Brett McMurphy’s College Football AP Top 25, Also his Bowl prediction for MichiganMichigan
Brett McMurphy, "Ohio St Enemy No.1", (for breaking the Zach Smith story, https://buckeyeswire.usatoday.com/2018/11/15/brett-mcmurphy-passes-mark-may-as-enemy-no-1-to-ohio-state/)
is a little tough on Michigan on his AP Poll ballot. He even has them below Penn St. But Michigan has a lot of time though to redeem themselves from how they've looked on offense in the first two weeks.
I see he doesn't have Michigan St on his ballot. But he does have Arizona St.
Maybe he's even tougher on Michigan in his Bowl prediction.
My College Football Playoff projections haven’t changed – and won’t, as long as Clemson, Georgia, Alabama and Utah keep winning – but my New Year’s 6 bowl projections have a new look.
Michigan, my preseason pick to get to the Rose Bowl, has been replaced by Ohio State in the Rose Bowl after the Wolverines’ escape against Army. Michigan also dropped completely out of my New Year’s 6 bowl projections with Penn State now projected to land an at-large bid to the Orange Bowl. It came down to Penn State and Wisconsin for the Orange Bowl with the Nittany Lions – for now – getting the slight edge.
With Washington’s upset loss to Cal, Washington State is my new Pac-12 choice to go the Rose Bowl.
Memphis remains my choice to finish as the highest ranked Group of 5 conference champion, by the narrowest of margins over Boise State.
There's a short video of him sitting at a panel of reporters, explaining his reasoning for his Bowl pick:
I made this post because what he's saying sums up what many across the Nation are saying about Michigan. I'm hoping he is wrong. He's seems to be known for being careful and calculated in what he says. But still, I hope he's wrong.
We all have read that Michigan's offense is going to go "crazy" against Wisconsin. I hope that's what happens. I'm sure that would change what he, and reporters across the Nation, are saying. I'm hoping to see Nico Collins, Tarik Black, and DPJ (who's supposed to be back) all have great days against Wisconsin, and Michigan comes away with the W. More is riding on this next game than maybe many Michigan fans want to admit.
GO BLUE!!!!
September 15th, 2019 at 5:20 PM ^
This is highly irrelevant, but I'll play along.
With respect to Michigan/Penn State, I guess this means this dude thinks Pitt is better than Army.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:45 PM ^
SP+ has Pitt 59th, Army 82nd
Sagarin has Pitt 42nd, Army 71st
Pi Ratings have Pitt 44th, Army 66th
These strengthen the case for thinking Pitt is better than Army
September 16th, 2019 at 1:02 PM ^
Pitt isn't a very good football team regardless of the advanced stats. They got blasted vs UVa and got by in a ho-hum game vs Ohio. They'll struggle to make a bowl this year. Army plays nobody, so they'll likely end up 11-1. We were their Superbowl (much like Oklahoma was last year).
September 16th, 2019 at 6:31 PM ^
Those rankings I gave out indeed imply Pitt is not a very good team.
However, I don't think they'll struggle to make a bowl. They might even have a shot at the division -- the one they won last year. They have an ACC schedule loaded with dreck, don't play Clemson, and get Miami at home.
September 15th, 2019 at 5:22 PM ^
McMurphy is a boob.
September 15th, 2019 at 5:26 PM ^
I don't know why anyone would care about anything other than CFB playoffs and they will have their ranking out soon enough.
Even with that caveat, have we really played better than mid-teens so far?
September 15th, 2019 at 5:49 PM ^
It's (technically still) the 1st half of September. What better time for Bowl projections?!?!
Myself, I'm already scouting Outback Bowl tickets. It's never too early for that.
September 15th, 2019 at 5:51 PM ^
Considering that Middle Tennessee was just dominated by Duke.........
September 15th, 2019 at 9:48 PM ^
It's the season for small-sample-size transitive constructions.
MSU 51, WMU 17
WMU 57, Georgia St 10
Georgia St 38, Tennessee 30
Conclusion: MSU is 89 points better than Tennessee. And ASU is +92
p.s. poor Chattanooga
September 15th, 2019 at 5:27 PM ^
But where did he rank ball lifters?
September 15th, 2019 at 5:33 PM ^
He hasn't yet. His mouth is full.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:28 PM ^
Right below the balls.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:02 PM ^
Slightly above taint.
September 15th, 2019 at 5:41 PM ^
hmmmm...injuries and a slow transition to the new offense could hamstring us a bit, but I think we'll finish strong. #14 feels reasonable, but it's hard to believe we won't be in a NY6 bowl.
September 15th, 2019 at 5:48 PM ^
I'm just confused how you can make such bold decisions after 2 games especially when PSU and OSU played literal garbage and Michigan beat a service academy who took a playoff team to OT last year
September 15th, 2019 at 6:04 PM ^
To be fair I don't think PSU/OSU actually played literal garbage. Or if they did, I hope they used hand sanitizer after.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:31 PM ^
Man, people complaining how easy OSU's schedule has been are desperately grasping at straws. They haven't played a really strong team, but neither have we. Cincy isn't garbage, and we know how tough Indiana can be, but y'all are trying to dismiss them and it's fucking stupid. Just be honest, Ohio State looks really good and Michigan has to be better if they're going to compete.
Army and Cincy are comparable opponents. Stop being dumb.
September 15th, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
Thank you
September 15th, 2019 at 8:56 PM ^
You're right. There's lots of rationalizing going to to make Michigan look better, and Josh Gattis.
September 15th, 2019 at 5:51 PM ^
And what weight is this supposed to carry?
September 15th, 2019 at 6:59 PM ^
It's a random guy trying to get clicks and make a living. Weight = 0
September 15th, 2019 at 5:55 PM ^
Cal at 16 is proof he has no business voting.
Ask him if he knocked Oklahoma down last year for surviving against Army.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:59 PM ^
Cal has one of the best wins in the country so far this year, I actually like when poll voters base their rankings on what has happened on the field thus far, and not just keeping teams in their preseason slot until they lose.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:02 PM ^
Why would the offense suddenly spring to life against an upper-tier Big Ten defense?
I call that wishful thinking. We looked like spilled shit week 1 against an awful opponent. Ok, I get it, first week. Week 2 we go into turtle mode, average under 4 per carry and ask a true FR to run it 30+ times against a talented but incredibly undersized defense
So week 3 we suddenly start throwing the ball all over the field against a front 7 that will bring all kinds of heat and a secondary that has the lateral quickness and discipline to play against the phantom “speed in space” we keep hearing about?
I’m beginning to think Gattis is from the James Franklin school of BS’ing people into thinking he is a genius.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:08 PM ^
We looked like spilled shit week 1 against an awful opponent.
I guess I missed the memo or something . . . what was SO horrible about our performance in the MTSU game? We were up 40-14 with two minutes to go. Yeah, it was a little annoying that we turned it over a couple times, I guess. I didn't think the game told us much one way or the other.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
Can you see a difference? 
September 15th, 2019 at 6:55 PM ^
None that is worth stressing out about. If we don't spot MTSU two short fields due to fumbles, that game is over by halftime.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
Yes...Duke had no turnovers.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:18 PM ^
So without turnovers Michigan holds them to 3, or 0, and scores maybe 31 instead of 27?
So it's 31-0, or 31-3, or maybe 35-0 at half?
September 15th, 2019 at 6:06 PM ^
He is just changing what he thinks about Michigan like all of us do. If Michigan wins or loses then he will have a different take next week, like all of us do. Maryland went from Alabama back to Maryland real quick.
It's almost like pre-season rankings are useless. When the games start playing we have an idea what teams are.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:13 PM ^
Fuck that guy. We're going to the Rose Bowl.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:14 PM ^
Ask him where the next hurricane will hit.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:40 PM ^
Oh, if Michigan loses to Wisconsin it'll be right here on this MGoBlog board.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:52 PM ^
For shits and grins I looked up where Michigan was in bowl projections this week a year ago and no one had us in a NY6 game. Just win games and the rest will take care of itself.
September 15th, 2019 at 7:22 PM ^
Bottom line: it's way too early in the season for anyone to know anything.
September 15th, 2019 at 7:45 PM ^
Except that only 11 players are allowed on the field at a time. Any idiot knows that.
September 15th, 2019 at 6:59 PM ^
ESPN is doing bowl projections too, and they have Michigan in the Outback and Holiday Bowl, respectively. It sounds about right to me seeing how Michigan has played the first two weeks. Nothing to get worked up about.
September 15th, 2019 at 11:45 PM ^
Two bowls? Not bad!
September 15th, 2019 at 7:02 PM ^
Every week Michigan has a chance to change people's minds... no sure why any one gets so worked up on what one particular analyst has to say.
it matters in aggregate of course as the AP poll has an affect...
Of course Michigan was going to take a hit after a double OT win at home versus Army: if it were OSU/MSU/ND that needed overtime to beat Army people would be singing a different tune...
anyone looking at the advanced stats rather than the scoreline can see that Army wasn't that good last year.
September 15th, 2019 at 7:20 PM ^
Two observations: he has lots of teams from the same Conference ranked next to each other. Seems like his default is to go with his opinion of the Conference, and rank teams within that group.
Within conferences, he appears to be going by point differential in the first two games, regardless of competition.
On the whole, it feels like he's Mr. Conventional Wisdom looking at only a small sample size of games that are mostly mis-matches. Not very illuminating.
But hey, being a good investigative reporter doesn't mean he's a good football evaluator.
September 15th, 2019 at 7:41 PM ^
PSU is a pretender. Barely survived vs Pitt at home. Offense looks like a SNAIL.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
Ouch, same criticisms about Michigan across America. Just take out the word Pitt and put in Army.
Except, Pitt vs. Penn St is a rivalry game.
September 15th, 2019 at 8:00 PM ^
This bye week really had a weird feel for me.
I'm not looking forward to the Wiskey game, and I have this "Michigan Exposed" vibe, that given the schedule, we get spanked and this loss would be the first domino that will cap a bad season. And the beginning of the end of Harbaugh.
But that's nonsense, right?
September 15th, 2019 at 8:01 PM ^
I hate being such a reactionary who knows better.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:09 PM ^
If that happens maybe Jim Harbaugh would finally fire a coach instead of waiting for them to find a different job.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:29 PM ^
Yes, you are correct. That is nonsense.
September 15th, 2019 at 11:27 PM ^
From your keyboard to God's monitor.
September 15th, 2019 at 8:02 PM ^
I don’t typically rip on OP’s, but this is complete shit. Why would you post this? McMurphy is a hack and if he hadn’t broken the ZS story you wouldn’t even know who he was. Because he DID break the story, his shit take is worthy of a post with the slappys making comments about ball lifters???
You’re right OP and slappys, no NY 6 for us , it’s too late to save this season (eye roll), but get your head out of your a$$ and stop posting and clamoring for shit takes just because the author shit on OSU. Please give more opportunities to make lame jokes about ball lifters, it makes everything all better.
At some point the Mgo board should be more about UM and less about high fives to somebody who is only noteworthy because he hates our rival almost as much as we do. Have some f’ing self respect.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:03 PM ^
Why in hell are you upset about some media slappy engaging in premature bowl speculation? It goes on every damn year—it’s been a staple of college football for decades. Considering we’re in a bye week, it’s every bit as reasonable a post as another what-are-you-destroying-your-liver-with comment thread.
September 15th, 2019 at 9:17 PM ^
Edit : Sigh