The championship of 97 erased a decade of frustration for the Wolverines. It was actually predicted as one of the worst teams of the decade. The first half of the decade was filled with underachieving teams as none could sniff a title.

Elvis Grbac and Todd Collins had talent around them, but it was a bunch of missed opportunities. Obviously, the hail mary loss to Colorado stands out as the play that crushed the program the most.

In fact, the talent of the early 90s was probably better than any other team. Tyrone Wheatly, Tim Biakabatuka, Derrick Alexander, Desmond Howard, Mercury Hayes, Jay Riemersma and Amani Toomer make the Michigan hard to beat talent-wise.

There was even more talent on the 99 team than the 97 with Tom Brady, Drew Henson, David Terrell, Anthony Thomas and Marquise Walker.

Despite all that talent, it was the incredible group of offensive lines that were the best part of the Michigan teams.

That Michigan team of 97 probably was the fifth best team of the decade for them, but the defense and Charles Woodson led the way to the title.

4. Tennessee (163)

With the exception of 1994, this was a pretty stable program in the 1990s behind Phil Fullmer. The receivers (Alvin Harper, Carl Pickens, Joey Kent, Marcus Nash and Peerless Price) and running backs (Charlie Garner, James Stewart, Jay Graham, Travis Henry, Travis Stephens and Jamal Lewis) were some of the best that any team in the decade could boast about. Then there was a guy named Peyton Manning.

All of the good offensive talent overshadowed a very good defense for most of the decade, but the defense would get some revenge by winning the team a championship in 98 behind Al Wilson. Leonard Little and Terry Fair are two of my favorite defensive players of all-time.

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