Michigan is America‘s Team
Michigan is America‘s Team because Sports Illustrated said so. Just kidding. It’s because the numbers say so and SI just pointed out the obvious. This is the same reason the Dallas Cowboys were known as America‘s Team: because they had a combination of high popularity and a geographically well-distributed fanbase that guaranteed that even if they weren’t the most popular team in any given area they were the one most likely to be most popular wherever you went.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:10 PM ^
I think you need to fix the link.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:10 PM ^
ooh, a 404. Nice!
Protip: embedding URLs is great, but you kinda need to embed the whole enchilada.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:12 PM ^
Oops, sorry. Doing this from my phone.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:17 PM ^
hehehe, it happens. Downvote rescinded. ;)
November 15th, 2023 at 10:41 PM ^
So what’s this talk about our enemies wanting to cancel games? Or banning us from TV. Imagine FOX walking into a meeting of B1G AD’s and “advising” them that they have an hour to make right or they forfeit a shit ton of Money for breach of contract. Then the Conference would do its best Emily Litella impression: “never mind.”
November 16th, 2023 at 12:31 AM ^
I like this one too!
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/03/upshot/ncaa-football-map.html#5,44.517,-96.532
New York City:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/03/upshot/ncaa-football-map.html#9,41.074,-72.892
DC:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/03/upshot/ncaa-football-map.html#9,38.540,-76.410
LA:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/03/upshot/ncaa-football-map.html#10,34.015,-117.973
Chicago:
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/10/03/upshot/ncaa-football-map.html#10,42.087,-87.669
November 15th, 2023 at 10:54 PM ^
Best part of the article: Jim Harbaugh is polarizing and someone everyone wants to keep an eye on. He's more entertaining than Nick Saban, Ryan Day, Kirby Smart and Mike Norvell combined.
And it’s not even close: Harbaugh >>> Saban+Day+Smart+Norvell
November 16th, 2023 at 8:26 AM ^
Harbaugh new Mike Leach with more run plays?
November 16th, 2023 at 8:56 AM ^
Before they had crunchy peanut butter, I would put peanuts in the creamy peanut butter.
Jim Harbaugh
November 16th, 2023 at 11:32 AM ^
99% of the US population wouldn't know Mike Norvell if he walked up and punched them in the face.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:13 PM ^
404 Error, Pertitties must have suspended the article without due process.
November 16th, 2023 at 10:46 AM ^
^^^ Deserves more upvotes ^^^
November 15th, 2023 at 10:16 PM ^
Fox with the #1 and #2 most viewed games. Think of all that sweet, sweet commercial revenue.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:40 PM ^
And the #7 game with USC - Oregon.
Damn strong day for Fox Sports.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:19 PM ^
It was a bit weak, pointing out ratings for just one week of a top ten matchup as the basis for his statement.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:30 PM ^
True. But Michigan's viewership numbers have been really good given the competition:
#1 PSU
#9 Purdue
Bye
#4 MSU
#4 Indiana
#6 Minnesota
#4 Nebraska
#11 Rutgers
#11 BGSU
#5 UNLV
NR ECU (Peacock)
https://www.sportsmediawatch.com/college-football-tv-ratings/
November 15th, 2023 at 10:44 PM ^
No doubt. But you'd think someone writing that article would have done just a little more (as you have) to make his point.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:31 PM ^
We keep hearing that the MSU matchup needs to be protected because it draws good viewership. Can we finally get rid of that stupid argument? The "huge rivalry game" had the same rank as Indiana and Nebraska (even in absolute numbers, Nebraska performed better and Indiana was slightly worse). It's pretty clear that people watched Michigan MSU recently because both teams were good, but it's not some incredible draw.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:31 AM ^
I think it can be both. And it's not just that MSU was bad going in this year, the game was also 49-0.
November 16th, 2023 at 11:33 AM ^
They watch Michigan MSU for Michigan, full stop.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:11 AM ^
Looking at the numbers from this site it should also be noted that - it appears Michigan draws more eyeballs to the BTN than any other team, and it's not really close (of the rankings you listed the two #11 games were BTN). So yeah you can fuck all the way off Petitti.
FWIW the BTN next highest rated game was The Youngstown St. at The Ohio in week 2. Came in at #14 on the day
November 16th, 2023 at 8:42 AM ^
Purdue game actually pretty impressive considering it shared timeslots with LSU-Bama and Washington-USC.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:21 PM ^
I'm a points whore so I say, YES!
November 15th, 2023 at 10:23 PM ^
America’s Team, Fuck Yeah!
November 16th, 2023 at 9:03 AM ^
That film is such a timeless classic
November 16th, 2023 at 9:36 AM ^
Yep. Michigan is one of the B1G's two America's Teams. ;-)
November 16th, 2023 at 1:12 PM ^
Good point Chuck! I forgot about USC joining the conference. ;-)
November 15th, 2023 at 10:26 PM ^
I'd say the sheer number of mentions and headlines spelling/pronouncing the name correctly have propelled UM into this realm unnoticed by the very people too dim to know their accomplishment.
Aliens know this saga. I've seen a picture of Jim with one in a reputable periodical near the checkout.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:34 PM ^
Many college football pundits are laughing at Harbaugh for saying that, but there is a bit of truth to it...
When Michigan has good football teams, they are the most popular team in the country.
Last season, of the top 10 TV-rated regular season games, Michigan appeared in 4 of them. THE GAME was easily the highest rated regular season college football game of last season.
When UM has good teams, they are the NY Yankees, the Dallas Cowboys, the Los Angeles Lakers of college football. This also causes as many people who love Michigan to also hate Michigan. In sports, a team's amount of fame = amount of hate.
#GoBlue
#Bet
November 15th, 2023 at 10:46 PM ^
You could say opponents seem to have it out for UM's culture. That and being out coached threatens their livelihoods.
Did anybody else see Frames standing on the field after the game eyeballing all his players as if waiting for some bad act from somebody? Meanwhile most of them were shaking hands and hugging UM players classily. Like he was waiting for PBJ's to start getting slung.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:34 PM ^
Here is an actual fan map as of October 2022 as inferred by Twitter followers of teams. It is in Tableau and is granular down to the county level with the top 5 teams in each county. Michigan is well represented in most of the counties that I drilled down into.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:43 PM ^
All that area covered by Texas Tech in W/NW Texas really surprised me. But then again, considering the population density out there, that's probably like 100 people. 😊
November 15th, 2023 at 10:47 PM ^
Yes, it's a bit like those political maps that imply that vast stretches of prairie acreage have voting rights.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:55 PM ^
Michigan is #1 in New York,#2 in D.C., #3 in San Francisco (not the Bay Area in total, just SF), #4 in L.A., #5 in Boston, #4 in Seattle-Kings County, to name a few. Probably not so popular in the Deep South or Texas.
November 16th, 2023 at 8:05 AM ^
Texas has a huge alumni base.
November 16th, 2023 at 9:33 AM ^
I was just expecting to see more burnt orange in Texas.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:00 PM ^
Is this just a sneaky way of saying that CFB Risk is coming back, so go on Discord to get your orders? Should we defend Washtenaw County or attack it?
November 15th, 2023 at 11:03 PM ^
Based on the comments on r/cfb, it looks like everyone is gonna be out for blood against Michigan this year.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:14 PM ^
Good, that means people care about us which raises our value. The worst thing would be if they were indifferent.
November 16th, 2023 at 7:47 AM ^
For you, waittilnextyear.
November 16th, 2023 at 11:17 AM ^
Nice to see UM holding down Isle Royale. I thought maybe NC State would make some inroads there.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:35 PM ^
We'll stick a boot up Tony's ass. It's the American Way!
November 15th, 2023 at 10:37 PM ^
You could throw maybe 5 to 7 teams on a dart board and blindfolded try to determine which school is the most popular in CFB in that manner. Michigan is on that board and always will be. This whole media shark feeding frenzy would make a lot more sense if we had won the last 2 Nattys.
November 15th, 2023 at 10:38 PM ^
My issue...hate the Cowboys with passion and want no part of that insinuation.
November 15th, 2023 at 11:02 PM ^
Now a days I can take the Cowboys or leave them. A long time ago I disliked them
Either way you have to give them their due.
Same for Michigan, whether you love them, hate them or are on the fence about them you have to recognize that we are a force that has to be reckoned with.
America's team.
November 16th, 2023 at 7:26 AM ^
When the Cowboys started calling themselves "America's Team," I thought it was one of the most arrogant piles of bullshit ever. Dallas may have had fans all over the country, but they also had just as many people who hated their blue-starred guts. America's Team? Hell, they weren't even the favorite team of the NFC East.
So for us to do it now leaves a bad taste. There are people across the country who are going to hate Michigan no matter what they do. My reaction has always been, So what? You wanna hate us? Stand in line. But there are millions of us out there who will love the Maize & Blue to the end of our days, who stand and sing "The Victors" whether they're in the Big House or watching at home. That's the Michigan family, and they're the ones who matter.
The Michigan Wolverines are Our Team. That's enough for me.
November 16th, 2023 at 7:59 AM ^
(We're just doing it to troll/trigger other people, and it's working.)
November 15th, 2023 at 10:57 PM ^
“With such a huge fanbase and alumni network”
Journalistic error, should have read “ VAST alumni network”