Brady Hoke has steadfastly refused to play the SEC-Big Ten game this week. He says it's Michigan-South Carolina, two good teams ready to face each other, and conferences are a secondary consideration.

Not that Michigan has anything to deemphasize when it comes to the SEC … except for the last bowl against the Southeastern Conference. That one, of course, involved a 52-14 loss to Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl, marking the end of Rich Rodriguez's brief tenure as head coach.

That dropped the Wolverines to 7-4 in bowls against the SEC, a more-than-respectable mark. Overall, Michigan stands 23-7-1 versus the conference, with a losing record against only two SEC teams (0-1 against Mississippi State and also Tennessee, from another forgettable bowl).

The Gamecocks could make it three SEC schools that have the all-time record advantage on the Wolverines. The series stands at 1-1, including South Carolina's 17-14 win in Ann Arbor in 1980 and Michigan's 34-3 beat-down of the Gamecocks in Columbia early in the 1985 season.

The latter featured 324 yards rushing by the Wolverines, including 106 by Thomas Wilcher and 95 from Jamie Morris.

Here is Michigan's record against all SEC schools:

Alabama (2-2)
Arkansas (1-0)
Auburn (1-1)
Florida (2-0)
Georgia (1-1)
Georgia Tech (1-0)
Kentucky (1-0)
Mississippi (1-0)
Mississippi State (0-1)
South Carolina (1-1)
Tennessee (0-1)
Tulane (2-0)
Vanderbilt (10-0)

Some other Michigan bowl facts include…

• Michigan stands No. 11 in all-time bowl appearances, with 42. Alabama leads all schools with 60, and current Big Ten teams Nebraska (49), Penn State (44) and Ohio State (43) have more than the Wolverines.

• The Wolverines stand No. 14 in all-time bowl wins, tied with Ohio State at 20 (the Buckeyes will not break that tie this year, although Michigan has a chance to do so). Alabama's 34 bowl victories lead the way, while South Carolina (32) holds the second most.

• Michigan is 3-1 in the Outback Bowl, beating Alabama (28-24) in 1988, pounding North Carolina State (42-7) in 1994 and taking down Florida (38-30) in 2003. Michigan's only loss was to Alabama (17-14) in 1997.


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