Michigan's road losing streak to AP top-25 teams reached 17 games with a Week 1 loss to Notre Dame. The fifth-longest such streak in college football, however, could end very soon.
Lloyd Carr, Chad Henne and Michael Hart led Michigan to a blowout win, 47-21, of Notre Dame on Sept. 16, 2006, on their way to an 11-win season. Nine weeks later, the streak began when they fell behind Ohio State, 28-14, in the first half of a Nov. 18 meeting in Columbus and couldn't recover, losing 42-39.
Michigan hasn't won a Big Ten Championship during the streak, nor have they won a division title (since divisions were added in 2011) or, obviously, a national championship.
The average margin of loss is 17.3 points and they've lost 10 games by at least 14 points, eight games by at least 21 points and three games by at least 30 points.
Colorado has the longest top-25 losing streak in the FBS (28 games), followed by Purdue (23), Kansas (19), Vanderbilt (19) and Michigan. When will Wolverines drop from the top five of an embarrassing list?
Likely very soon.
The Wolverines' next road game is a Sept. 29 trip to Northwestern, whom they've defeated five straight times and have a 32-4 record against since 1966, a run that includes a 16-point win over the 21st-ranked Wildcats in 2005, their second-most-recent top-25 road win.
Northwestern was not ranked in the AP Preseason top 25, nor are they ranked in the Week 2 top 25, but after a road win over Purdue in Week 1 and home games vs. Duke and Akron in Weeks 2 and 3, respectively, it's possible — if not probable — Northwestern will be ranked in Week 4.
Michigan has two other opportunities for top-25 road wins this season — Michigan State and Ohio State — but Sept. 29 is — if Northwestern slides into the top 25 — by far their best opportunity at jumping off a list that includes Kansas.
