Now, reading that headline, I understand your first thought: yeah, right. How can you say that when the Michigan Wolverines won the National Championship in football two years ago? Does it get any bigger than that?
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To that I say: yes. You’re thinking too mainstream. Yes, a football National Championship is a big deal, but collectively, Michigan’s sports teams have been killing it this year. Not all of them may be making headlines, but as a whole, the state has built a pretty impressive resume thus far. Let’s take a look at the collegiate level, then look at the pros.
For the sake of cohesiveness, we’re going to bullet point the highlights. This includes sports that had 2024-2025 seasons or were solely in 2025:
College
- The Western Michigan Broncos won the National Championship in Hockey this year, earning their first championship in school history. It was also the school’s first championship in any sport since 1965, finishing 30-7-1.
- Ferris State University Football (D2) won its third national championship in the last 4 years.
- The Michigan State University Men’s Basketball team won the BIG 10 title outright. That success brought them to the Elite Eight before losing to Auburn. They went 28-5 and 17-1 in conference play.
- The Michigan State University Women’s Soccer team had its second-best season in team history, going 15-4-6 and reaching the team’s first-ever Elite Eight before losing ot Stanford 5-1.
- The Michigan State University Women’s Basketball team finished 22-9 before getting knocked out in 2nd round of the March Madness tournament.
- The Michigan State University Women’s Gymnastics Team made it all the way to the National Championship, finishing fourth. They finished ranked 6th in the nation.
- The Michigan State University Men’s Hockey team was the #1 team in the nation for much of the season, going 26-7-4 (15-5-4 in conference play) before getting upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
- The University of Michigan Men’s Basketball team won the Big Ten tournament and finished tied for3rd in the standings. The team enters the 2025-2026 season with the #1 transfer class.
- The University of Michigan Men’s Football team had a down year following its National Championship; however, it ended the season with wins over #6Ohio State (which went on to win the National Championship)and #11 Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl.
- The University of Michigan Women’s Basketball team finished 23-11 (11-7), ranked25th in the AP poll. They were knocked out in the 2nd round of the March Madness tournament.
Phew! Lots of conference finals, a national championship, best seasons in team history, and more. Even teams that didn’t walk away with awards still had great seasons. On the collegiate level, schools in the Mitten State had plenty to celebrate.
But the real champion of the people belongs to one of the NFL’s fastest-rising stars, along with progress being made on other professional teams.
Detroit Lions
The Lions followed their 2024 NFC Championship appearance with the best season in team history, finishing the regular season 15-2 and securing a 1st-round playoff bye. In Michigan, chants of “JARED GOFF!” and “MVP” could be heard at other sporting events, in bars, and even just at the grocery store. To say the hype was real is an understatement.
Sadly, all that hype ended after a disappointing loss to the Washington Commanders. Still, the sense of community following the Lions was unavoidable and fun.
Detroit Tigers
The Tigers’ place on this list is complicated, considering this team’s season was a tale of two halves. For a long time, the Tigers were the hottest team in baseball and the first to 70 wins…