Dear Seniors,

Well, that was it. Our last football Saturday has come and gone. To call the final go-round disappointing would be an understatement.

Many of us came to Ann Arbor looking forward to matchups with Ohio State more than any particular class or degree.

But Michigan football went 0-4 against the Buckeyes in the last four years , and our memories of the Saturday before Thanksgiving especially won’t be fond. We’re the second consecutive class of seniors that will receive degrees without an important part of the University of Michigan experience — a win over Ohio State.

Certainly, the five-year winless streak against the Buckeyes is harder to swallow for those who actually played in the game. But what makes it difficult for us is that the results have been entirely beyond our control.

No matter how hard we cheered or how much we cared, we couldn’t do anything to change the outcome on the field.

We couldn’t jump onto the field to fill the gap and stop a long Beanie Wells touchdown run (and we’ve seen plenty of those). We couldn’t slap on pads and pass-block for a harried quarterback. We couldn’t put on a headset and call plays.

We’ve invested a lot in our Michigan football fandom over the past four years and the results haven’t been what we expected.

There have been bright spots: The 2005 last-second win over Penn State. The unbeaten run to Ohio State in 2006. The Capitol One Bowl win against heavily favored Florida in Lloyd Carr's last game. The win over Wisconsin in September, the biggest comeback in Michigan Stadium history.

We’ve seen more than our fair share of low points, too: A 7-5 season our freshman year that included a home loss to Minnesota. Two losses to end a previously unbeaten 2006 season. Appalachian State. Finishing 3-9 in 2008.

Statistically, we’ve seen more Michigan football losses in four years than any group of seniors since the class of 1937.

The seniors on the football team have talked a lot this year about being able to vicariously enjoy the success when the program turns around. They’ve all maintained they can still take some pleasure knowing that they helped build the foundation.

The general student population won’t be able to enjoy any future success in the same way. Our connection to the football program will always be as alumni of the University, not as past participants. While a successful team will be a lot of fun to watch in years to come, it won’t change the fact that we were on campus for one of the worst four-year stretches in program history.

There’s no doubt this senior class will be proud of its time at Michigan. As students, we’ve attended one of the world’s finest universities. But will we be as proud of our Michigan fandom in the years to come?

I hope we will, because the link we’ve had as fans is as strong as any we’ve built on this campus. Our Saturdays in fall, both good weather or bad, drunk or sober, win or lose, have been the only times we’ve truly come together as a whole with a common goal.

While the past four seasons haven’t played out the way we would’ve liked, there's no denying that they brought us together. And that's something to be proud of.

—Sandals can be reached at nsandals@umich.edu.