Michigan football: 3 Reasons why it’s so important to beat Wisconsin

Jim Harbaugh’s legacy

John U. Bacon wrote a book recently called Overtime: Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines at the Crossroads of College Football. The pages of that book have become somewhat controversial due to the language hinting that other colleges are cheating or not holding themselves to, really, any standard.

While promoting the book, Bacon interviewed with Sam Webb from 247 sports and revealed that Michigan’s top recruit, Rashan Gary, was offered more than $300,000 from another, unnamed, school who was attempting to lure him to their university. Bacon never exposed the culprit, but it’s just more evidence of the rampant corruption surrounding college sports.

Jim Harbaugh is having none of that.

“Look,” Matt Dudek, Director of Recruiting says in the book, “we know there are people who don’t operate on the same moral ground that not only Michigan expects, but that coach Harbaugh demands. So, the last thing I’m doing is going down that rabbit hole – probably the fastest way to get fired around here.

The Wolverines have a moral crutch when recruiting, and yet every year, they bring in a top 20 class. They do it without fudging grades and without bags of money. But just how far will that get them?

Thus far, the limit to taking the moral high ground is ten. Jim Harbaugh has three ten-win seasons and one eight-win collapse. Ten wins are admirable, but it’s never acceptable, this is Michigan after all. The fans need more. The fans need 11 wins, 12 wins, 15 wins; and the chance of accomplishing any of those feats is severely diminished should the Wolverines fall short of victory.

Michigan football must have a win in Madison, and they must continue to win until the National Championship trophy is back where it belongs.