Michigan #19 in AP, USA Today polls
We cracked the top 20! Go Blue! Discuss.
September 25th, 2011 at 1:46 PM ^
It does not mean anything at this time.
September 25th, 2011 at 1:53 PM ^
Good to see, but I'll be more impressed if the team plays well against the meat of the schedule. Right now, being top-20 isn't super-impressive. Now, being top-20 after going through MSU, Nebraska, and OSU would be completely different.
I am not surprised to see LSU at the top spot, but I wonder if they might be cresting a little too early. That defense looks really good, but offensively I'm not sold that Lee and co. can keep it going, and teams like MSU and WVU might be exposed a a bit as mediocre outfits. I mean, the Bulldogs needed overtime to beat LTU, and got beaten by a meh Auburn team. And while WVU might have been a preseason darling, they struggled beating a very mediocre Maryland team and were then housed by LSU. And yes, Oregon was a good win, but that was a glorified home game to begin the season. So while I think LSU is a good team, I'm not sold on them outside of their defense, which is spectacular.
September 25th, 2011 at 5:54 PM ^
Michigan's passing game needs to make some strides, and its running game weighs under 200 pounds. The defense is getting it done, but for how long does turnover margin favor Michigan?
The only thing that makes me think Michigan's ranking is close to accurate is how poorly future opponents have performed, save Wisco and Illinois.
September 25th, 2011 at 1:58 PM ^
We still need to do alot to prove we deserve this ranking IMO
September 25th, 2011 at 3:33 PM ^
+ Eleventy Billion
September 25th, 2011 at 5:50 PM ^
Her given name is Alot 
I'm down w/ doing Alot
September 25th, 2011 at 2:04 PM ^
I disagree. Florida is at 12 without doing much more than we have (I think Kentucky is something like SDSU, Tennessee is not nearly as good as ND). Texas is at 17 while beating nobody close to as good as ND or maybe even WMU or SDSU, I think UCLA could easily lose to either team.
September 25th, 2011 at 7:39 PM ^
Agreed. UCLA is terrible this season and shouldnt be counted as a good win - Their two wins are San Jose State and an Oregon State team that is absolutley awful. While our schedule shapes up to be decently easy this year, our OOC games were not neccesairily a cakewalk. ND is very talented and SDSU and WMU are two of the better non AQ teams out there.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:05 PM ^
then again I don't think anyone will but I do think we have a tremendous shot at beating Little Brother in EL. MSU played nobody (cmu) yesterday. Then again they did lose to ND : /. Not sure how big of a message that would be. For us huge but for rankings wise and projections I don't know.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:08 PM ^
damn connection! sorry double post....
September 25th, 2011 at 2:01 PM ^
Also, I think Alabama just looks like a monstorous team right now. They look like an NFL unit on defense right now it's gonna be tough to beat them. That game on Nov 5 against LSU is gonna be a hell of a ball game
September 25th, 2011 at 7:45 PM ^
Yeah that game is shaping up to be the game of the 2011 college football season. For all the shady things Saban does, the guy puts together rediculous defenses. He recruits amazing athletes and also makes sure they play with great fundamentals. Alabama is really the team that I hope Michigan becomes under Hoke (minus the shady things of course).
September 25th, 2011 at 2:17 PM ^
A Scout poster broke down the AP poll by voter:
http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?s=162&f=2019&t=7992983
Craig James again loves us, but now someone else does even more. For the first time, all AP voters put us in their ballots.
September 25th, 2011 at 3:06 PM ^
I wonder if that someone else loves killing hookers more than Craig James.
September 25th, 2011 at 3:16 PM ^
No one could possibly love KILLING FIVE HOOKERS more than CRAIG JAMES
September 25th, 2011 at 2:21 PM ^
We're definitely ranked a tad high at this point. We need more consistency on D for one thing. It's great that we've only given up 10 points in the last 2 games but SDSU made it into Michigan territory on 10 or 11 drives. The linebackers keep losing contain, the secondary is more lucky than solid, and the D-Line is still in flux.
On the plus side, kickoff coverage is much MUCH better. I like seeing consistent tackles made inside the 20 yard line. On a related topic, when Hagerup comes back he had better start hitting 50-yard punts every time, because our field position has not been great either.
I think we'll see a few more screen passes per game when we get into B10 play. Otherwise, we've seen plenty of innovation in the passing game (Jump balls to Jeremy Gallon!?) and I still have confidence that Borges will find the right passing attack for Denard's current skill set.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:23 PM ^
Isn't that a sign of good defense? The only reason SDSU scored at all yesterday was a fumble fairly deep in our own territory. Otherwise, the defense held or forced turnovers on every one of their drives.
As far as being ranked high, take a look at the teams above us. I'd say we were underrated before I'd say we were overrated, from a resume standpoint.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:29 PM ^
"bend but don't break" defense. I don't like seeing SDSU driving to the Michigan 30 before the D finally bites them. SDSU earned 20 1st downs to Michigan's 18.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:31 PM ^
They (and every other team) can drive to the one every time as far as I'm concerned. I'd take the 120th ranked total defense in exchange for the top ranked scoring defense.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:34 PM ^
20 first downs isn't all that many (ND gained 28 against us), and they got, what, four on their last possession of the game?
September 25th, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
Deep breaths...
September 25th, 2011 at 2:43 PM ^
7 of those first downs (along with 110 total yards) came on SDSU's last two meaningless drives that began with about 6 minutes left in the game and SDSU down 28-7 with UM playing "prevent" defense.
The fact is, UM, for the first 3 1/2 quarters, did an excellent job of shutting down SDSU's offense (when the game was still on the line): 13 FD and about 270 yards. Pretty good work IMO.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
Keep in mind that: 1) SDSU is a respectable team and received some top 25 votes itself a week ago; 2) several of those drives started in our territory because of turnovers and 3) they wound up scoring 31 points under their season average.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:35 PM ^
The stat about SDSU getting into UM territory 10 or 11 times is somewhat misleading. 3 of those instances they started in UM territory due to TO. In the first half, SDSU got into UM territory 3 times: UM 39, UM 40, UM 43. In the 4th quarter, SDSU got into UM territory all 4 drives: UM 40, UM 43, UM 33 and UM 13 but those last two drives were their final drives after UM had gone up 28-7 and was basically playing "prevent" defense.
So, 7 drives where SDSU started in their own territory and drove into UM territory with only 2 of those drives getting inside the "scoring zone" (i.e. inside the 35 yard line) and those 2, again, were the final two meaningless drives. UM's defense did an outstanding job of denying SDSU any real scoring chances.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:26 PM ^
Wow! If that's not improvement I'm not sure what is! Defense is really starting to piece together well!
September 25th, 2011 at 2:32 PM ^
Until after the NU and MSU games. Those will be real tests against talented and well-coached offenses. Presumably we'll beat Minnesota, but we won't learn much from that game. If we win one from MSU or NW, and also beat Purdue, we'll be sitting at 7-1, and will probably deserve a ranking. If our D gets scorched in both those games (very possible), we'll probably drop out.
Rankings of a lot of teams right now are BS, being based on where they started the season as much as how well they've actually played compared to other teams. To be meaningful, they should not take any polls until after the fifth Saturday of the season, but the TV networks will never stand for that.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:47 PM ^
MSU is ranked 2 spots ahead of SDSU in total offense. SDSU has the highest rated rush offense of that bunch too, and MSU's o-line is trash. Northwestern is #99(without Persa, but still). I think your argument is based a little too much on reputation and not productivity this year.
September 25th, 2011 at 7:48 PM ^
While MSU is a talented team and in no way an easy win, I think that there OL vs our DL will be what gets us this W. Their line is a complete mess and if our DLine keeps improving we will be able to slow down the run as well as pressure Cousins into making some bad decisions.
September 26th, 2011 at 1:10 AM ^
I wasn't trying to say that MSU was an easy win in the slightest, I was just challenging the notion that MSU and Northwestern's offenses were so much better than anything else we've been tested by so far. I'm terrified that Cousins will pick the secondary apart.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:37 PM ^
Who cares about polls. The goal is to beat ohio and win the B1G.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:58 PM ^
if michigan was 12-0 and wasn't ranked, i would be mad, wouldn't you?
September 25th, 2011 at 3:50 PM ^
The goal is to win the B1G and go to the Rose Bowl. I have zero faith in the BCS. They always find some way to magically fuck things up anyways. Believe me, IF Michigan were to go 13-0, there is no chance in hell they'd be left out. Michigan produces too much revenue to turn them away.
September 25th, 2011 at 6:13 PM ^
To be fair, the BCS has gotten the top 2 teams in the national championship every year. They really never fucked anything up as far as I can recall.
September 25th, 2011 at 6:16 PM ^
Well, Boise, TCU and Auburn might disagree with you depending on the year. Michigan as well in 2006, but with the Rose Bowl/MNC result they seem vindicated.
September 25th, 2011 at 7:57 PM ^
Defintionally that's exactly what they do. Only they set the #1 and #2.
<br>
<br>If UofM goes undefeated there's no question where they'll play in Jan. Polls mean nothing if you're Michigan at this point. Just win, that's all you can control.
September 25th, 2011 at 2:39 PM ^
I think that is around where we should be ranked.
I think our defense has made huge strides. SDSU was the type of game that the last few years, we would have been in a race to outscore them. This defense, albeit with huge holes, has bent but not broken.
Our offense...I don't know if we have really taken steps backward, but Borges is playing around a bit. I think he needs to be careful going forward, because our margin for error is much less in the Big 10 than OOC games.
So far, I am happy. We will see what the Big 10 brings.
September 25th, 2011 at 7:50 PM ^
Never thought they would make this type of turn around in this short period of time. They are tackling much better and the DB's are not allowing tons of YAC. I was really impressed with Countess at corner and Jake Ryan and Roh are both making plays. Knock on wood. I hope it continues.
September 25th, 2011 at 3:22 PM ^
......until about halfway through the season, especially the way scheduling is now. If we're in the teens still at the middle of October, that wouldn't be too bad at all really.
September 25th, 2011 at 3:54 PM ^
Until late November, and then only if we're ranked 2 or 3.
September 25th, 2011 at 4:32 PM ^
Not to be a Negative Nancyyyyy but...I think you're a wee bit crazy if you aren't cautiously happy. The last few years we do well in NonCon, but once B1G play starts it's a rocky road..I am confident in our team, but cautious as well! Go Blue!
September 25th, 2011 at 6:36 PM ^
win the next two weeks and we're probably around 15. put little brother back in his place and then take care of purdue and we're around 10. it is exciting to think about.
September 25th, 2011 at 6:43 PM ^
September 25th, 2011 at 8:31 PM ^
I enjoy the love Michigan's getting as much as the next guy. But this is not a real-deal top 20 football team yet.
There's a lot of work to do, and they may get there by the end of the season. But against the better B1G teams, I think they'll have to play over their heads, and Denard will have to pull off more miracles, to win.
September 25th, 2011 at 10:27 PM ^
I think they'll be fine going forward, because this year the defense is actually forcing turnovers and making big plays when needed
September 26th, 2011 at 10:37 AM ^
Too lazy to make a new thread, but Denard is one of the B1G players of the week. Good for him.