A Look At The Big Ten Standings Since Jim Harbaugh Took Over At U-M In 2015
Michigan Wolverines football head coach Jim Harbaugh has been in Ann Arbor for six seasons, having posted an overall record of 49-22 during that span. That equates out to a winning percentage of 69 right on the dot, a number that is respectable.
"Respectable" isn't what Michigan thought it'd be getting when it hired Harbaugh, though, with Big Ten championships, College Football Playoff appearances and national titles all being the expectation.
RELATED: ITB Extra: Recruiting Ramifications Of Mo Linguist's Departure
RELATED: Michigan Co-DC Mo Linguist Departs U-M To Take Buffalo's Head Coaching Job
Those were undoubtedly lofty goals but nevertheless fair ones, when considering the outstanding work Harbaugh had done at his two most previous stops of San Francisco and Stanford.
It's no surprise Ohio State has posted a better overall record than U-M over the last six seasons, with nobody having seen a six-year run of 68-8 coming immediately after a national championship for the program in 2014.
In general, it's not acceptable from anyone in the Michigan program to have posted a record significantly worse than OSU's over a six-year span, but again, 68-8 is quite difficult to top or to even match.
What's more frustrating, however, is the fact three other Big Ten programs outside of Ohio State now own a better record than Michigan over the last six years — Wisconsin, Iowa and Penn State.
The Badgers' 56-19 mark since 2015 has been the best of the aforementioned trio, though Iowa’s 53-21 record (71.6) and Penn State’s 53-22 mark (70.6) are close behind. A lot of fans oftentimes point to the fact that Wisconsin and Iowa play in the Big Ten West division and face a significantly easier schedule than East squads, which is true.
That same narrative can’t be used for Penn State though, whose 53-22 record since 2015 is slightly better than U-M’s 49-22. Both the Nittany Lions and Wolverines have recruited at a similar level over the last six years, but the Badgers and Hawkeyes, on the other hand, have not been on those two‘s recruiting level.
Wisconsin and Iowa consistently finish in the 20s and 30s (or even lower) in the national recruiting rankings, but have used outstanding player development to build consistent winners.
Consistency is the name of the game for the Badgers and Hawkeyes, who have each concluded with winning records every season since 2015. Michigan was able to say the same thing up until last year when it finished two games under .500 at 2-4.
| Team | Record | Winning Percentage |
|---|---|---|
|
1. Ohio State |
68-8 |
89.4 |
|
2. Wisconsin |
56-19 |
74.6 |
|
3. Iowa |
53-21 |
71.6 |
|
4. Penn State |
53-22 |
70.6 |
|
5. Michigan |
49-22 |
69 |
|
6. Northwestern |
46-28 |
62.1 |
|
7. Minnesota |
41-30 |
57.7 |
|
8. Michigan State |
41-31 |
56.9 |
|
9. Indiana |
36-35 |
50.7 |
|
10. Nebraska |
31-39 |
44.2 |
|
11. Purdue |
24-44 |
35.2 |
|
12. Maryland |
23-43 |
34.8 |
|
13. Illinois |
22-47 |
31.8 |
|
14. Rutgers |
16-53 |
23.1 |
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Watch our videos and subscribe to our YouTube channel
• Listen and subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Sign up for our daily newsletter and breaking news alerts
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @Balas_Wolverine, @EJHolland_TW, @AustinFox42, @JB_ Wolverine, Clayton Sayfie and @DrewCHallett
• Like us on Facebook