Getting your questions ready
Getting your questions ready
Beat the crowd
10 questions No timer
50 free Michigan Football trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
48 free Michigan football trivia questions with answers, built for Wolverines fans who know the winged helmet is more than a paint job. It starts with the essentials: the first game in 1879, the Big House and its 107,601 seats, maize and blue, and The Victors, written on a train home from Chicago in 1898. From there it works through the eras. Fielding Yost's Point-a-Minute teams and the 49-0 Rose Bowl, Fritz Crisler's helmet, Tom Harmon's Old 98, Bo Schembechler and the Ten Year War against Woody Hayes, Desmond Howard's pose, Charles Woodson beating Peyton Manning to the Heisman, Tom Brady's Orange Bowl, the Appalachian State disaster, and the 15-0 run to the 2023 national championship. The rivalry trophies are all here too: the Little Brown Jug bought for 30 cents, Paul Bunyan, and The Game. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia before publishing and each question links to its source. Difficulty runs from easy questions any Saturday tailgater can get to expert ones on attendance records and coaching records, so it works for a family watch party or a Michigan alumni trivia night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What is the nickname of Michigan Stadium?
The Big House
It opened in 1927 with 72,000 seats and now holds 107,601, the largest stadium in the Western Hemisphere.
Q 02What are Michigan's official colours?
Maize and blue
The Wolverines have worn them since the 1860s, decades before the football team played its first game.
Q 03In what year did Michigan play its first intercollegiate football game?
1879
The opponent on 30 May 1879 was Racine College; Michigan joined the Big Ten at its founding in 1896.
Q 04How many national championships does Michigan claim?
Twelve
Six of them came under Fielding Yost; the most recent was the 15-0 season in 2023.
Q 05Michigan holds which all-time distinction in college football?
Most wins of any programme
The Wolverines have been piling up victories since 1879, which is why every rival wants to knock them off the top of the list.
Q 06How many Michigan players have won the Heisman Trophy?
Three
Tom Harmon (1940), Desmond Howard (1991) and Charles Woodson (1997).
Q 07Which coach introduced the winged helmet at Michigan in 1938?
Fritz Crisler
It debuted against Michigan State that year; Crisler went 116-32-9 and won the 1947 national title.
Q 08Michigan won the first ever Rose Bowl in 1902 by what score?
49-0 over Stanford
The Point-a-Minute Wolverines were so dominant that Stanford asked to stop the game early.
Q 09How long did Fielding Yost's famous unbeaten streak run after he arrived in 1901?
56 games
It ended in the 1905 season finale; his first five teams outscored opponents 2,821 to 42.
Q 10What nickname did Fielding Yost earn from constantly urging his players on?
Hurry Up
He coached Michigan for 25 seasons at an .833 clip and later, as athletic director, built the stadium and the field house that bears his name.
Q 11By what combined score did Yost's Point-a-Minute teams outscore opponents from 1901 to 1905?
2,821 to 42
The record over those five seasons was 55-1-1, with the lone loss coming to Chicago in 1905.
Q 12Who composed Michigan's fight song The Victors?
Louis Elbel
He was a student who wrote it in 1898 on the train home after a 12-11 win at Chicago that clinched the conference title.
Q 13A win over which university inspired the writing of The Victors in 1898?
Chicago
John Philip Sousa later said only a master of counterpoint could have conceived its harmony.
Q 21How many Big Ten titles did Bo Schembechler's Michigan teams win or share?
13
He never won a national championship, but his teams finished ranked in all but one of his 21 seasons.
Q 22After retiring from coaching in 1989, Bo Schembechler became president of which baseball team?
Detroit Tigers
He held the job from 1990 to 1992 and is remembered there mostly for firing broadcaster Ernie Harwell.
Q 23What was the score when Bo Schembechler's first Michigan team upset No. 1 Ohio State in 1969?
24-12
The upset launched the Ten Year War between Bo and Woody Hayes, which Schembechler edged 5-4-1.
Q 14How many fans attended the record Michigan vs Notre Dame game at Michigan Stadium in 2013?
115,109
It remains the largest crowd for a college football game; the 2010 Big Chill hockey game there drew 104,173.
Q 15How much did Michigan Stadium cost to build in 1927?
$950,000
Fielding Yost persuaded the regents to build it and originally wanted room for 140,000 people.
Q 16What was Michigan Stadium's capacity when it opened in 1927?
72,000
The first game there was against Ohio Wesleyan on 1 October 1927; the official figure today is 107,601.
Q 17Which Michigan halfback known as 'Old 98' won the 1940 Heisman Trophy?
Tom Harmon
He was later shot down twice as a WWII pilot, played for the LA Rams and fathered NCIS actor Mark Harmon.
Q 18Which future US president played centre on Michigan's undefeated 1932 and 1933 national title teams?
Gerald Ford
His teammates voted him MVP in 1934, and he turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers.
Q 19What is Bo Schembechler's real first name?
Glenn
He came to Ann Arbor from Miami of Ohio in 1969 and went 194-48-5 over 21 seasons.
Q 20Which sign did Bo Schembechler famously hang in the Michigan locker room?
Those Who Stay Will Be Champions
Many of his 1969 squad quit under his brutal first winter workouts; those who stayed beat No. 1 Ohio State that November.
Q 24What was Bo Schembechler's head-to-head record against Woody Hayes during the Ten Year War?
5-4-1
From 1969 to 1978 either Michigan or Ohio State won at least a share of the Big Ten title every single season.
Q 25Woody Hayes was fired after punching an opposing player at the end of which season?
1978
It happened in the Gator Bowl against Clemson; the victim, Charlie Bauman, had just intercepted an Ohio State pass. The Ten Year War ended with the punch.
Q 26Michigan and Ohio State first met on the football field in which year?
1897
Michigan won 34-0; the game has closed the regular season for both schools since 1935.
Q 27How many punts did Michigan and Ohio State combine for in the 1950 'Snow Bowl'?
45
Michigan won 9-3 in howling snow without completing a single forward pass.
Q 28In 2000, which network ranked Michigan-Ohio State as the greatest North American sports rivalry ever?
ESPN
Woody Hayes famously refused to buy a drop of gasoline in the state of Michigan.
Q 29Michigan's 42-27 win over Ohio State in 2021 snapped a losing streak of how many games in the rivalry?
Eight
It was Jim Harbaugh's first win over the Buckeyes and started a run of three straight Big Ten titles.
Q 30Michigan plays Minnesota each year for which trophy?
The Little Brown Jug
Michigan led the series 78-25-3 through 2024, though it once had to win the thing back after leaving it in Minneapolis in 1903.