History of the Wolverines

The Michigan Wolverines comprise 29 varsity sports teams at the University of Michigan. These teams compete in the NCAA's Division I and in the Big Ten Conference in all sports except women's water polo, which competes in the NCAA inter-divisional Collegiate Water Polo Association. Team colors are maize and blue, though these are different shades of "maize" and "blue" from those used by the university at large. The winged helmet is a recognized icon of Michigan Athletics.

In 11 of the previous 20 years (as of the end of 2018–19), Michigan has finished in the top five of the NACDA Directors' Cup, a list compiled by the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics that charts institutions' overall success in college sports. Just as impressive, UM has finished in the top ten of the Directors' Cup standings in twenty of the award's twenty-six seasons (through 2019); good for 5th best nationally.

Winged football helmet - Famed football coach Herbert "Fritz" Crisler is credited with popularizing the winged helmet nationwide. In 1935, while head coach at Princeton University, Crisler ordered stock helmets bearing leather wings out of the Spalding catalog. He had the leather panels painted in contrasting orange and black colors, believing the design to have practical advantages on the field. In 1938, Crisler became head football coach and athletic director at the University of Michigan, where he added maize and blue coloring to the stock design. These helmets made their debut at the Wolverines' 1938 season opener against Michigan State and have been worn ever since. It has become an icon of Michigan's football program, which held it exclusively for more than seventy years.

College Sports Established
1879

Location
Ann Arbor, Michigan

College Name
University of Michigan

Collegiate History
1973 - Present / NCAA Division 1
1907 - 1973 / University Division of the NCAA

Conference History
1896 – 1907, 1917 - Present / Big 10 Conference
1907 - 1917 / Independent

Nickname
Wolverines - Since the earliest days of recorded University of Michigan history (as early as 1861), the students and alumni have been referring to themselves as "Wolverines". How the ferocious animal came be associated with the state and adopted as the university mascot remains a bit of a mystery, but there are several theories.

The simplest reason for the wolverine nickname would be that the animal was abundant in Michigan at some time. However, all the evidence points otherwise, as there has never been a verified trapping of a wolverine inside the state's borders, nor have the skeletal remains of a wolverine been found within the state's 96,705 square miles. The first verified sighting of a wild wolverine inside the state of Michigan ocurred in February of 2004.

The great Michigan football coach Fielding H. Yost had a theory for the nickname, which he wrote about in the Michigan Quarterly Review in 1944. Yost felt that the reason for the nickname concerned the trading of wolverine pelts which occurred at Sault Ste. Marie for many years. The trading station served as an exchange between the Indians, other trappers and fur traders, who would eventually ship the products off to the Eastern United States. Because many of the furs were in fact wolverine pelts, the traders may have referred to them as "Michigan wolverines," leading to the state nickname and ultimately to the University of Michigan symbol.

NCAA Championships
Baseball 2
1962, 1953

Men's Basketball 1
1989

Women's Basketball 0

Football 0

Soccer 0