Michigan Should Extend Historic Streak at 2015 NFL Draft

In recent seasons, Michigan's symbol as a consistent superpower in the college football landscape has deteriorated. The Wolverines haven't won a Big Ten championship since 2004, and, since Lloyd Carr rode off into the sunset in 2007, Michigan's record has been 46-42 (52.3 win pct.). To add further insult, Michigan witnessed two historic streaks snap -- and almost a third -- during the Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke administrations. One was Michigan's bowl streak, during which the Wolverines participated in a bowl game for 33 straight seasons from 1975 to 2007 -- the longest active streak at the time and just two shy of Nebraska's all-time record (35) -- before Michigan went 3-9 in Rodriguez's first season in 2008. The other was Michigan's non-shutout streak, during which the Wolverines scored in an NCAA-record 365 straight games from 1984 to 2014 before Notre Dame shut them out, 31-0, last season.

However, Michigan should keep one historic streak intact this weekend.

Since 1938, Michigan has had at least one player selected in each NFL Draft. That is 76 straight NFL Drafts from 1939 to 2014, and no other school can claim they have had a player taken in more consecutive NFL Drafts. Only five other schools have had a player picked in every single draft of the common era, and only USC's matched Michigan's feat:

Notre Dame would argue that the Fighting Irish should be at the top of this list because they have had a player selected in each NFL Draft from 1938 to 2014, but, because their only pick in 1977 was Al Hunter, who entered the NFL through the Supplemental Draft as opposed to the regular NFL Draft, Notre Dame's streak does not stand at 77 seasons.

Texas was at the top of this list entering last year's NFL Draft, having had a player selected in 76 consecutive NFL Drafts from 1938 to 2013. However, no Longhorns were taken in the 2014 NFL Draft, and Texas' record streak came to a crashing conclusion.

And it's opened the door for Michigan and USC to pass the Longhorns for the all-time record this weekend. Both the Wolverines and the Trojans are projected to have one of their players picked for the 77th straight NFL Draft this weekend. Michigan's Devin Funchess (full draft profile), Jake Ryan (full draft profile), and Frank Clark (full draft profile) all are projected to be selected in the first five rounds according to CBS Sports, while USC has six Trojans projected to be picked with defensive tackle Leonard Williams looking to be one of the first players taken off the board in the first round.

So tune in to watch the 2015 NFL Draft -- the first round will be televised at 8:00 p.m. ET tonight on ESPN and NFL Network, the second and third rounds will start at 7:00 p.m. ET on Friday on ESPN 2 and NFL Network, and the final four rounds will start at noon ET on Saturday on ESPN and NFL Network -- as the Wolverines should make history.