The University of Michigan athletics date back to 1866 when baseball became the school’s first varsity athletic team. Now, 150 years later, the athletic department fully supports 31 varsity athletic teams and annually ranks among the premiere collegiate athletic programs in the nation, both on the competition field and in the classroom.
The Wolverines have accumulated 52 national team titles along the way, with ice hockey and men’s swimming and diving claiming more national championships in their respective sports than any other Division I program. In 2001, the field hockey team won Michigan’s first women’s NCAA title, followed four years later by softball who claimed the first Women’s College World Series title east of the Mississippi in 2005.
At the Big Ten Conference level, Michigan is far and away the preeminent athletic program. Upon the conclusion of the 2007-08 academic year, the Wolverines claimed a Big Ten record 343 conference team titles, 117 more than their closest competitor. One of the original member institutions from 1896, Michigan teams have won more Big Ten titles than any other conference member in nine sports: baseball (35), football (42), women’s gymnas
...tics (16), women’s rowing (4), softball (12), men’s swimming and diving (33), women’s swimming and diving (14), men’s tennis (36) and men’s track and field (57).
Dynasties have been developed over the years in sports such as football who boasts more all-time victories, and the highest winning percentage, in the history of collegiate football. The Michigan women’s gymnastics team has won 15 Big Ten titles in the last 17 years. The women’s swimming and diving team, who won a record 11 consecutive conference titles from 1987-1998, and women’s gymnastics also claim more total championships (14) than any other women’s program – in any sport – in the history of the conference.
Academically, Michigan is just as proud of its 71 student-athletes who have combined for 96 Academic All-America honors, including fullback Dick Balzhiser who was initiated into the Academic All-America Hall of Fame in 2002.
Our website – MGoBlue.com – is one of the most unique and heavily visited collegiate sites in the world.
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