. It was supposed to be good enough to help carry our inexperienced offense to at least a 6-6 season. Instead in the Purdue game, it was our veteran defense that let down our offense and special teams who performed well. Who else can you blame besides the defensive coordinator and that fraud RR?</p>
<p>The University of Michigan, the most storied college football program of all time, having a 2-10 season? COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE. I don't care if we win a national championship 3 years down the line as a result of the transition we had to endure during this miserable season. I still would prefer that we have made a decent showing(6-6 or better) this year. Going to a good BCS bowl is important, but I think consistency is more important. Lloyd Carr is a proven winner and we sacrificed that just because he couldn't crack Tressel and the Buckeyes. It's just a rivalry. You have to look at the big picture. Can you imagine a UCLA or Duke basketball team ever having a losing regular season record? It WILL NEVER HAPPEN. The Wolverines are shattering what little of my heart remains after the Lions shatter year after year.</p>
<p>As fans, we deserve better.</p>
<p>Football isn'tlike Basketball. Every single Football program has losing seasons. Did you read post 84? Most top 10 programs have had at least two loses in the last 15 years.</p>
<p>And you are not a fan. A fan does not see the worst about a university. He may not see the best, but like me, he would at least see a university the way it is. You have a hatred and disrespect for Michigan that is tangible.</p>
<p>Ring<em>of</em>fire, Notre Dame is the most storied college football program of all time. I don't like agreeing with Alexandre because he went to Michigan(no offense, Alexandre), but he is right when he says that you are not much of a fan. You are not supposed to abandon your loyalty to your team because they aren't winning. All major programs have bad seasons. USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Ohio State, Penn State, Notre Dame, and Nebraska (etc...sorry if I forgot your team) all have down years. Penn State had the most consecutive winning seasons in a row from 1939-1987, but had four losing seasons from 2000-2004. It happens to everyone. As a Penn State fan, I hope you get better so it means something when we beat you. You just sound more than a little fairweather.</p>
<p>jec7483. Michigan taught ND how to play football, has more victories, a higher winning percentage (at least for the time being), and even had ND model their stadium after our own. I think it's fair to say that that ND is not more storied than Michigan. In my opinion I'd say they are equally the two most storied programs. Certainly more storied than Penn State or any other team in college football Division 1 history. Let me put it to you this way; football made ND famous. It is what built that school's reputation. That's why it's so well known. Michigan was very well known before football was even invented. Football did not make Michigan a great school, however football helped to make ND a great school. I'm sure I might get called out for these comments, but that is my not so humble opinion.</p>
<p>Novi, your points are all valid, but for some reason, the Notre Dame mystique should not be underestmated. Personally, I think several football programs can lay claim to being the most "storied". Alabama, Michigan, Nebraska, Notre Dame and USC are all legitimate contenders...as are Oklahoma, OSU and PSU.</p>
<p>Alexandre. The ND mystique got going about 20 years after Michigan's point a minute teams under Fielding H Yost.</p>
<p>To be honest, I know novi might take this personally, although Michigan is the most storied program historically they haven't been a dominant football team since the days of the almighty Bo, I mean Lloyd Carr won a championship in '97 but Ohio State has been a better football program the last 10 years, and if Michigan had been in the SEC the last 2-3 years they would probably average 4 or 5 wins a year at best.</p>
<p>Regardless, Michigan is a well respected school across the nation, their undergraduate academics are second to none, Ross is considered one of the top 3 business schools every year, the psychology/sociology program is tops in the nation, poli-sci is consistent top 2 in the nation, Pre-med and law are top 10 every year, and the engineering school is godlike and has Ivy League HYP caliber students. In addition, the students at Michigan have work ethic that is unparalleled at even some of the best schools in the nation. However, Michigan's basketball team has been pitiful (losing to Harvard last year, seriously?) and their football team will be inferior to many even in the Big Ten (which is considered by all football fans across the nation to be a joke compared to the SEC and the Big 12), so basically put Michigan's football team is considered the worst of the worst this year, and I don't see that changing until Michigan can run a more dynamic, effective offense. The defense of the Maize and Blue is still very good, and can play well, but until the offense can carry their weight which won't be a while since they need to recruit speed demons (which all go to the SEC mostly) for a spread offense, Michigan fans need to be patient.</p>
<p>Who's insulted ramen? You've stated the obvious and are factually correct. We're talking about "storied football programs" here over the long haul. There are quite a few schools who are playing better and have been playing better than us over the past 10 years. Of course remember too that we're only a couple years removed from ending the regular season 11-1. :-)</p>
<p>Once Michigan gets some solid recruiting they will bounce back and be a good football program, the question is whether that happens in one year or several years. Also, from what I've heard this is supposed to be the most difficult year in Michigan admissions, that's shocking considering last year they had a record number of applications.</p>
<p>Michigan's Engineering students aren't HYP-caliber ramennoodles, but I agree with your post otherwise.</p>
<p>HYP are not outstanding in Engineering like UofM</p>
<p>Yeah, but the student quality is outstanding by virtue of how hard it is to get into those schools. Generally, I think it is the quality of your peers that have the biggest influence on your work ethic and motivation.</p>
<p>So they're projecting Threet to be out for MN (concussion from Purdue game). Which ain't great for us. Not sure it matters overall, but....</p>