When was the last time Jim Harbaugh won a bowl game?

There are two facts about Jim Harbaugh as a head coach. One, he wins everywhere he goes, whether that is college or pro. He will arrive in places that are in rough spots and will transform them overnight into winners. Just ask the San Diego Toreros, the Stanford Cardinal, the San Francisco 49ers and now the Michigan Wolverines about that. However, he absolutely sucks at winning bowl games in college...

Harbaugh may have a strong 5-3 mark in the postseason as an NFL head coach from his four-year run leading the 49ers, but all he has to show for himself at the FBS level in college is a pair of bowl victories in something like nine chances. He did win a bowl game of sorts when he was at the FCS level during his brief run at the University of San Diego, but he is not powerful vs. Power Five teams.

Fresh off his third consecutive Big Ten Championship victory vs. a run-of-the-mill tomato can of a Big Ten West football team over in Indianapolis, Harbaugh's Wolverines will be playing in the final four-team College Football Playoff, this time as the No. 1 overall seed. Up next for the Wolverines are the juggernaut Alabama Crimson Tide out of the SEC. Nick Saban has won three playoffs to date already.

Let's take a further dive into Harbaugh's less than stellar 2-7 all-time bowl game record in college.

Has Jim Harbaugh ever won a College Football Playoff game?

No, Harbaugh has never won a College Football Playoff game as Michigan's head coach. Entering the final four-team playoff at the culmination of the 2023 season, Harbaugh is 0-2 in national semifinal games. The Wolverines were annihilated by the eventual national champion Georgia Bulldogs two years ago in the Orange Bowl. They lost a bad one to the TCU Horned Frogs in last year's Fiesta Bowl.

When was the last time Jim Harbaugh won a bowl game?

And if you wanted to pull back even more layers of the onion, Michigan has lost its last six bowl games under Harbaugh dating back to the 2016 season. Michigan won the Citrus Bowl after Harbaugh's first year back with his alma mater in 2015. They obliterated the Florida Gators in that game. Since then, Michigan has lost six straight bowls including four with New Year's Six attachment.

You also have to remember during the 2020 COVID-shortened season, Michigan went a pitiful 2-4. The Wolverines did not win a home game that year. They were not eligible for a bowl game that year, so keep that in mind. The last time the Wolverines won a bowl game under Harbaugh, Barack Obama was still in The White House and Joe Biden was his Vice President. So much has change since then.

2024 could be the year of the Wolverines, but Alabama looms large on New Year's Day in Pasadena...