Our football blog series is back for the third straight year! As before, we’ll use the football season as an impetus to compare Ann Arbor to cities and towns on this year’s schedule. And the question is always – how does Ann Arbor compare to other college towns in the US?
The beginning of September feels like back-to-school for everyone in Ann Arbor, regardless of your affiliation with the University. Soak up the school spirit while watching the first Michigan game of the season against Notre Dame.
Michigan and Notre Dame have a bit of a rivalry, as both are mentioned as some of the most storied programs in college football history. While Michigan leads the all-time series 24-17, they have something to prove this time around: the duo last squared off in 2014, where the Fighting Irish routed the Wolverines 31-0.
While Notre Dame University is technically located in Notre Dame, IN, the school is more readily associated with the adjacent South Bend, IN. So, that’s where we’ll focus for our comparison. (It’s not really fair to compare Ann Arbor to a city of 6,724 that really only encompasses the University).
Ann Arbor’s population of about 121,000 is slightly bigger than South Bend, with 102,000 inhabitants. However, the schools are less comparable in enrollment, with Michigan totaling about 3.5X more students than our South Bend counterparts who are known for their small class sizes. Both schools consistently show up around the top of several university ranking metrics, including US News National University Ranking (UofM at #28, Notre Dame at #18).
