DREAM SEASON 1997 Prologue: 'M Stands For Mediocre'

The cover of The Sporting News 1997 college football preview asked the question "what's wrong with Michigan?" It concluded in a feature story that after four straight so-so 8-4 seasons, "the M (now) stands for mediocre."

Furthermore, the schedule that year looked so daunting, even legendary former coach Bo Schembechler was lowering expectations.

"It's just too tough to coach," Schembechler told The Wolverine that summer while rolling his eyes and lamenting a slate that was considered the toughest in the country -- which ridiculously included six of the top 25 all-time winningest teams in college football history.

ESPN College Gameday analyst Lee Corso was even more blunt when he spoke to The Wolverine for its season preview.

"Michigan has no chance to have a great football season in my opinion," Corso said at the time. "They play too many good teams that as are good or better than they are. They can stumble and be a really fine football team losing three games, at least. I don't see the dominance anymore."

Despite all the success since then, it had been 40 years since Michigan won the national championship. Indeed, if there was going be a breakthrough for Coach Lloyd Carr, it didn't seem as if his third season running the show in Ann Arbor would be it. Especially since on top of that brutal schedule, he had key questions to answer everywhere.

Who would be the quarterback? Would it be journeyman Brian Griese, who came off the bench to win the Ohio State game the previous year? Or Scott Dreisbach, who flashed arm talent and athleticism in 1995 and 1996 before injury? Could even a dark horse like rising sophomore Tom Brady claim the job?

Then there was a young offensive line with three new starters. Two of them redshirt freshmen who had yet to play in a game. None of the returning weapons on offense had proven themselves to be game-breakers, unless you counted star defensive back Charles Woodson on that side of the ball, too. And the defense would be breaking in a new coordinator, Jim Hermann, after Greg Mattison bolted for Notre Dame.

Needless to say, the last thing you want when facing a historically difficult schedule is so much uncertainty. And with the opening game of the season against Colorado, ranked number one in the country by The Sporting News, there was no warm up act to prepare the unproven. The Wolverines would have to hit the ground running from the get-go.

Where was the leadership going to come from? Michigan went from preseason No. 3 in 1993 to finishing 21st. A 1994 squad loaded with future pros ended up in the Holiday Bowl playing a mid-major foe. The 1995 and 1996 seasons were highlighted by upsets of Ohio State, but the Buckeyes still won or shared the Big Ten title both seasons. Michigan wasn't short on talent, but struggled with consistency. There's only so much a coaching staff can do. At least some of the focus and discipline needed to be elite has to come from within the team itself.

Carr and Michigan needed some added inspiration and motivation. Carr hoped the best-selling book Into Thin Air would provide it. Written by Jon Krakauer, the book recounts his perilous journey up Mount Everest, when he and several others were stranded by a bad blizzard on one of the most dangerous terrains on the planet.

Carr was so inspired by the tale of heroism and perseverance, that he invited one of the book's subjects to speak to the team during fall camp, according to The Washington Post. Carr even gave each member of the team a climber's ice pick to prepare them mentally for the gauntlet ahead.

Would such a gesture turn out to be a cheeky gimmick, or a meaningful memento? The season ahead would tell the tale.