Michigan put the finishing touches on the football schedules for 2018 and 2019 with the additions of Western Michigan, Middle Tennessee, and Army. Both Western Michigan and Middle Tennessee will accept a healthy check for their appearances in Ann Arbor as well.
Michigan will host Western Michigan of the MAC on September 8, 2018 and pay the Broncos $1.2 million for the game. A year later, Michigan will start the season with back-to-back home games against Middle Tennessee (August 31, 2019) and Army (September 7, 2019). Michigan will pay Middle Tennessee $1.6 million, according to a press release from Middle Tennessee. It is unknown how much Army will receive for their trip to Michigan.
Michigan owns a 6-0 all-time record against Western Michigan and trails Army 5-4 in their all-time series history, although Michigan owns a four-game winning streak in the series. Michigan and Army last played each other in 1962. Michigan and Middle Tennessee State have never faced each other before.
The Big Ten scheduling requirement of playing a power conference opponent, or the equivalent of one as determined by the Big Ten office, was already satisfied with Michigan’s future scheduling efforts. The Wolverines play at Notre Dame to open the 2018 season and host the Irish in late October in 2019. Michigan will begin the 2017 season in Arlington, Texas against Florida and has future power conference opponents lined up in 2020 (at Washington, Virgina Tech), 2021 (at Virginia Tech, Washington), 2022 (UCLA), 2023 (at UCLA), 2024 (Texas), 2025 (at Oklahoma), 2026 (Oklahoma), and 2027 (at Texas).
Middle Tennessee State’s non-conference schedule in 2019 is jammed with power conference opponents. The Blue Raiders will also play a game at Iowa and will get a home game against Duke in addition to their trip to Michigan. The program also faces three power conference opponents this fall with games against Vanderbilt, Syracuse, and Minnesota. The same is true in 2019 with a SEC East sampler of games against Vanderbilt, Georgia, and Kentucky (all on the road).