Members of UM's 1997 championship team ready to add to their ranks

Houston — Severe thunderstorm warnings, a tornado watch, and even hail didn't stop big-time University of Michigan donors, administration and alumni, including members of the 1997 championship-winning football team, from wishing the Wolverines good luck Monday afternoon.

The Wolverines haven't won a national championship in football since 1997 and dozens of former players, their families and friends said they're looking forward to welcoming the next group. Many gathered in downtown Houston before the game to see the current team off.

"We have been waiting for 26 years to welcome another Michigan football team in the most exclusive ... fraternity within Michigan football," said Eric Mayes, also known as "Zeus," a walk-on linebacker and co-captain of the undefeated 1997 team.

Winning a national title was the culmination of his Michigan experience, and has stayed with him forever, Mayes said.

"It was a mountaintop experience. And that mountain has been the foundation that I've used for the rest of my life. That foundation, the lessons, the relationships, the spirit, being a champion, has walked with me and been a part of me ever since," Mayes said.

Members of the 1997 team, along with their friends and families, gathered at the Hilton in downtown Houston to send off the 2023 Wolverine team as they boarded buses from their hotel to the NRG stadium Monday afternoon.

Not many programs have the camaraderie that Michigan fosters, said Steve Frazier, a center on the 1997 team whose son, Blake, recently committed to the Michigan football team.

"It feels like a pretty special team. ... They're playing for themselves, they're playing for each other," Frazier said. "With my son joining the team, it's really exciting. It's exciting to watch."

UM President Santa Ono picked the Wolverines to win by 10 points.

"I'm incredibly excited, very proud of the University of Michigan, and the coach and all the players and just blown away by the spirit and support of our alumni base," Ono said. "People are just so excited. This is something that hasn't happened for about 27 years."

University of Michigan Regents Sarah Hubbard, Katherine White, Denise Ilitch, and Paul Brown were all at the Michigan hotel Monday afternoon to celebrate the team's success. Hubbard plans to show her school spirit at NRG stadium wearing maize-colored sequins to tonight's game.

"I have to pinch myself every five minutes if we are really here and we're really going to do this," Hubbard said, adding that the game has been unifying for campus. "We've had a few ups and downs this fall. I think this is the kind of thing that just brings everybody together."

For Ilitch, it still feels surreal.

"It's one of real excitement, I mean nothing like sports brings people together," Ilitch said. "These moments are so privileged and so precious, you don't realize how special they are in the moment."

Winning Monday would only help keep Michigan "at the top of college football supremacy," said Nate Forbes, who owns the Somerset Collection and is a backer of the Champions Circle, Michigan's collective that assembles funds for school athletes' name image and likeness deals.

"It's been a long haul, and I think what's really kind of been so satisfying to so many is it's taken the effort of so many different groups," Forbes said. "It starts with the administration, the coaching staff, the players have put in such work going back to last summer, and there's been one singular focus and that is to get to the national championship game."

hmackay@detroitnews.com