AP Poll (Michigan Unranked)

Submitted by Malarkey on September 7th, 2021 at 2:50 PM

1-Bama

2-Georgia

3-OhioSt

4-Oklahoma

5-A&M

6-Clemson

7-Cincinnati

8-NDame

9-IowaSt

10-Iowa

11-PennSt

12-Oregon

13-Florida

14-USC

15-Texas

16-UCLA

17-CoastalCarolina

18-Wisconsin

19-VaTech

20-OleMiss

21-Utah

22-Miami

23-ArizSt

24-UNC

25-Auburn

 

https://twitter.com/Brett_McMurphy/status/1435306332253458434?s=20

MGoBoard

TheDirtyD

September 7th, 2021 at 3:01 PM ^

Yeah it does, the first 2-3 weeks of rankings is a lot on what you did last year and then what are you doing now. Michigan was awful last year, completely awful so yeah they don't deserve a ranking. Rankings mean nothing right now they mean everything the first week of November and on. 

Joined: 07/18/2009

MGoPoints: 17916

unWavering

September 7th, 2021 at 3:13 PM ^

I would argue that what most teams did last year is completely irrelevant, given the nature of 2020 football.  But yes, I agree that the rankings are pointless in general right now. 

Unfortunately I don't know if I agree that they are meaningless, as it's hard for teams to overtake teams that are ranked at the top early on if those top ranked teams don't lose.

Joined: 01/13/2011

MGoPoints: 22437

Vasav

September 7th, 2021 at 3:41 PM ^

But really that last bit only matters for the top 4 slots, and even in my wildest dreams I don't see us going 13-0, and if I do see us going 13-0 we are def going to be in the top 4, and if we're instead 11-1 we all know who that 1 is and GAH why did I start dreaming down this road? I'm now mad about a fictional 2021 that won't happen.

Joined: 12/13/2009

MGoPoints: 19258

mgoblue0970

September 7th, 2021 at 7:28 PM ^

We should be more like oklahoma and barely squeak by a mid major, then we'd be ranked in the top 5!

This is a 2-4 club with new coaches all around and an o-line that didn't dominate a mid MAC and has 1 person in the secondary (Hill) that looks worth a darn.  

Certainly NOT poll worthy.

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 18648

JMo

September 7th, 2021 at 2:59 PM ^

17. Wisconsin Badgers (0-1)

22. North Carolina Tar Heels (0-1)

24. Miami Hurricanes (0-1)

 

I don't disagree that Michigan shouldn't be ranked. But the idea that Michigan "hasn't done anything to deserve to be ranked" in Week 2, fundamentally misunderstands how these polls work.

They're popularity polls based on AP writers opinions of how good teams are or aren't. There is no objective "deserve" about it. Three teams LOST and are still ranked. Clearly they didn't do anything to "deserve" to be ranked, they lost. 

 

Joined: 12/14/2011

MGoPoints: 21032

Golden section

September 7th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^

  • Miami-Bama,
  • Georgia -Clemson
  • PSU-Wisconsin

Were all highly ranked so weren't going anywhere. 

The loser of Iowa Indiana was going to fall

Wisconsin also lost more than PSU won. Either way they weren't falling from the top 25.

Washington, LSU and UNC lost to significantly lower teams but the latter did not fall which is the only real shocker of the poll. 

So that meant 4 open slots. 2-0 UCLA who beat a ranked LSU was going to get one. Va Tech got in for beating 10th ranked UNC.

So that leaves 2 slots.

Michigan was ranked around the 32. So there were 7 teams in front of them vying for the vacancies including the SEC schools Auburn and Ole Miss who both had impressive wins and ultimately made the top 25. 

UM FWIW only moved up one spot and remains behind -TCU, NC State, UCF, LSU, and Liberty.

So it looks like we were more impressed with the win over WMU than the associated press.

Not that any of it matters. Let's see where we are after week 5.

Joined: 10/19/2020

MGoPoints: 6916

mgoblue0970

September 7th, 2021 at 7:32 PM ^

Based upon last year's 2-4 performance on the field and 1 game against WMU, what would make anyone think Michigan is better than at least 2 of those 3 teams (my imagine is Wiscy and Miami would pants Michigan and Michigan could beat a gimmicky UNC team)?

Joined: 11/22/2008

MGoPoints: 18648

Goldenrod Mandude

September 7th, 2021 at 7:29 PM ^

The polls are a joke.  They are based on potential which is why Alabama could go 2-2 to start the year and still be in the top 8.  Preseason polls are worse. Not saying Michigan should be in the polls, but as the OP says above what exactly have NC, Wiscy and Miami done? Lost to teams that the pollsters perceive to be good. Is what it is.  Hopefully winning will solve this eventually. 

Joined: 09/14/2017

MGoPoints: 3352

victors2000

September 7th, 2021 at 6:13 PM ^

'Beating Western the way you should beat them', do you mean like a ranked team should beat them? Surely you aren't suggesting 'Beating Western the way you should beat them' because Western is chopped liver and most teams would beat them like that? Michigan beat them like that because they played very well; I think they did enough to warrant at least a 20-25 ranking.

Joined: 03/21/2009

MGoPoints: 12914

Brhino

September 7th, 2021 at 2:56 PM ^

This poll's got a wicked case of "I can't move a team very much from week 1 to week 2 regardless of what I actually saw on the field last weekend".

Joined: 09/08/2009

MGoPoints: 19502

1VaBlue1

September 7th, 2021 at 3:00 PM ^

Who cares?  Michigan was 2-4 last year, and didn't look that good.  So far as I'm concerned, they need to get to 5-0 (Washington and scrubs) before sniffing the backside of the top 20.

Joined: 01/31/2016

MGoPoints: 127345

LSAClassOf2000

September 7th, 2021 at 3:45 PM ^

I think it is more accurate to say that they don't matter much for bowl positioning until about then, and only because at that point they are beginning to stabilize somewhat. At this point in the season, with only one game played, they really don't carry much weight but as a talking point. Next month, cumulative bodies of work will begin to weigh on these, so they will begin to matter somewhat where polls are integral to broader decisions. A lot of their allure now - in this era of football - exists on places like, well, MGoBlog, of course. 

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130663

MH20

September 7th, 2021 at 3:03 PM ^

Michigan is #̶3̶2̶ #31 in the AP Poll and #̶3̶3̶ #27 in the Coaches Poll. S̶o̶m̶e̶h̶o̶w̶ ̶N̶o̶r̶t̶h̶w̶e̶s̶t̶e̶r̶n̶ ̶i̶s̶ ̶s̶t̶i̶l̶l̶ ̶#̶2̶7̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶c̶o̶a̶c̶h̶e̶s̶/̶S̶I̶D̶s̶/̶i̶n̶t̶e̶r̶n̶s̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶p̶i̶t̶e̶ ̶b̶e̶i̶n̶g̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶t̶r̶o̶y̶e̶d̶ ̶b̶y̶ ̶M̶S̶U̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶F̶r̶i̶d̶a̶y̶.

EDIT: These numbers were from the preseason polls. CBS Sports must've been in the midst of updating their rankings page when I cruised on by, so what was being presented as "Updated Sep 7, 2021" was not actually the case.

Joined: 10/30/2008

MGoPoints: 40630

SagNasty

September 7th, 2021 at 3:04 PM ^

Don’t really care to much that Michigan isn’t ranked this week. 
 

But following the logic of this poll FSU should be ranked. 
 

Michigan just needs to take care of business and they will be ranked in the poll soon enough. 

Joined: 06/22/2011

MGoPoints: 935

Gree4

September 7th, 2021 at 3:18 PM ^

While overall most of the games this week are duds (Alabama vs Mercer? ), there are few interesting matchups. 

Oregon vs Ohio State 

Iowa vs Iowa State 

Michigan vs Washington 

Americas team Kansas vs Coastal 

 

Joined: 09/04/2020

MGoPoints: 13939

Indonacious

September 7th, 2021 at 3:23 PM ^

B1G Schools:

AP (who received votes):

3. Ohio State
10. Iowa
11. Penn State
18. Wisconsin
31. Michigan
33. Indiana
34. Michigan State
41. Maryland

Coaches:

3. Ohio State
12. Iowa
13. Penn State
17. Wisconsin
27. Michigan 
32. Indiana
36. Michigan State
45. Rutgers
47. Maryland

Joined: 01/03/2012

MGoPoints: 16597