I've never EVER understood why there are so many Michigan fans here. I've mentioned this before on here, but my wife and I have a fun (and incredibly nerdy) mini-hobby of keeping a note on my phone of all of the college sports apparel we see anywhere in the Chicago area and having a running tally. People always talk about how there are supposedly so many Notre Dame fans in Chicago and Northwestern claims they're some local draw and Iowa fans think they have some big connection to the city, but it's Michigan that has been in second place the entire damn time (August 2019 to present):
Illinois - 149
Michigan - 79
Iowa - 71
Wisconsin - 57
Notre Dame - 53
Indiana - 52
Michigan State - 46
Northwestern - 37
Purdue - 30
Ohio State - 21
Illinois State - 12
...
Loyola Chicago - 10
DePaul - 9
...
Northern Illinois - 5
I know that is hardly scientific, but we do have some rules! A group of fans can count for a max of three, only one count for visiting a bar specifically meant to show one of those teams' games, can't count anyone we know, etc. Point is, there indeed are so many Michigan fans in Chicago, and I absolutely cannot stand it. I also cannot stand Juwan or Hunter Dickinson or their arrogant fan base.
I still have some pretty damn high hopes for this team, but I AT LEAST need us to keep Juwan and Hunter winless vs. the Illini to mark our regular season a success!