2011 Football Season-Wins/Losses

Anything less, with this (offensive) talent would be unacceptable.

So your saying theres a chance???

I'll say 8-4

Another New Year's Day Bowl. Hopefully a win there for 9-4

Couple of things to note............peeps are looking past Northwestern. Except in CFB, teams that start with 5 straight home games, tend to suck ass when they finally hit the road for the first time. That's a total trap game with MSU on deck. Not saying we lose to NW, but I am saying we drop a fourth in a row to Sparty. We'll stumble somewhere else. And, I by no means put any ND game in the victory column. In fact, after the last seasons, we might get some karma repaid to us in that series.

I'm thinking 8-2 after 10 games and I just have doubts we are ready to beat Brasker and/or OSU to close the year. But, we will be better, especially on D, so I would take 8-2 and our chances. At least there are at home.

MSU vs Wisco, btw, in the first Big 10 Championship Game. Book It

I see a mean of 9-10 wins providing DR runs the ball on average 15 times a game and we take advantage of his stengths.  Our defense is no longer half freshmen and retread journeymen.  You will be shocked what you can do with half decent corners.

Lets look at tossup games.  Illinois just lost a 1st or 2nd Round RB and their best defensive player.  Iowa lost about everyone.  NW has an extreme talent disadvantage.  I think UM can win that shootout. 

The games that concern me the most are ND, MSU, Neb, and OSU.  3 of 4 are home games.  With the exception of OSU all of the teams have flaws that can be exploited.  I watchd Neb against Wash in their bowl game and I was not impressed.  They seemed to take a step back.  As mentioned before MSU loses a ton on defense.  And when does Cousins make big plays?  He does okay if given time.  ND has huge question marks as they may not be with Floyd, do not have a #RB, and have no clue who the QB is.  They do have a lot of talented players.

If we try to restart the offense and insist to make DR into something he is not, mean goes to 7-8.  

I love this game!

I predict 8 wins - losses to ND, Neb and OSU, as well as a loss to one of the following: Illinois, NW or Lil Bro.

However, I do think that some of our B10 wins will be more comfortable and our losses will be more competitive.

There is no way we get through at Sparty, at Iowa and home to ND at 10-0. I'm a pessimist but that's hard to believe in the best of cases.

I'm not trying to get in to predictions this year but I think 8-4 would be a good achievement with the coaching change.

wins, but when you stare at the schedule (okay, squint at it, and in rose colored light) it doesn't seem impossible. ND and the confidence the team would take from a win over them, might well be the key.

God, I have been nursing my annoyance over the RR debacle right up to the present. But when I take a look at that schedule. . . I see a lot of teams I have come to hate the last 3-4 years. I used to look on football so much more benignly in the days when we tended to crush all comers. 

7-5. I think it's ridiculous to think that we'll be significantoly better than that, especially with our defense.

Mattison improves the defense and whether Borges and a new system cause the offense regress rather than improve upon last year. 

The offense needs to remain close to the same level as last year, with Denard shoring up some turnover troubles and a running back emerging to help him. 

The defense needs to chop about 7 to 10 point off that awful 35.2 a game. A better defense creating turnovers and shortening the field for the offense will go a long way in helping the offense transition.

Not to mention it would be nice to see a field goal or two, so our offense can drive 65 yards and not feel like it was a total waste when the ball flies wide left. 

I'll be optimistic and say that by August, Borges will have a good understanding of the offense's strengths and what it will take to win football games. I'm sold that Mattison, on top of the incremental improvement experience should bring, will bring our defense back to somewhere right around average/slightly below average. 

What does it mean for the first ten games? If the above comes to pass, because of Hoke, I don't think we lost to MSU. As much as I hate to say it, that game has become incredibly important and I believe he'll have everyone locked in for a victory. 

The game that worries me is Notre Dame. Out of the first 10 opponents, they are the one that I truly think will be better than us. However, we are at home and it will be the first game under the lights.....

Illinois and Northwestern will both be tougher games than Iowa. I think we handle Iowa this year, they lose a lot, we lose no one and really, we were a slightly below average defense away from beating them last year. 

10-0 is very possible, especially if we luck out with injuries and find a running back. If I had to bet my life on it right now, I'd say 8-2 with a loss to Notre Dame and one to Illinois/Northwestern. 

DOUBLE POST

tosu, Nebraska, Wiscy

to get us into the Big Ten Title Game? 

I honestly think 10 wins is possible but only if our special teams improves greatly. We are all in agreement that the D will be somewhat better next year because they can't be any worse. Our offense may take a small step back but I think we have to many returning starters for it to be anything more than that. So in order to win 10 games we will have to pull off a couple of close games. This often relies on your ability to make a FG! I am praying that the in coming kicker will cure this problem for us because the result could be a great season.

the majority here do NOT think my opinion is far out of whack? Keep a cool head mon...stay positive.....let the punt land and bounce our way for once in a LONG time......

I like to think of this in terms of liklihood - if we played the game 5 times, how many would Michigan win?  Convert that to a rough percentage and do the math.

• 5 Probable Wins (>80%): Western, Eastern, SDSU, Minnesota, Purdue
• 2 Favored (60-80%): @Northwestern, @Illinois
• 2 Toss-ups (40-60%): Notre Dame,  @Iowa
• 2 Underdogs (20-40%): @MSU, Nebraska
• 1 Probable Losses (<20%): OSU

That adds up to about 8, but if you make me pick a number I'd take the optimistic view and say 9 wins...

I don't forsee us getting upset in any of the 7 likely wins (even by Illinois or NW). I see a win in one of the toss-ups and then pull an upset in one of the 3 toughest games, probably late in the year when the D has had a chance to sort itself out and Denard settles into the new offense.

Over ND & Ohio. Every other win would be icing on the cake.

Big Blue has a good chance of beating the bucks this year. Notre Dame not so much. It's going to suck if we lose the first night game at Michigan Stadium.

I'm saying 8 wins tops.

coaching staff brings Michigan closer to being Michigan again.  id say the nd game could be a tough one because it is still in the first part of the year.  maybe i am into the hokorgessitson coolaid too much, then again maybe it is good to have hope once again.  the more the season goes on the closer the coaches will have our guys where they want them in the new schemes.  remember lots of experience and these are players recruited to Michigan so there are brains available to adjust and i am thinking the schemes wont be as  complex.  i could see a couple of brain fart losses but i could also see (easier schedule, dominos falling in the correct order) no losses going into closer than the experts think contests with brasker and 'ohio'!  Go Blue bringing back the glory! 

This has got to be one of the harder seasons to predict given the amount of returning starters, an easier schedule, a new coaching staff, an emphasis on defense, returning starting QB for the first time in a while, etc.

I'd be willing to bet that the improved defense (top 60 at least when all is said and done), will make up for the potential lag on the offensive side of the ball. If Matt Wile comes in and is a tenth of as advertised, that makes two of three phases improved leaving the offense as the deciding factor for the season. Because I see Denard really growing into something special as the season goes on, I see a 9 win season at worst (including bowl the game; 9-3 bowl game loss or 8-4 bowl game win). I think the crop of 6-6 and 7-5 regular season Big Ten teams  from last year are mostly all on the rise, while Wisconsin, OSU, and MSU will likely falter. The league will be fairly balanced I think.

I do see the Notre Dame game as dangerous because it's so early, but hopefully the festive atmosphere and the tribute to Desmond will inspire the team to beat the Irish for a third straight year. I think Hoke's got a good shot at beating OSU and an even better chance at beating MSU. Nebraska is hard to guage with them being new to the league.

Should be a very exciting season though.

Go Blue!