For weeks, New Jersey Advance Media has tried to obtain a current roster of the University of Michigan football team.

You'd think that with the season only a couple of days away, that would be easy, right? Just pop online, visit the school's official athletics website and print a copy, right? You know, like you can for every other Big Ten program?

Guess again.

The Washington Post and New York Times have obtained classified documents easier than this.

So, we put in a simple public records request via the Freedom of Information Act: Hey, Wolverines, please tell us who's currently on the University of Michigan football roster so we can make a list of New Jersey natives in the Big Ten.

Actually, we went as far in our initial inquiry as to guard against a loophole: In case you are planning to say there is no "roster" with heights, weights, jersey numbers, hometowns and walk-ons, please provide a list of the names of all football players on scholarship or financial aid.

Essentially, a bare-bones requirement.

A storm of publicity prompted Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh to say he will release his roster on Aug. 30, which, we thought, was ridiculous, given that Michigan is a taxpayer-funded university. Information - like who's on a sports team at a state university - should be made available to the public.

Final tryouts for roster spots on 2017 Michigan Football Team can start no earlier than 8/28. Roster to be determined & publicized on 8/30. — Coach Harbaugh (@CoachJim4UM) August 20, 2017

But while Harbaugh tweets about visits with the Pope, getting him to confess to which players are on the team is difficult.

The ridiculous response from Michigan was to delay for nearly two weeks and then claim: "There is no responsive document."

Obviously, Michigan was jerking us around. The NCAA caps training camp rosters at 105 players and each school's NCAA compliance office tracks the roster at all times for eligibility purposes.

When the transparent attempt to skirt the FOIA rules on the exact loophole predicted was pointed out, Michigan's reply: Give us another week or so. We'll see if we have such a document.

In the meantime, even Florida coach Jim McElwain -- whose team faces Michigan in the Sept. 2 season-opener -- took a shot at Michigan's roster secrecy on Wednesday.

"When you guys get their roster, let me know," McElwain said, "so maybe I can figure out who we're playing."

The Big Ten did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Michigan's roster secrecy. There is no conference or NCAA rule requiring a roster to be made public.

You can follow our FOIA exchange below:

Original FOIA request submitted on Aug. 3:

"I am seeking a document with the names of all student-athletes in the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) football program as of today's date (Aug. 3, 2017). This is commonly referred to as a "roster," but I do not need heights, weights, jersey numbers, hometowns or high school name to help simplify and expedite the process.

If walk-on student-athletes are unknown or yet to be determined, I will accept a document listing all active Michigan football student-athletes on scholarship/financial aid."

Reply from Michigan received Aug. 23:

Your request is denied because we have no responsive record.

Please note that within 180 days from the date of this letter, you have the right to appeal the denial of the information to the President of the University or seek judicial review in the Michigan court of claims to try to compel disclosure.

Reply from NJ Advance media on Aug. 23:

Considering my initial request included this:

If walk-on student-athletes are unknown or yet to be determined, I will accept a document listing all active Michigan football student-athletes on scholarship/financial aid.

I am interpreting your reply of no "responsive document" to mean that nowhere does Michigan athletics, including NCAA compliance office, officially maintain a list of football student-athletes on scholarship/financial aid.

Reply from Michigan:

We understood your request to be for the football program roster, and that if walk-on student athletes on the roster were unknown or yet to be determined, you would accept a partial roster.

As there is no roster, and from your message below I now understand your request to be for other types of records "listing all active Michigan football student-athletes on scholarship/financial aid," we will consider your request clarified and will proceed with determining whether there are other types of records that may be responsive.

Stay tuned to see if the "document" is located before Harbaugh's intended Aug. 30 release date.

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.