Twenty-six college football seasons ago, mighty Michigan won all the marbles. Actually, that’s incorrect; the Wolverines shared the marbles — the still-mythical national championship — with Nebraska, then the powerhouse of the Big 12. It was the final season before the onset of the Bowl Championship Series, and things still could get muddy at the top. One team, with the best defense in the land, won the Rose Bowl to finish 12-0; the other, with the most unstoppable rushing attack on the planet, won the Orange Bowl to finish 13-0. To Splitsville, they all went and celebrated.
But what a team, those Wolverines. Lloyd Carr gobbled up all the national coach of the year awards. Charles Woodson broke ground as a Heisman Trophy-winning defensive superstar. Sophomore quarterback Tom Brady was so clearly bound for greatness, he watched from the sideline while Brian Griese directed an offense that didn’t have a 1,000-yard rusher or a receiver with more than 404 yards, yet never screwed the proverbial pooch.
