By LARRY LAGE, AP Sports Writer

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) — Michigan OT Taylor Lewan is putting millions of dollars on hold to chase a Big Ten championship.

The All-America first-team player and the league's Offensive Lineman of the Year is staying for his senior season, turning down a chance to be a first-round pick in the NFL draft and to be rich as soon as this spring.

"People don't really understand why I wouldn't leave for the NFL," Lewan said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press before making his announcement. "But when I came to the University of Michigan, I didn't understand the tradition of this place, either. Now, I do. In the NFL, you just come and go. But here at Michigan, it's not like that. I love these guys — my teammates are my best friends — and I want to stay to win Big Ten championships."

Lewan said his teammates were very surprised he decided to stay.

"The (NFL) advisory board came back and said that I'd be a high, first-round pick," Lewan told AP. "At first, it was difficult to turn that down. But the most important thing to me is the University of Michigan and winning a Big Ten championship before I leave."

The Wolverines finished last season 8-5 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten, extending a conference championship drought that dates to 2004.

Lewan helped the 24th-ranked Wolverines give up a Big Ten-low 15 sacks last season.