High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The 1997 Michigan Wolverines football team represented the University of Michigan in the 1997 NCAA Division I-A football season. In its third year under head coach Lloyd Carr, Michigan compiled a perfect 12–0 record, won the Big Ten Conference championship, defeated Washington State in the 1998 Rose Bowl, and was declared the national champion by the Associated Press and numerous other polls. The Nebraska Cornhuskers, who also went undefeated and beat Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, captured the top spot in the final Coaches` Poll.