Last week (in UV?) Brian mentioned the fact that 40 years of continued beatdowns and general success is why there are so many Walmart Wolverines.  Little Brother's fans are just jealous that people who attended neither school seem to be more willing to pick a much more successful program for their rooting interests.

So I thought I'd go further into the numbers.  It's pretty staggering.  Let's look at it in a thinly veiled hypothetical.

Suppose there are two schools, A and B.

A and B are both large, long established, public universities roughly 70 miles apart in the same state.

A and B have played each other in football 41 times since 1969.  During that period:

• A has won 30 games in that series, B has won 11 games.
• A's winning percentage over B is .732.
• A has outscored B 1100-659.  That's an average game of 29-16.
• A has shutout B five times, and has allowed only three points in two additional games.
• A has never failed to score at least a touchdown against B.
• A has won 1 national championship. B has won none.
• A has won 21 conference championships. B has won 3.
• A has appeared in 35 bowl games, including a streak of 33 straight, with 15 wins.
• B has appeared in 16 bowl games, with 5 wins.
• A has appeared in 16 Rose Bowls, 2 Orange Bowls, 1 Sugar Bowl, and 1 Fiesta Bowl.
• B has appeared in 1 Rose Bowl.
• A's players have won 2 Heisman trophies. B's have won none.
• A's winning percentage against all opponents is .756.
• B's winning percentage against all opponents is .509.

Since 1898, A and B have played each other in football 102 times.

• A has won 67 games in that series, B has won 30 games, with 5 ties.
• A's winning percentage over B is .681.
• The all-time series between the schools includes a score of 119-0 in favor of A.

National Statistics:

• A is the NCAA FBS leader in all-time football wins with 881, 33 wins better than second place.
• B has 621 all-time wins, good for 32nd place among all FBS schools.
• A is the NCAA FBS leader in all-time football winning percentage at .737, .005 (roughly 3 whole games) better than second place.
• B's all-time winning percentage is .592, also good for 32nd place among all FBS schools.

National Championships:

• A has earned 11 consensus national championsips.
• A has been selected as national champions in 5 additional years by various recognized selectors on the idiot fringe of college football opinion.
• A claims only its 11 consensus national championships.
• B has earned 3 consensus national championships.
• B has been selected as national champions in 3 additional years by various recognized selectors on the idiot fringe of college football opinon.
• B still claims a total of 6 national championships.

Conference Championships:

• A has won 41 conference championships.
• B has won 6 conference championships.

Which team's football program would YOU root for?

A is the University of Michigan.  B is Michigan State University.

Is it any wonder that there are so few Walmart Spartans?  Little Brother indeed.

Okay, so there's also that basketball thing.  A few years ago ESPN ranked the top all-time basketball programs.  Michigan was ranked 13.  Sparty was ranked 16.  Yes, MSU fans: basketball actually existed as a sport separate from the exploits of Magic Johnson and Tom Izzo.  U-M men's basketball actually owns a 91-74 record over MSU (84-71 adjusted for vacated games).

Hockey?  Let's not even bother to share the stats. MSU has a good hockey program historically, but U-M is far and away the most celebrated hockey program in history, with its record 9 national championships and current record streak of 20 straight years in the NCAA tournament.  There's acutally a guy in my hometown who claims that Sparty has won more championships and has had more tournament success than U-M.  So okay, let's go to the stats anyways since thinking about that guy has pissed me off:

• National Championships: U-M 9, Sparty 3.
• NCAA Frozen Fours: U-M 23, Sparty 9.
• NCAA Tournaments:  U-M 33, Sparty 23.
• CCHA Regular Season Championships: U-M 10, Sparty 7.
• CCHA Tournament Championships: U-M 9, Sparty 11.  WOO-HOO! GO SPARTY!