Michigan

How Michigan football, hockey, and basketball compare over the last 50 years

Published

1 year ago

December 14, 2024

How Michigan football, hockey, and basketball compare over the last 50 years

The Michigan football season ended on a high note in 2024 with the signing of No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood and the takedown of No. 2 Ohio State on the road in Columbus. However, the 7-5 finish to the regular season was a disappointment given high expectations after a National Championship in January.

While the football season was a bit of a letdown, men’s basketball and hockey are off to great starts. The basketball team, led by first-year head coach Dusty May, just beat No. 11 Wisconsin on the road in Madison and took down a ranked Xavier in the Fort Myers Tip-Off Tournament to win it all. Hockey split the weekend taking on a ranked Western Michigan, but they were 10-3-1, sporting sweeps of No. 5 BU, No. 20 Notre Dame, and Penn State heading into last night’s game against No. 4 Minnesota.

It’s often joked in my family, and I’m sure in yours, that we sacrificed one program for the success of another. It’s a pretty common joke online, too. Over the last 50 years or so, each of the big three men’s programs has seen success and failure. So, is there any truth to the saying, “They can’t all be good.”

A few disclaimers:

First, the best and worst finishes for each program are subjective. For example, I listed the 1981-82 season as the worst for that decade. The team in 1982-83 had a worse conference finish (9th instead of 7th) but had a better overall record. Neither team had a postseason appearance, so I went with the better conference finish.

Next, this only covers the last 50 seasons or so. I have some time on my hands but not enough to go over the entire history of each program. If you want to do that, I’d love to hear what you find out!

1973 – 1982 | Michigan football and basketball find consistent success, Michigan hockey only has two postseason appearances

Michigan Football

Best Finish (1980); Rose Bowl win over Washington, the first postseason win after several losses for Schembechler; (10-2, 1st in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (1979); Loss in Gator Bowl; (8-4, 3rd in Big Ten)

Despite the struggles in bowl games, Bo Schembechler and the Michigan football team consistently finished at the top of the conference. They either won or shared the title with another team for most of this period.

Michigan Basketball

Best finish (1975-76); Lost Championship game to Indiana; (25-7, 2nd in Big Ten)

Worst finish (1981-82); No postseason appearance (8-19, 7th in Big Ten)

For basketball, Johnny Orr and Bill Frieder helped lead their teams to some impressive tournament appearances, including a National Championship appearance in 1975-96. The Wolverines lost to Indiana 86-68.

Michigan Hockey

Best finish (1976-77); Lost Championship game to Wisconsin (OT); (28-17-0, 3rd in WCHA)

Worst finish (1978-79); No postseason appearance; (8-27-1, 10th in WCHA)

Hockey struggled for most of this stretch. The main exception is the 1976-77, when the Wolverines lost in the Championship game to Wisconsin in overtime. Their only other postseason appearance came after the 1973-74 season where they got knocked out in the first round.

1983 – 1992 | Michigan football and basketball dominate, Michigan Hockey postseason appearances still limited

Michigan Football

Best finish (1989); Rose Bowl win over USC; (10-2, 1st in Big Ten)

Worst finish (1984); Loss in the Holiday Bowl (6-6, Tied for 6th in Big Ten)

Michigan football continued its conference dominance during this ten-year stretch, despite a 6-6 finish in 1984. Even when Bo Schembechler handed the reins to Gary Moeller, Michigan still finished at the top of the conference for his first three seasons.

Michigan Basketball

Best Finish (1988-89); NCAA Champion; (30-7, 3rd in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (1990-91); Lost NIT 1st Round; (14-15, 8th in Big Ten)

Basketball had an insane stretch of postseason appearances in this decade. Winning the NIT tournament in 1983-84 and the NCAA tournament in 1988-89. The Wolverines didn’t miss a postseason during these ten years but did have to vacate the 1991-92 Final Four appearance and the 1992-93 season, because, you know, Fab Five.

Michigan Hockey

Best finish (1991-92); NCAA Frozen Four; (32-9-3, 1st in CCHA)

Worst finish (1985-86); No postseason appearance; (12-26-0, 8th in CCHA)

For most of this decade, the Wolverines struggled to make the postseason but hired Red Berenson ahead of the 1984-85 season. It’s crazy to think back on Red’s early years with the Wolverines, not finishing with a winning record until his fourth season as head man, but by the end of the 1992-93 season, they had finished at the top of the CCHA and made back-to-back Frozen Four appearances.

1993 – 2002 | Michigan hockey becomes a program, Michigan basketball, and football start to take steps back

Michigan Football

Best Finish (1997); National Championship (12-0, 1st in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (1996); Outback Bowl loss to Alabama (8-4, Tied for 5th in Big Ten)

Listen, Michigan football was still winning games with Lloyd Carr and they won a freaking National Championship in 1997 for crying out loud! However, the early 90s came with some 8-4 seasons and less-than-stellar finishes in the Big Ten.

Michigan Basketball

Best Finish (1993-94); NCAA Elite Eight (24-8, 2nd in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (2000-2001); No tournament appearance (10-18, tied for 9th in Big Ten)

Even though you could argue Michigan’s best basketball season is “technically” the year they won the NIT or finished first in the Big Ten those seasons don’t really count anymore. By 2000, the Wolverines missed out on three straight postseasons.

Michigan Hockey

Best Finish (1995-96); NCAA Champion (34-7-2, 1st in CCHA)

Worst Finish (1999-2000); NCAA Quarterfinals (25-11-6, Tied for 3rd in CCHA)

Enter the best ten-year stretch of hockey for the Michigan Wolverines in the last fifty years. Red Berenson and Michigan made the postseason each season, including two National Championships, multiple Frozen Four appearances, and finishing regularly at the top of the CCHA.

2003 – 2012 | Michigan hockey continues postseason appearances, Michigan football has the worst stretch imaginable, Michigan basketball is smack in the middle

Michigan Football

Best Finish (2003); Rose Bowl loss to USC, (10-3, 1st in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (2008); No bowl trip (3-9, Tied for 9th in Big Ten)

Ugh, the decade of football I think we’d all like to forget about for the most part. The Wolverines had some of their worst overall records ever and lost to App State in 2007. When you thought it couldn’t get worse, Rich Rod and Brady Hoke happened. Despite a win over Ohio State in 2011, there’s not much to look back on in this stretch of football history.

Michigan Basketball

Best Finish (2012-13); NCAA runner-up (31-8, Tied for 4th in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (2004-05); No tournament appearance (13-18, 9th in Big Ten)

Michigan peaked in the John Beilein era with an appearance in the National Championship in 2012-13. While they didn’t win the game against Louisville, Michigan had consistent postseason appearances under head coach John Beilein.

Michigan Hockey

Best Finish (2010-11); NCAA Finalist (29-11-4, 1st in CCHA)

Worst Finish (2012-2013); No tournament appearance (18-19-3, 7th in CCHA)

When it comes to Hockey, it’s a tale of highs and lows. The early 2000s continued to see success in the postseason, appearing in the tournament each year until 2012-2013, when the Wolverines posted a sub .500 record and didn’t make the tournament for the first time in years.

2013 – 2023 | Michigan football started from the bottom, now we’re here! Michigan hockey and basketball have bright spots

Michigan Football

Best Finish (2023); Won CFP Championship, (15-0, 1st in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (2014); No bowl appearance (5-7, 5th in Big Ten)

It took some time, but Michigan football reached the top — Again! Jim Harbaugh, J.J. McCarthy, Blake Corum, Mike Sainristil, and the rest of Team 144 helped the Wolverines win the CFP National Championship at the end of the 2023 season. This stretch includes the 2020 sports seasons, but with all the Covid changes it’s easy to brush that off. While the Brady Hoke Sugar Bowl win didn’t hang around long, Jim Harbaugh couldn’t seem to beat the Buckeyes until 2021, when Aidan Hutchinson and Hassan Haskins helped the Wolverines get over that hump.

Michigan Basketball

Best Finish (2017-18); Won B1G tournament, NCAA runner-up, (33-8, T4th in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (2023-24); No tournament appearance (8-24, Last in Big Ten)

Michigan basketball had a few fun and surprisingly successful tournament runs. Including the year they won the Big Ten Tournament after a plane crash and went on a crazy run to the National Championship game. The hiring of Juwan Howard came with some things to celebrate, but that would fizzle out in the last few seasons, which paved the way for hiring Dusty May.

Michigan Hockey

Best Finish (2021-22); Won B1G tournament, NCAA Frozen Four, (31-10-1, 2nd in Big Ten)

Worst Finish (2016-17); No tournament appearance, (13-19-3, 5th in Big Ten)

Michigan hockey is going places, but had a tough stretch at the end of Red Berenson’s career, missing the NCAA Tournament three times, including his final season as head coach. The hiring of Mel Pearson seemed promising but he got fired by the University ahead of the 2022 season. Thankfully, Brandon Naurato kept the train moving in the right direction and has had two straight trips to the Frozen Four as head coach.

In the end, it looks like there’s some evidence to back up the idea that you can’t have three good teams at once. When football and basketball were winning, hockey struggled, when hockey turned it around, you started to see a decline in football or the basketball team had issues.

For some time, Michigan basketball helped comfort fans when football and hockey started to bottom out. Last season, who cared about the poor basketball performance? Football won the natty!! Even when one team is bad, we’ll always have another to fall back on.

It’s great to be a Michigan Wolverine!

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Michigan to distribute marijuana tax revenue: What your city will get

Published

11 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Michigan to distribute marijuana tax revenue: What your city will get

The Michigan Department of Treasury will distribute tax revenue collected from marijuana sales to municipalities and counties.
The government entities will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.
Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality.

Michigan municipalities and counties that allow recreational marijuana dispensaries are set to receive far less money this year than last in their annual portion of tax revenue collected from cannabis sales.

Sales declined in 2025 for the first time since legal recreational marijuana sales started in December 2019.

A total of 114 cities, 39 villages, 81 townships, 75 counties and four tribes will receive payments from the Marijuana Regulation Fund, according to a March 3 news release from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. They will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.

Last year, each eligible government entity received a little more than $58,000 per business based on a total of nearly $100 million in marijuana tax revenue.

Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality. There are 61 active retailer licenses in Detroit, so the city will get nearly $3.3 million in tax revenue.

State law determines how the money is split. The Michigan Transportation Fund gets 35% of the revenue, which is used for the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges, and another 35% goes to the School Aid Fund to be used for K-12 education. The other 30% is split between municipalities, counties and tribes.

The payments come from revenue collected from the 10% recreational marijuana excise tax. This tax is separate from a new 24% wholesale tax that went into effect Jan. 1. The revenue from that tax will go to fixes for local roads.

Sales at recreational marijuana dispensaries declined by 3% last year to $3.17 billion, down from $3.28 billion in 2024, according to figures from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency, leading to the smaller payouts. More government entities also split the revenue compared with last year.

Payments to municipalities could get smaller if sales continue to decline. Recreational marijuana sales in Michigan plunged nearly 16% in January compared with December as heavy snow, cold temperatures and fears of higher prices due to the new 24% wholesale cannabis tax kept consumers at home.

While recent trends indicate a cooling period, a February report from Headset, a cannabis market intelligence firm, said the market — one of the largest in the country — has shown resilience over the last two years.

Below are the municipalities that received the most tax revenue:

Detroit: $3.3 million
Grand Rapids: $1.5 million
Lansing: $1.4 million
Ann Arbor: $1.2 million
Kalamazoo: $1 million
Flint: $648,000
Traverse City, Hazel Park and Adrian all will receive $594,000.

For a full list of municipalities, counties and tribes that will receive marijuana tax revenue, go to www.michigan.gov/treasury.

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com

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“Trustworthy” AI consortium focused on ethics, security launches in West Michigan

Published

23 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

“Trustworthy” AI consortium focused on ethics, security launches in West Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping everything from classroom conversations to social media, and leaders at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) say West Michigan is positioning itself to help determine how the technology is used, responsibly.

The university’s College of Computing is launching the West Michigan Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Consortium, aimed at helping businesses, researchers and the community better understand how to use artificial intelligence.

Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along the Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public.

The effort is aimed at helping West Michigan industries adopt AI that fits their specific needs, while problem-solving for security, bias, privacy, and ethical concerns.

Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)

Marouane Kessentini, Ph.D, Dean of the GVSU College of Computing told News Channel 3 that a wide range of companies in the region are bringing forward questions of where, and how, to ethically integrate artificial intelligence into their practices.

“Here in West Michigan, we have a high concentration of many industries, health, manufacturing, and of course high-tech companies,” said Kessentini. “The first questions are about security, privacy, ethics and bias. It’s not just about deploying tools. It’s about deploying them responsibly.”

Kessentini said the consortium will focus on training, research and community education, with a heavy emphasis on data privacy, cybersecurity and misinformation.

“There are many examples where AI systems were trained on data that wasn’t diverse,” he said. “That can lead to inaccurate results. That’s why testing and training are critical.”

The consortium will bring together faculty researchers, students, and industry leaders, with weekly meetings planned to develop guidance for using AI at scale.

The goal is to help companies validate AI outputs, clean and manage data, and identify bias before systems are put into real-world use, especially in high-risk industries like healthcare and manufacturing.

Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated.

Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)

The initiative is backed by $1,031,000 in federal support, through the Community Project Funding (CPF) process, resources that U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03) said she advocated for among members of congress in Washington.

“West Michigan should be leading the way in how artificial intelligence is developed and used, and that starts with investing in people and institutions we trust,” said Rep. Scholten. “This funding will help GVSU bring together educators, industry, and public partners to build AI systems that are ethical, secure, and transparent while preparing students for good-paying jobs and strengthening our region’s economy. I’m proud to support this work and to continue delivering federal investments that ensure West Michigan remains at the forefront of responsible innovation.”

It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe…

GVSU also launched an online certificate portal that is open for community members interested in learning about ethical AI use, for free.

Kessentini said the training is for the general public to learn how to navigate the technology, including the risks and limitations.

“It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe,” said Edgar Cruz, master’s student with a badge in cybersecurity.

Cruz is currently researching how AI systems can be attacked or manipulated with poisoned data, specifically as it relates to vehicle-to-vehicle communication, where AI helps self-driving cars exchange information like speed and position.

“We want to ensure that the system is robust and safe,” he said. “Because obviously people are involved.”

Kessentini said the consortium is designed to be a public resource, not just an academic project.

Quarterly community meetings will be open to the public, and training materials are available online through the College of Computing website.

“This is innovation with purpose,” he said. “We want to start here in Grand Rapids, but we want to make a global impact.”

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New Michigan O-line coach Jim Harding has one goal for spring practice

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

New Michigan O-line coach Jim Harding has one goal for spring practice

Jim Harding, Michigan’s new offensive line coach, has one goal coming out of spring practice: he wants to have a set starting five plus a solid sixth lineman for good measure.

Michigan begins spring practice March 17 and concludes with the spring game on April 18.

Harding, appearing on the Michigan in-house podcast, “In the Trenches” hosted by Jon Jansen, joined new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham’s staff from Utah, where Whittingham was head coach the last 21 years. Harding spoke about a number of topics, including returning to the Midwest — he grew up in Maumee, Ohio, and his wife is from Farmington Hills — and his love for the Detroit Tigers, but most important was his discussion about building the Wolverines’ offensive line.

“I’d like to establish the starting five where you feel good that when you go into fall camp,” Harding said on the podcast that posted Wednesday. “Those are the guys that are working together immediately from Day 1.”

Harding said he uses a sixth lineman — he terms that player the “rhino” — quite a bit and would like to have at least two ready to go. The Wolverines also need depth at center considering only Jake Guarnera has snapped in a game.

“And then just having that physicality, nastiness of the offensive line,” Harding said. “Just kind of develop that.”

Since arriving earlier this year at Michigan, Harding said he’s been impressed by the linemen and their desire to work hard on conditioning and developing their craft by asking questions and wanting feedback. They have gone to dinner as a group to get to know each other away from the facility, and Harding has enjoyed the process.

“The things that you can’t measure right now is our physicality or our toughness, things like that,” Harding said. “I’m confident that it won’t be an issue, but that’s kind of the next step once we get pads on, (finding out) who are kind of the Alpha dogs in the room that are going to set the tone for the unit, and then, obviously, the offense. But really pleased with what I’ve seen so far.”

Harding shared offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s approach to installing the offense.

“The way (Beck) runs it, everything’s on the table Day 1 in practice,” Harding said on the podcast. “So we’ll get a script with, if you count red zone, probably 60 or so plays, and any play can be called. It’s really unique, and I’d never done it this way, but Coach Beck, actually calls it like he does in the game. There are no scripts, and so we’ll just move the ball down the field, and if it’s a third play and it’s third and 3, well he’s going to call a third-and-3 call.

“So you really have to have the kids prepared for all 60 of those. And then the next day there’ll be maybe different formations and things like that once we get the concepts down in the O-line room for the run game. Now it’s just a matter of dressing up different things. It’s a lot of stuff early on, because every run scheme we have could be called on that first day, every pass protection we have could be called on that first day. So it’s a front-loaded installation.”

achengelis@detroitnews.com

@chengelis

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