ANN ARBOR, Mich. — As second after second melts from the pregame countdown and kickoff of a college football game approaches, the sidelines tell the story of how significant the matchup between any given teams really is. The bigger the occasion, the richer the stakes, the thicker the flocks of big-shot boosters, world-famous alumni and highly coveted recruits. Everyone wants to feel as close to the impending action as possible, documenting the occasion with one selfie or self-recorded video after another.
The sidelines at Michigan Stadium on Saturday told a story of supreme importance, of two College Football Playoff participants from last January tangling in one of the most richly anticipated non-conference games of the season. Nearly two dozen NFL scouts and personnel executives, including at least three general managers, roamed the bench areas for an in-person glimpse of rosters loaded with future pros. Former New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter and former Sacramento Kings star Chris Webber chatted near midfield, two famous Michigan alums reveling in the spotlight of their former home. Michael Phelps, the retired swimmer and most decorated Olympian of all time, flitted from place to place, the throngs of VIP guests prompting security to clear him a path. Few games, if any, since Michigan’s revival under former coach Jim Harbaugh came with the levels of pomp, circumstance and visiting support that reverberated through Ann Arbor this weekend, when No. 10 Michigan hosted No. 3 Texas in a measuring stick for both teams and their conferences, the Big Ten and SEC, respectively.