First Years for Michigan Varsity Sports
The 1901 Michigan football team claimed the school's first national championship.
The oldest of the University of Michigan's 29 varsity sports, baseball, dates back to its first competitions in the 1865-66 school year. It was followed by three more 19th century additions: football (1878-79), men's tennis (1892-93) and men's outdoor track and field (1895-96).
Four Wolverines varsity programs have been added in the 21st century, starting in the 2000-01 school year when men's soccer and water polo came aboard. The most recent additions are the lacrosse programs, with the men starting play in 2011-12 and the women in 2013-14.
The first academic years for Michigan's varsity sports:
| Year | Team |
| 1865-66 | Baseball |
| 1878-79 | Football |
| 1892-93 | Men's Tennis |
| 1895-96 | Men's Outdoor Track |
| 1908-09 | Men's Basketball (1) |
| 1917-18 | Men's Indoor Track |
| 1919-20 | Men's Cross Country (2) |
| 1919-20 | Men's Golf |
| 1922-23 | Men's Swimming and Diving (3) |
| 1922-23 | Wrestling (3) |
| 1922-23 | Ice Hockey (3) |
| 1927-28 | Men's Fencing (4) - discontinued |
| 1930-31 | Men's Gymnastics (5) |
| 1973-74 | Field Hockey |
| 1973-74 | Volleyball |
| 1973-74 | Women's Basketball |
| 1973-74 | Women's Tennis |
| 1973-74 | Women's Swimming and Diving |
| 1973-74 | Women's Synchronized Swimming (6) - discontinued |
| 1975-76 | Women's Gymnastics |
| 1977-78 | Women's Golf |
| 1977-78 | Softball |
| 1977-78 | Women's Indoor Track and Field |
| 1977-78 | Women's Outdoor Track and Field |
| 1979-80 | Women's Cross Country |
| 1994-95 | Women's Soccer |
| 1996-97 | Women's Rowing |
| 2000-01 | Men's Soccer |
| 2000-01 | Women's Water Polo |
| 2011-12 | Men's Lacrosse |
| 2013-14 | Women's Lacrosse |
NOTES
(1) Men's basketball was a varsity sport for one season, 1908-09, then discontinued when Michigan left the Western Conference. Varsity competition was resumed in 1917-18 when Michigan re-joined the conference.
(2) Michigan did not field a varsity men's cross country team between 1933 and 1970, but several runners did compete as individuals in the Big Ten meet during the period. Men's cross country returned to varsity status in 1971.
(3) At its December 1922 meeting the Board in Control of Intercollegiate Athletics voted to make ice hockey, men's swimming and wrestling varsity sports. Hockey and swimming began varsity competition in January 1923. Wrestling did not start varsity competition until the 1923-24 season. Students had organized "informal varsity teams" for each sport for one or more years before attaining official varsity status.
(4) Fencing was a varsity sport for eight seasons, 1928-33.
(5) Men's gymnastics was dropped as a varsity sport after the 1933 season. It was reestablished in 1947-48.
(6) Synchronized swimming was one of the original women's varsity sports but was discontinued when the Michigan women's athletics program joined the Big Ten Conference in 1982.
