Michigan football vs Nebraska isn’t a rivalry, but it sure feels like one

I don’t think I need to remind anyone of the post-season events of 1997, but I will anyways. Both Nebraska and Michigan football finished the season with an impressive undefeated record which led to a shared National Championship. The Wolverines took the AP title, while the Huskers were seemingly gifted a coaches title as a retirement gift for the legendary Tom Osborne.

Not a rivalry… right?

Although Michigan vs Nebraska is not a formal rivalry, talking to the fans would tell you a different story. For the Wolverines, the 1997 title is its only National Championship since pre-1950. The Huskers won a handful of National Titles in the 1990s, but have not been anywhere close to relevant since. In fact, Nebraska football is currently the laughingstock of the Big Ten.

That being said, few things please Michigan fans more than watching Nebraska lose — especially when it is to the Wolverines.

Most are of the mind that Michigan football would have run Nebraska out of the building and won an outright title in ’97, yet there is no way to prove this given both teams played in their respective bowls. If there was a College Football Playoff in the 1990s, who knows which blue blood would have emerged victorious?

All-time series

Michigan leads the all-time series with Nebraska, holding a record of 6-4-1 overall. This year, a 3-6 Husker team will travel to Ann Arbor to face the 9-0 Wolverines.

Since joining the Big Ten in 2011, Nebraska is 2-3 against Michigan football and riding a two-game losing streak into this weekend’s game. In the most recent matchup, Michigan knocked off the Huskers, 32-29, in Lincoln, NE.

Sadly these two college football powerhouses never met in the 1990s, but I can assure you that both fanbases wish they had.

Michigan vs Nebraska in the Big Ten

Unlike Nebraska, Michigan football was a founding member of the Big Ten conference. The Wolverines boast 11 National Championships and 43 Big Ten Championships all-time, not to mention holding the 3rd-highest winning percentage of any football program, and more wins than any team in the nation.

The Cornhuskers are also blue blood in the sport of college football and have quite the resume to back up its status. Nebraska has 5 National Titles, the 8th-most wins among FBS programs, but is yet to win a single Big Ten Championship (joined in 2011).

This weekend’s matchup

Frankly, this weekend’s game should be a slaughter. Michigan football is firmly in the Playoff discussion, meanwhile, the Huskers are looking at another three-to-four-win season this year. Since joining the Big Ten, Nebraska football has seemingly fallen off a cliff as a program, and for the time being, is a bottom-feeder in the conference. Michigan on the other hand has turned into a national competitor under Jim Harbaugh and is currently pursuing a second-straight Big Ten title.