Mixed reviews on the “Big House”

OK, I’ve done a stint in the Big House. Not time in prison, thankfully, but about five hours in the “Big House” that is Michigan Stadium.

I was overwhelmed by the size of the stadium. You could get lost here.

I was underwhelmed by the setting and architecture. It’s basically just a big concrete bowl. It sits in the middle of flatland Michigan, not the shores of Lake Washington where the “Greatest Setting in College Football” resides. For as big as the stadium is, it also didn’t feel that “loud.”

What screams here is “big-time college football.” This is a bucket list I had to check. And I’m glad I did.

Some thoughts from a warm and breezy, mid-October Saturday afternoon in Ann Arbor:

THEY SHOW UP EARLY: My daughters kid me that my sporting event philosophy is “arrive early, stay late.” Michigan fans show up early. We arrived two hours early, and half the stadium was full. Every seat – 110,701 on this day – was filled by kickoff. We encountered the same thing last year in Iowa City. It’s a late-arriving crowd at Husky Stadium, for sure. Sometimes, it’s outright embarrassing. Not Michigan. Maybe it’s a Midwest thing. Maybe I should live in the Midwest.

IN MY MIND’S EYE: It’s always a little surreal walking for the first time into a stadium you’d seen countless times on television. One of the first things I noticed was the familiar brick wall that rings the field. For whatever reason, I remembered that from a UW-Michigan game I watched on my family’s black-and-white TV in 1969. Bo Schembechler’s Wolverines took Jim Owens’ Huskies to the woodshed that day, 45-7.

BIG-TIME BRAND: Michigan’s iconic blue and maize winged helmets. A sea of maize in the stands. Two massive video scoreboards at the north and south ends of the stadium, each emblazoned on the back side with a giant, block “M.”

HAIL TO THE VICTORS: The Michigan band in pregame playing “Hail to the Victors,” one of the most famous college fight songs in the land. And Michigan fans thrusting their right arms forward, in unison, with each “Hail! Hail!” The Wolverines running onto the field, but not before each player jumped to touch the giant “Go Big Blue” banner. Both teams share an entrance to the field at the 50-yard-line, unlike any other stadium I know of. Not ideal. Ask Ohio State and Michigan State.

EVERYTHING’S BIGGER: The stadium is immense. This day’s game drew 110,701, which was the stadium’s 327th consecutive game with more than 100,000 fans. That’s 40,000 more than Husky Stadium’s capacity of 70,138. I’m told there’s not a bad seat in the house. Several levels of luxury suites tower over both sides of the field. Something tells me a lot of money is flowing into the football program’s coffers. All remaining games this season are sold out. Season tickets for 2026 are sold out.

VICTORS HAILED: We walked around the stadium before the game. They certainly hail their victors here. The school’s 12 national championships are proudly displayed on the outer wall of a concourse. Washington claims two natties.

EVICTED FROM THE BIG HOUSE: As for the game, the Huskies played Michigan to a 7-7 tie at the half. Then the Wolverines, clearly the bigger and more physical team on the offensive and defensive lines, showed who owned the Big House. Demond Williams threw three interceptions. The Wolverines threw the Huskies up against the wall, roughed ’em up a little, and then kicked them out the door. Michigan 24, UW 7.