In 2023, a team that dons a Block M defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes, much to the delight of football fans in Ann Arbor. But it was in December, and it wasn’t the Michigan Wolverines who had the honor that time.
It was in the Allstate Sugar Bowl and the team was the Missouri Tigers. A month after being dispatched by the maize and blue, the scarlet and gray were reeling against an SEC team, on the heels of being eliminated for the Big Ten championship and a chance to play in the College Football Playoff by Michigan. The vaunted, but short-handed, OSU offense could do little against the Tigers, and apparently Eli Drinkwitz’s squad has decided in the aftermath that it bears more than a few similarities to its fellow Block M, Buckeye-beating brethren.
The official Missouri X (formerly Twitter) account resorted to flat-out theft, posting on Tuesday the famous quote by Michigan football head coach Bo Schembechler, without any attribution — “the team, the team, the team.”
The Team.
The Team.
𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐦.#MIZ 🐯🏈 pic.twitter.com/KPkgklfiUU— Mizzou Football (@MizzouFootball) February 20, 2024
What’s next? Those who stay will be champions? Go Blue? It’s great to be a Missouri Tiger? The last one doesn’t really roll off the tongue.
While plenty of Michigan fans noticed the thievery, they weren’t alone. The official Michigan football account also apparently noticed and had something of a little clap back.
Imitated, but never duplicated. pic.twitter.com/WhRQQDVu3D
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) February 21, 2024
Of course, “the team, the team, the team,” saying has been a program-wide mantra in Ann Arbor for decades now. Considering the Wolverines also won a national championship this year, Missouri can certainly try and take Michigan sayings, but it will not have the same prizes that the maize and blue have in their collection.