Michigan keeps bowls on its plate 

Michigan keeps bowls on its plate

Michigan offensive tackle Jake Long was asked sometime prior to Wednesday's 32-28 loss to Nebraska at the Alamo Bowl to consider a year when the Wolverines did not play in a bowl.

The question was followed by moments of awkward silence. The truth was Long couldn't imagine such a low for the program that holds the nation's longest streak for bowl appearances at 31.

"You never know, it could happen," Long said prior to the Wolverines' appearance in the Alamo Bowl on Wednesday night. "But I really believe with the coaches we have here and the players recruited here, we won't let that happen. We always try hard to make a bowl game because that's always one of our goals and we'll always make it."

With scholarship limits, powerhouse programs lost virtual guarantees of bowl eligibility as the playing field in Division I-A football leveled.

The Tennessee Volunteers dropped out of the top five in the streak this season when their run ended at 16.

Nebraska, the Wolverines' opponent Wednesday, saw its national-best bowl streak end at 35 after last season to give way to Michigan's run.


Always at risk
For years, the biggest debate in Nebraska had been whether the Cornhuskers would contend for the national title each season. Now they are fighting for a spot in any bowl.

"It could happen to anybody," Long said.

But Michigan players all agree the expectation is clear every year: They should compete for the Big Ten championship and a bowl.

It's that simple for the nation's winningest football program.

Michigan has been able to keep it together with strong recruiting and coaching continuity from the Bo Schembechler coaching tree. After Schembechler stepped aside in 1989, he was replaced by assistant Gary Moeller, who then handed the reigns over to his assistant, Lloyd Carr.

The Wolverines (7-5), who last won a national title in 1997, haven't won fewer than eight games each season since 1984.

"The expectations here are very high and we know that coming in," said Michigan quarterback Chad Henne. "We're going to try our hardest every year to be on top of the Big Ten and play as a team to be there."


Postseason's a must
But even a program like Michigan, which is 18-19 in bowls, is finding out how difficult it is to maintain success in a changing landscape. The Wolverines began the season 3-3, and quickly the whispers of the streak ending grew louder.

A 4-1 ending was enough to quiet the concerns, but a string of nine consecutive Jan. 1 bowl games came to an end, causing Carr to add his voice to the chorus for a playoff system.

Michigan players said the most important thing for them is keeping alive a bowl streak that has been handed down.

"It means a lot. The biggest thing is looking back at those past teams," said defensive tackle Pat Massey. "You want to keep it alive for those guys. At Michigan, you are always playing for past players and playing for that tradition.

"It's definitely an honor to keep that tradition going."

The Wolverines are followed by Florida State (24), Florida (15) and Virginia Tech (13) in current streaks of bowl appearances.

"That's definitely one of the things we take pride in," Long said. "We try to win the Big Ten and try to go to a bowl game.

"That will always be our main goal every year, to try to make a bowl game. Knowing it could happen to any team is in the back of our minds to make sure it doesn't happen to us."