Top 5 storylines for Michigan football in the 2000s

The Michigan football team started the decade with a bang, beating Alabama on New Year’s Day in 2000 in a memorable Orange Bowl and closed it with a whimper with its first back-to-back losing seasons in more than 40 years.

Michigan football beat writer Dave Birkett reflects on the top players, games and stories of the decade. Share your thoughts below.

1. Lloyd Carr retires: It wasn’t a total stunner - speculation about his future had been going on for some time - but when Lloyd Carr announced his retirement on Nov. 19, 2007, it marked the end of an era for Michigan football. Carr left with 5 Big Ten championships, 1 national title and a 122-40 career record. Michigan athletic director Bill Martin mishandled the ensuing coaching search, though he eventually landed one of college football’s best offensive minds in Rich Rodriguez.

2. Good-bye, Bo: On the eve of Michigan’s 1-2 showdown with Ohio State, legendary coach Bo Schembechler died of heart failure when he collapsed during the taping of a TV appearance. Schembechler, who retired as coach in 1989 with 194 victories and an 11-9-1 record against Ohio State, had long-standing health problems, but the nation mourned the man who helped build Michigan into one of college football’s preeminent programs.

3. Home for the holidays: Its bowl streak shattered after 33 consecutive years, Michigan enters a new decade with legitimate questions about its program. The Wolverines are coming off back-to-back losing seasons, awaiting the results of an NCAA investigation and appear headed down the same path Nebraska, Alabama, USC and so many other top programs have traveled. Surely Michigan will be back, but when and at what cost?

4. The rise of the spread: It’s not the Michigan football you grew up on, but one reason the Wolverines hired Rodriguez was to modernize the program. Gone are pro-style quarterbacks and 3-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust football; in is the read-option and bubble screen. Florida, Texas and Oklahoma ran their versions of the offense to national titles. Michigan’s hasn’t taken hold quite as fast, but the Wolverines are recruiting a new brand of player both on offense and defense, where they’ve been unable to stop the spread in recent years.

5. Ohio State owns the rivalry: After dominating Ohio State during the John Cooper era (10-2-1), the tables were turned for Michigan in the 2000s. The Buckeyes under Jim Tressel have won 6 straight and 8 of the last 9 meetings. Ohio State’s 42-7 win in Columbus in 2008 was the biggest in the series in 40 years, and OSU won a major recruiting war as well, convincing quarterback Terrelle Pryor, the nation’s No. 1 prospect, to play for the Scarlet and Gray.

Dave Birkett covers University of Michigan football for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at 734-623-2552 or by e-mail at davidbirkett@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.