No. 14-ranked Michigan Wolverines football is set to take on the No. 13 Alabama Crimson Tide on New Year's Day. This will be the fourth meeting between the two schools in bowl games, and the fifth meeting overall.
These are two of the more storied programs in the history of college football. Alabama claims 17 national championships, while U-M claims 11. The Wolverines have the most wins in college football history with 971, while Alabama is fourth with 910.
The overall series is tied at 2-2, with Alabama winning the last game, 41-14 in the 2012 season opener at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. The other meetings were the 2000 Orange Bowl, the 1997 Outback Bowl and the 1988 Hall of Fame Bowl.
Let's take a look at each one of those meetings, and how the games played out.
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1988 Hall of Fame Bowl — Michigan 28, Alabama 24
The Wolverines got the best of the Tide in the first meeting between the two schools. The game took place on Jan. 2, 1988, in Tampa, Florida, following the 1987 season. U-M head coach Bo Schembechler underwent heart surgery leading up to the game, and was unable to coach. Gary Moeller took the reigns and led U-M to victory over Tide head coach Bill Curry in his first season.
Both teams were 7-4 coming into the game. The Wolverines had fell earlier in the year to Notre Dame, Michigan State, Indiana and Ohio State. Alabama had also lost to Notre Dame during that regular season.
U-M had taken a 21-3 lead in the third quarter, but Alabama came back to take a 24-21 lead with 3:45 left in the game. Later, it took a U-M last minute drive to reclaim the lead. The Wolverines were facing a fourth-and-three from the Alabama 20-yard line; Moeller decided to go for it instead of attempting a game-tying field goal. He was vindicated, as quarterback Demetrius Brown found wide receiver John Kolesar in the end zone for the score with 50 seconds remaining. U-M would lead the game for good, escaping Tampa with the team's eighth victory of the season.
In the game, running back Jamie Morris ran for a career-high 234 yards and three touchdowns.
1997 Outback Bowl — Alabama 17, Michigan 14
The two teams met on Jan. 1, 1997 in Tampa, Florida to conclude the 1996 season. Lloyd Carr's Wolverines were 8-3 coming into the game, having just beaten Ohio State to finish off the regular season. Alabama head coach Gene Stallings had his 9-3 team looking to bounce back from a loss to Florida in the SEC Championship game a few weeks prior.
The game was a defensive battle all the way through. U-M had a 6-3 lead early in the fourth quarter, before quarterback Brian Griese threw an interception as the Wolverines were driving deep in Tide territory. Tide linebacker Dwayne Rudd picked it off and returned it 88 yards for a touchdown, giving Alabama a 10-6 lead.
Late in the fourth quarter, Alabama running back Shaun Alexander ran in a 46-yard touchdown to seal the game and put the Tide ahead 17-6 with 2:45 to go. U-M countered with a quick score of its own, when Griese hit Russell Shaw for a 9-yard touchdown, before the Wolverines converted on the two-point conversion to make it a 17-14 game. It was too little, too late, however, as Alabama ran out the clock to win the game.
U-M finished the game with 415 yards of total offense, but Alabama got the big-time stops when it needed them most.
2000 Orange Bowl — Michigan 35, Alabama 34 (OT)
The first two meetings between U-M and Alabama had been exciting games, but the 2000 Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, undoubtedly takes the cake as the most thrilling matchup. On Jan. 1, 2000, following the 1999 regular season, the Wolverines were 9-2, and the Tide was 10-1.
The game was back-and-forth. Alabama took a 14-0 lead, but U-M battled back to tie it up at 14-14 early in the third quarter behind a 57-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Tom Brady to wide receiver David Terrell for their second touchdown connection of the night. Then, the Tide took back control of the game, with running back Shaun Alexander dashing for a 50-yard touchdown run. A few minutes later, Alabama punt returner Freddie Milons returned one for 62 yards to give Alabama another two-score lead, 28-14.
Brady and U-M weren't done. He hooked up with Terrell for their third scoring connection, on a 20-yard pass with 5:42 left in the third quarter. Minutes later, U-M scored again on a three-yard run by running back Anthony Thomas to knot the game back up. The Wolverines had chances in the fourth quarter, including a 36-yard game-winning field goal attempt that got blocked as time in regulation expired, but they couldn't capitalize, and the game went to overtime at 28-28.
U-M struck first in overtime, on its first play, when Brady hit tight end Shawn Thompson on a 25-yard TD pass. The Wolverines took their first lead of the game, 35-28. Alabama quarterback Andrew Zow connected with wide receiver Antonio Carter with a 21-yard TD pass. On the ensuing extra point, Tide place kicker Ryan Pflugner missed wide right, and the Wolverines won 35-34.
Brady finished the game going 34-for-46 passing for 369 yards and four touchdowns. Terrell had 10 catches for 150 yards and three scores.
2012 Season Opener — Alabama 41, Michigan 14
Nothing went right for U-M in this one, as it took on the defending national champions. The game was virtually over at halftime, with Nick Saban's Alabama team having a 31-7 lead over Brady Hoke's Wolverines on Sep. 1, 2012.
U-M's first points were scored with 2:05 left in the second quarter, when quarterback Denard Robinson ran it in from six yards out. U-M made it 34-14 after three quarters, but wouldn't score again. Alabama extended its lead late in the fourth quarter, behind a 1-yard touchdown run from running back T.J. Yeldon.
Yeldon averaged 10.1 yards per carry, as he rushed it 11 times for 111 yards and one touchdown. U-M only got 27 yards from Robinson on 10 carries, and 200 yards through the air on 11-for-26 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions. One of Robinson's interceptions was returned for a touchdown in the second quarter by Tide linebacker C.J. Mosley.
U-M went on to finish the 2012 season with an 8-5 record, and Alabama finished the season winning its second straight national championship, going 13-1.
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