By The Numbers: What You Need To Know About Michigan's New 2020 Schedule
The Michigan Wolverines' revised 2020 football schedule has been released, and features several significant changes from what was originally slated to occur this fall.
Below are the stats, numbers and figures you need to know surrounding U-M's 10-game, Big Ten-only schedule in 2020.
2 Bye Weeks (Oct. 10 and Nov. 14) this fall, giving Michigan two off weeks for the second year in a row. Prior to 2019, the last time the Wolverines had two Saturdays off in one season was in 2014.
2nd Straight year Michigan State will come to Ann Arbor, with the annual rivalry showdown set to take place on Oct. 3 in The Big House. The Spartans were blown out last year at Michigan Stadium, 44-10, and were originally slated to host the Maize and Blue in 2020. MSU had the luxury of hosting Michigan in back-to-back years in 2013 and 2014, with this new scheduling quirk basically evening things out once again.
3 Games that have been officially canceled due to the Big Ten-only slate — Washington, Ball State and Arkansas State. The showdown against the Huskies was set to take place in Seattle on Sept. 5, while contests against the Cardinals and Red Wolves were slated to occur on Sept. 12 and Sept. 19, respectively, inside The Big House.
3 Big Ten teams Michigan won't play in 2020 — Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska. The Wolverines have played the Cornhuskers just four times (2011, 2012, 2013 and 2018) since they joined the conference in 2011.
4 Of the last five meetings against Northwestern have been/will have been played in Evanston, with U-M scheduled to close the year there on Nov. 21. The 2013, 2014 and 2018 matchups were also in Evanston, with the 2015 game being the only one during that span to have occurred in Ann Arbor. The Wildcats were the lone addition to U-M's 2020 schedule.
10-Game slate in 2020, marking the fewest games Michigan will have played in a season since going 9-1 in 1970. The '70 campaign was Bo Schembechler's second at the helm, and did not feature a bowl game. It remains to be seen whether postseason contests will be played this year. The last time the Maize and Blue played fewer than 10 games in a campaign was in 1963, when Bump Elliott's crew went 3-4-2.
Nov. 21 Will be the last regular-season game (at Northwestern), marking the earliest U-M will have ended a regular-season since also closing on Nov. 21 in 2009. The last time Michigan finished before Nov. 21 was in 2007, when the annual Ohio State showdown occurred on Nov. 17.
1935 Is when Michigan and Ohio State began playing each other every year on the final weekend of the regular-season, with 1942, 1986 and 1998 being the lone three exceptions where U-M closed against a team other than the Buckeyes. Michigan traveled to Hawaii the week after its annual OSU showdown in both 1986 and 1998, and hosted Iowa the week after The Game in 1942. When U-M and Ohio State meet on Oct. 24 this year, it will be the earliest the two have squared off since dueling on Oct. 21, 1933 (a 13-0 Michigan victory).
1996 Was the last time U-M opened a season against a Big Ten opponent, defeating Illinois, 20-8, in Ann Arbor on Aug. 31. The last time prior to that was when it took down Wisconsin, 20-9, to kick off the 1982 campaign. The Maize and Blue are slated to host Purdue on Sept. 5 in this year's season-opener.
2015 Was the last time Michigan played at Minnesota, with the Wolverines now slated to travel to Minneapolis on Sept. 12 in the second game of the year (they had originally been scheduled to play there on Oct. 17). The four-season drought at TCF Bank Stadium marks the second-longest for U-M at any Big Ten venue, with Nebraska's Memorial Stadium being the only one that is longer (Michigan last played there in 2012).
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