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How Michigan built the Big House, a symbol of college football controversy and lore

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How Michigan built the Big House, a symbol of college football controversy and lore

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Before the first scoop of dirt was raised from the farmstead where Michigan Stadium was built, controversy was brewing about the professionalization of college sports.

By 1926, Michigan’s football program had outgrown Ferry Field, where big games prompted far more demand than the 42,000-seat stadium could accommodate. Fielding Yost, Michigan’s athletic director and the coach of the famous “Point-a-Minute” teams that dominated college football in the early 1900s, was the chief advocate for building a new stadium, just as many of Michigan’s competitors had done.

Yost’s proposals sparked mixed reactions from the campus community. Many supported the idea, but some faculty members protested that a bigger stadium would deepen the divide between football and the university’s academic mission. In a victory for Yost, a faculty committee issued a report that generally endorsed his view that intercollegiate athletics could contribute to a thriving campus. The report also raised a note of caution about the win-at-all-costs culture that could arise as football became more popular.

“One of the most serious difficulties in intercollegiate football at the present time is the insistence of the alumni upon winning teams,” the report said, as recounted in Robert Soderstrom’s book “The Big House: Fielding Yost and the Building of Michigan Stadium.” “Efforts must be made to keep alumni opinion essentially sane and conservative in matters of athletic policy. Excessive and unwise publicity is a general evil.”

Today, there’s no greater spectacle on Michigan’s campus than a big game at the Big House. Michigan Stadium will be the center of the college football world Saturday as Fox’s “Big Noon Kickoff,” ESPN’s “College Gameday” and upward of 110,000 fans converge on Ann Arbor for a matchup between No. 4 Texas and No. 9 Michigan, one of the first Big Ten-SEC showdowns since both mega-conferences expanded. It’s also one of the biggest nonconference games in the storied stadium’s history: The Longhorns are the first non-Big Ten team ranked in the AP top five to visit Michigan Stadium since Florida State in 1991.

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Top-10 nonconference visitors

Year Team Result

2019

W, 45-14

1997

W, 27-3

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1994

L, 27-26

1991

L, 51-31

1991

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W, 24-14

1989

L, 24-19

1988

L, 31-30

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1984

W, 22-14

1981

W, 25-7

1979

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L, 12-10

1977

W, 41-3

1975

W, 31-7

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Since 1970

The 2024 season is a groundbreaking one for Michigan and college football as a whole, as the reigning national champions enter the era of the 12-team College Football Playoff with a new head coach in Sherrone Moore. NIL has altered the economic landscape of the sport, and revenue sharing with athletes is right around the corner. The debate that raged on Michigan’s campus in the 1920s never really ended; it only got louder.

“What will a larger stadium mean? It will only mean greater Roman holidays than we now have,” professor Robert C. Angell wrote in the Michigan Daily in 1925. “The players themselves will be forced into even more rigorous training than they are now subjected to. We have spring football now; we will have winter football soon. These men will think and act football the year round.”

The history of Michigan Stadium is, in some ways, a history of college football’s tug-of-war between innovation and tradition. The stadium opened in 1927 with temporary bleachers that increased capacity to 85,000, making it the largest college-owned stadium in the country. To pay for it, Michigan issued 3,000 bonds to the community at $500 apiece.

Many of the stadium’s seats sat empty during the Great Depression, but the end of World War II brought renewed enthusiasm for college football. Fritz Crisler, coach of the undefeated “Mad Magicians” of 1947, succeeded Yost as athletic director and oversaw two expansions that pushed Michigan Stadium’s capacity past 100,000.

Crisler, the man who introduced platoon football and the winged helmet, was both a forward-thinker and a traditionalist. Before he went to the University of Chicago and played for Amos Alonzo Stagg, Crisler thought about becoming a pastor, his grandson said. He found a different calling as a coach and athletic director but retained a spiritual outlook on the value of football.

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“My recollection is, although he thought winning was important and he wanted to win, it was not the main focus of what athletics were to him,” said Crisler’s grandson, F. Adams Crisler. “He always thought in terms of, at least as he told me, the mind, body and spirit of an athlete.”

In 1956, Crisler oversaw the construction of a new press box and additional seating that raised the stadium capacity to 101,001. The final digit was not a mistake: According to newspaper reports at the time, Crisler initially intended capacity to be 100,001, with a mysterious extra seat tucked away somewhere in the stadium.

“It has its spot,” Crisler told Sports Illustrated in 1963. “And I am the only man who knows where that spot is.”

Many theories have been offered about the location and the significance of the extra seat. Some claimed it was set aside for Stagg, Crisler’s coach. Others said it was dedicated to Yost, who died in 1946, or reserved for Crisler himself. As a child, Adams Crisler climbed a ladder to the roof of the press box and surveyed the entire stadium, hoping to spot the seat in some hidden location. He never found it, and his grandfather never gave him any clues.

“You’ve just got to find it,” Adams Crisler recalled his grandfather saying. “When you think you find it, you let me know.”

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As a student at Michigan, Adams Crisler had a summer job replacing the stadium’s concrete steps. He held out hope the crew would discover a lone seat hidden in some secret passageway, but no such seat was found. Since then, Adams Crisler has been agnostic about the existence of the seat, though he appreciates its place in Michigan Stadium lore.

“It captivated imaginations,” he said. “It wouldn’t surprise me if there was that seat, but it wouldn’t surprise me if there wasn’t.”


Michigan has been running under the M Club banner since 1962. (Danny Moloshok / Getty Images)

The stadium’s seating capacity, now listed at 107,601, has fluctuated through the years, but the “01” remains as a nod to Crisler’s famous seat. It’s one of those traditions, like announcing the Slippery Rock score or players touching the M Club banner, that has weathered decades of change to both the sport and the stadium.

Don Canham, who succeeded Crisler as athletic director, is widely credited with marketing Michigan football to the masses and ushering in a new era of commercial success that coincided with Bo Schembechler’s tenure as coach. After years of sagging attendance, the stands were full again in the 1970s and 1980s. ABC broadcaster Keith Jackson, the voice of college football for generations, popularized a nickname that stuck: The Big House.

“This is no doubt my favorite place, to see four generations rise up and appreciate it, for the pageantry, the ambience,” Jackson told The New York Times before a 1998 game at Michigan Stadium, where the band feted the broadcaster, who had been planning to retire, by spelling out “THANKS KEITH” on the field. “Michigan has such grandiosity.”

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The purity and pageantry of college football have always existed in an awkward embrace with the commercial side of the sport. Both aspects will be front and center in 2024 as teams like Texas and Michigan, representatives of college football’s super conferences, compete for spots in the expanded CFP.

College football’s 100,000-seat stadiums

Rk Team Stadium Capacity

1

Michigan Stadium

107,601

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2

Beaver Stadium

106,572

3

Ohio Stadium

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102,780

4

Kyle Field

102,733

5

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Tiger Stadium

102,321

6

Neyland Stadium

101,915

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7

Bryant-Denny Stadium

101,821

8

Darrel K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium

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100,119

The Wolverines will play Big Ten games against USC, Washington and Oregon and could host a Playoff game at Michigan Stadium for the first time in school history. The Ohio State rivalry, still in its customary spot on the final Saturday of the regular season, could be repeated a week later if both teams make the Big Ten championship game. And in a development that might have horrified Fritz Crisler, fans can now buy beer at Michigan Stadium.

“He was one that was not that crazy about pro football or commercialism in sports,” Adams Crisler said. “He made a comment that the purpose of pro football was to sell beer. He greatly disliked beer, so he didn’t have a lot of use for the pro game.”

Even so, Adams Crisler thinks his grandfather would be proud to see Michigan Stadium as it stands today. Especially one part of it: the new signs beneath the video boards celebrating the 2023 CFP championship.

“He would have loved to see this last year’s national championship team and the kind of precision they had and the types of plays that they used,” Adams Crisler said. “He would have been amazed and happy with it.”

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(Top photo: Aaron J. Thornton / Getty Images)

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Police report details Zachariah Branch’s arrest days before NFL Draft over sidewalk incident

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Police report details Zachariah Branch’s arrest days before NFL Draft over sidewalk incident

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New details have emerged surrounding the arrest of former Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch, who is facing two misdemeanor charges following a run-in with law enforcement just days ahead of the NFL Draft. 

Branch, who is a projected second-round pick, was arrested early Sunday morning in Athens, Georgia, and charged with two counts of obstructing public sidewalks/streets – prowling and obstruction of a law enforcement officer. 

Georgia Bulldogs wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates after a touchdown catch against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Nov. 28, 2025. (Brett Davis/Imagn Images)

He was released after more than two hours in jail after posting $39 in bonds. 

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The NFL Network obtained the police report from Branch’s arrest, which described an encounter over an alleged sidewalk incident with law enforcement, in which police alleged that the former Bulldogs star failed “to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands.”

“A male, later identified as Zacharia Branch, continued to stand on the sidewalk without making an attempt to move. I continued to give Zacharia Branch verbal commands to move from blocking the sidewalk and advised that if he did not, he would receive a citation for blocking the sidewalk,” the excerpt from the report read. 

Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch runs during the NFL Scouting Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Ind., on Feb. 28, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)

TOP NFL DRAFT PICK ZACHARIAH BRANCH ARRESTED IN GEORGIA ON TWO MISDEMEANOR CHARGES

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“Zacharia Branch smirked, then stepped backwards and to the right, then remained standing upon the public sidewalk, so as to obstruct, hinder, and impede free passage upon the sidewalk as well as impede free ingress/egress to or from the adjacent places of business,” the report continued.

“Due to those actions and Zacharia Branch’s failure to comply with multiple verbal lawful commands, he was placed under arrest for misdemeanor Obstruction of LEO and received a citation for Obstructing Public Sidewalks.”

Georgia wide receiver Zachariah Branch celebrates with wide receiver Colbie Young after scoring a touchdown against Ole Miss during the Sugar Bowl at Caesars Superdome in New Orleans, La., on Jan. 1, 2026. (IMAGN)

Branch transferred after two seasons at Southern California and immediately became quarterback Gunner Stockton’s favorite target. He finished the season with a team-high 811 receiving yards and six receiving touchdowns.

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His status as a projected second-round pick was bolstered after an impressive showing at the combine, where he clocked a 4.35-second 40-yard dash.

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Quick final pit stop helps Alex Palou win Long Beach Grand Prix

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Quick final pit stop helps Alex Palou win Long Beach Grand Prix

For two-thirds of Sunday’s Long Beach Grand Prix, Alex Palou bided his time … waiting for the one break he needed.

It came in the form of a caution on the 58th lap, allowing him to overtake front-runner Felix Rosenqvist exiting pit lane and hold the lead the rest of the way, taking the checkered flag by 3.96 seconds for his third triumph in five IndyCar Series races this season and his first at Long Beach.

Right after being showered with applause and confetti at victory lane, the 29-year-old Spaniard thanked his crew, whose quick work on the last pit stop proved to be the difference.

“Everyone was coming in on that yellow and they did an incredible job,” he said. “We were either going to win it or not win right there.”

Rosenqvist settled for second and Scott Dixon, Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, was third.

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It was the 11th win over the last 22 races dating to 2024 for the Barcelona native and the 22nd win of his career, tying Tony Bettenhausen and Emerson Fittipaldi. It also vaulted Palou to the top of the series standings as he chases his fourth series championship in a row and fifth overall. Palou won the opener March 1 in St. Petersburg (also a street course) and the fourth race March 29 in Alabama.

Palou led for only 32 of the 90 laps Sunday and acknowledged it would have been difficult to catch Rosenqvist if not for the stoppage.

“I wasn’t giving up but it would’ve been tough to get him today,” Palou acknowledged. “He was already three seconds ahead. I was happy with my car but I was struggling more on the soft tires than the hards so I’d say my chances were low. The feeling was great seeing all the open space coming out of pit lane because when you spend 60 laps behind a car it disturbs you. I tried to match him on soft tires but it wasn’t working.”

Alex Palou speeds through a curve of the track.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

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In six starts at Long Beach, Palou never has finished lower than fifth.

There is little room to maneuver on the 1.968-mile course with 11 tight turns, but after starting in the third position next to defending champion Kyle Kirkwood, Palou managed to sneak past Pato O’Ward into second place heading into the first turn on Lap 2.

“Making that move on the straightaway was big because I knew it was one of our only chances to get a pass on Pato,” Palou said. “I got that good run on that last corner and he didn’t expect it.”

This year marked the 51st edition of the longest-running major street race in North America, which started in 1975 as part of the Formula 5000 Series, switched to the CART/Champ Car World Series in 1984 and joined the IndyCar Series in 2009.

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The top four qualifiers started on softer, high-grip “alternate” tires to establish position while the rest of the grid started on harder, more durable “primaries” to manage degradation on the 110-degree track surface. Of the 25 starters, 24 completed the 177.12 miles.

“We were going to make the two-stop strategy work but didn’t know if it would be doable or not,” Palou added. “As soon as I saw I couldn’t get Felix it was all about patience, fuel and waiting for the right time. I owe this win to my team. Without that pit stop I probably wouldn’t be sitting here now. It only takes one mistake to go from second to seventh, but they’re great under pressure.”

Cars make their way down a straightaway during Long Beach Grand Prix.

Cars make their way down a straightaway during Long Beach Grand Prix.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

Past winners Will Power and Josef Newgarden moved into the top two positions after Rosenqvist pitted, but the Swede regained the lead when Newgarden pitted for the first time on Lap 37 and dropped back to 14th.

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The first 45 laps were caution-free as Rosenqvist, Palou, Kirkwood, David Malukas and O’Ward held the top five spots. Newgarden’s chances declined upon discovering a flat spot on his left front tire, and he dropped back to 14th.

Rosenqvist’s three-second lead was erased when debris on the track exiting the Aquarium Fountain drew the only yellow flag all afternoon and narrowed the gap. Capitalizing on favorable pit position, Palou emerged from the lane just ahead of Rosenqvist.

Rosenqvist. who won the pole position with a lap time of 1 minute 7.4625 seconds in qualifying, had mixed emotions as the runner-up after leading for 51 laps with no win to show for it.

“You want to win when you have an opportunity, but I’m proud of today,” Rosenqvist said.

“We weren’t as good as Alex on the blacks … the last pit cycle was the defining moment. We had to come around 14, he had more of an opening, and his crew nailed it. That happens.”

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Kirkwood, who was vying for his third win in four years, finished right where he started in fourth.

“I had a good cushion and figured even with a bad stop I’d probably stay ahead but I knew there’d probably be a yellow at some point and there it came,” Rosenqvist lamented. “Considering Alex had primary [tires], also I think we would’ve been able to hold him off. It’s definitely disappointing when you can’t wrap it up.”

Dixon, who started in the sixth position, was third and earned his first podium this season and the 136th of his career.

Fans watch with two laps left in the race.

Fans watch with two laps left in the race.

(Ronaldo Bolaños / Los Angeles Times)

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“The race itself was a bit blah — I sat in the same position for most of it,” Dixon said. “Luckily for us we had it easy out of that last stop.”

Al Unser Jr. holds the record for most wins at Long Beach, chalking up six in eight years, including an unmatched four in a row from 1988 to 1991.

Tom Sargent is becoming a fan of street circuits after two wins this weekend. Driving the Porsche 911 Cup for GMG Racing in the Mobil Pro Class, the 22-year-old Australian led from start to finish in Race 1 of the Carrera Cup North America on Saturday. In Race 2 on Sunday morning, he again started from the pole and claimed a 0.965-second victory over Aaron Jeansonne to complete the double.

In his last bid at Long Beach three years ago, he hit the wall on Lap 2 but still finished second.

“Momentum in sports is critical and the past few weeks have been really cool for me,” Sargent said. “I didn’t do any street circuit racing before I came to the States. Maybe it fits my driving style.”

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‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

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‘Demon’ Finn Balor settles score with Dominik Mysterio at WrestleMania 42

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Finn Balor and Dominik Mysterio were once brothers in arms in the Judgment Day. The two helped the faction run “Monday Night Raw” for several years.

As championships and opportunities came and went, the rift between Balor and Mysterio grew. It came to a head when Balor caused Mysterio to lose the Intercontinental Championship to Penta. Balor leaving the Judgment Day left Mysterio and Liv Morgan as the leaders with JD McDonagh, Raquel Rodriguez and Roxanne Perez sticking around.

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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The latter four chose to ride with Mysterio and attacked Balor on one episode of Raw.

The bitter war led to a match Sunday night at WrestleMania 42. To make matters more interesting, Raw General Manager Adam Pearce made the match a street fight hours before the show was set to begin.

Balor had vowed to bring the “Demon” out and he certainly did.

JACOB FATU PUTS DREW MCINTYRE IN THE ‘REAR VIEW’ IN UNSANCTIONED MATCH AT WRESTLEMANIA 42

Finn Balor is introduced before his match against Dominik Mysterio during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Balor made his way to the ring in his “Demon” gear, dripping with red and black paint. Mysterio was in a mask with other Mysterio supporters.

The two then proceeded to beat the crud out of each other.

Mysterio wrapped Balor’s head in between a chair and hit a 619 on him. He tried to pin Balor, but to no avail. At another point, Mysterio tossed Balor through a table set up in the corner.

As many have learned, it’s hard to keep your demons down. Mysterio learned the hard way.

Balor would not give up. Balor clotheslined Mysterio, hit him with a chair multiple times before wrapping his head in between the chair and drop-kicking him into the corner. Balor put Mysterio onto a table and hit the Coup de Grâce for the win.

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Dominik Mysterio is introduced before his match against Finn Balor during WrestleMania 42 at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nev., on April 19, 2026. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

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Balor excised his own demons, while Mysterio is still haunted.

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