In 1879, U of Michigan introduced Notre Dame to football. Michigan's football team stopped in South Bend, IN (Notre Dame's location) en route to the University of Chicago, and spent an afternoon teaching their future rivals how to play.

Gerald Ford is the only U.S. president to have played in a Rose Bowl game. Ford played center and linebacker for the Wolverines from 1932 to 1934, and was the team's Most Valuable Player in 1934. He later played in the 1935 Rose Bowl, where Michigan defeated Stanford 34-0.

Michigan's mascots are named "Willy" and "Winnie." The mascots are anthropomorphic wolverines, which are a type of weasel known for their strength and ferocity. Willy and Winnie can often be seen at Michigan football games and other athletic events, where they help to energize the crowd and show support for the Wolverines.

As a gesture of goodwill to its hosts at the 1932 Ohio State-Michigan football game, the Michigan Varsity Band spelled the name of its rival state while playing “Across the Field,” one of Ohio State's fight songs. Four years later, the Ohio State Marching Band began its pregame tradition of spelling “Ohio” in script before its October 24, 1936 game against Indiana.

Back in 1922 when Ohio Stadium was dedicated, Michigan was naturally the team invited to play OSU. Many know that we spoiled their dedication with a 19-0 M victory.What isn't widely known is that there had apparently been a wager between officials of both schools on the outcome of the dedication game regarding the color scheme that would be used for the dome/rotunda. Michigan won the dedication game 19-0 behind the efforts of an engineering student and captain, Paul Goebel (who later became a 3-time mayor of Grand Rapids) who blocked a punt, recovered a fumble, kicked a long field goal and generally wreaked havoc on the OSU defense all day.