CFP National Championship Halftime Show: All You Need to Know About the Michigan Wolverines’ Fight Song

College football fans across the country are getting ready for the national championship game tonight. The Michigan Wolverines will face off against the Washington Huskies at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. As with every other game, Michigan will take the field to their fight song “The Victors.”

According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan Wolverines have had the same fight song for more than a century. Louis Elbel, a music student at Michigan wrote the song in 1898 after the Wolverines claimed a last-minute 12-11 victory over the University of Chicago.

[RELATED: Who Are the Halftime Show and National Anthem Performers for the College Football National Championship?]

Legendary composer John Philip Sousa’s band was the first to play “The Victors” publicly. They did so in May of 1899 in Ann Arbor, Michigan. According to the university’s athletics page, Sousa later called it the “best college march ever written.”

Michigan Fight Song Lyrics

Now for a cheer they are here, triumphant!
Here they come with banners flying
In stalwart step they’re nighing
With shouts of vict’ry crying
We hurrah, hurrah, we greet you now
Hail!

Far we their praises sing
For the glory and the fame they’ve brought us
Loud let the bell them ring
For here they come with banners flying
Far we their praises tell
For the glory and the fame they’ve brought us
Loud let the bells them ring
For here they come with banners flying
Here they come, Hurrah!

Hail! To the victors valiant
Hail! To the conquering heroes
Hail! Hail! To Michigan
The leaders and the best
Hail! To the victors valiant
Hail! To the conquering heroes
Hail! Hail! To Michigan
The champions of the West

College Football History Lesson

Some might hear the final lines of “The Victors” and be confused. After all, Michigan isn’t in the West. In 1898, though, the Wolverines competed in the Western Conference, a precursor to the modern Big Ten Conference. When the song was written, the conference included current Big 10 teams Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Northwestern, and Purdue.

Michigan fans who are looking to get pumped up before the game can listen to this great rendition of “The Victors” by the Michigan marching band.

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