Cowherd calls Michigan preseason top 10 for 2012
Colin Cowherd just said he has already studied the depth charts and calls Michigan a top 8-10 team for next year based on returning players. (Sorry, I don't have a link so who knows if this really happened.) Do you guys agree?
Personally, I think it mostly depends on the coaches' ability to mold both lines back into elite units.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:23 PM ^
I'd say top 15ish but the schedule will be a rough one.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^
You obv's didn't factor coaching talent into the equation. :) Hoke+Borges+Mattison= bonus points
December 21st, 2011 at 12:25 PM ^
They're losing some players according to one fan on another board - But that said, you know Saban has folks lined up. If we can hang with them then we're for sure top 10.
Bama is projected to lose 13 starters. 7 on offense, 6 on defense. That's including juniors who will more than likely go to the NFL such as Richardson, Kirkpatrick, Barrett Jones, Hightower, Lester, etc.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:34 PM ^
I'm sure their coaches aren't worrying. They'll just oversign like always and kick out the unproductive guys.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:37 PM ^
We're losing a number of defensive starters.
But the lightning quick way Mattison develops a defense gives me hope. I say we're a top 15 team preseason for sure, but I dunno about top 10. First challenge is to beat Bama.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:55 PM ^
You're right, our Dline will lose a lot, but yeah, Mattison is on it. As for as preseason ranking goes the first step towards the top 10 is winning your bowl game from the year before, then maybe total returning starters, and a top recruiting class. We should hit all 3 of those. I like to be objective about our team and not overestimate them if I can help it but they gave FSU preseason #6 last year (lmfao) A&M #8 (ow, my side) Virginia Tech #13 (???) and ND preseason #16 (no really, I can't breathe) We deserve top 10 next year way more than they do.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:24 PM ^
Yes. That is all
December 21st, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
With a win in the Sugar Bowl it's a lock. Denard should be the preseason Heisman favorite as well.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
But if Ball comes back I would think he's the runaway favorite.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:58 PM ^
Im sure if RGIII came back he would be the favorite (although I doubt he comes back since hes losing his top receiver)
December 21st, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
Ball, Griffin if he comes back, Barkley, Lattimore, Landry Jones, Lamichael James, Mathieu could all be in front of him.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:16 PM ^
The nature of Michigan's offense won't allow Denard to obtain the flashy stats he needs to win the Heisman. Denard will share total yardage with talented running backs, and someone from another school will put up better stats.
The only possible scenario I see with Denard winning a Heisman is if Michigan is still in the running for the "BCS Championship" when the Heisman voting is done. That way, his leadership qualities and the fact that Denard sacrifices individual stats for the team might be noticed by voters.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
are usually the flashiest stats of all. If Denard turns the corner with his arm and turns a few errant picks into Michigan touchdowns then he should be considered. He accounted for 32 td's last season, and 34 TD's this season, if he breaks 40 next year and throws fewer than 10 picks then nobody will be able to match that production. He'll be settled in to the offense from day 1 next year, and Al pretty much knows how to best use him at this point so it seems like this years growing pains should be a thing of the past.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:31 PM ^
If he can play the way he did for the last two games for all of next year, pretty sure he'd win it.
December 21st, 2011 at 4:35 PM ^
If Denard can literally replicate the average of Nebraska/Ohio for all of next year (assuming fourteen games), his stat line would look like this:
175/245 71.4% 2,429 yards 35TD 7INT
343 attempts 1,771 yards 5.2YPA 28TD
Hoke wouldn't even let his stat line get like this, because we would be blowing the doors off of every team if it were possible to play like this. Assuming any measure of confidence in the defense, 133 would be arguably the most dominant Michigan team in the modern era.
December 21st, 2011 at 6:57 PM ^
Well, I thought we were talking preseason hype. I don't see anyone getting near the attention Denard will assuming a good Sugar Bowl performance. If RGIII comes back he'd be the only possible exception... Seeing as how he won this year and all that.
Whether or not Denard will actually win it is another matter entirely. Being the preseason favorite sure wouldn't hurt.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:26 PM ^
we should be a top 5 team IF we win our games next year. Our schedule is really brutal.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:30 PM ^
Not to nit-pick, but if they win their games, shouldn't they be a Top 1 team?
December 21st, 2011 at 12:39 PM ^
well that depends on how many other teams win their games...
December 21st, 2011 at 1:00 PM ^
An undefeated Michigan with wins over Alabama, @ND, MSU, @Nebraska, and @OSU will go to the title game no matter what anyone else does.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:35 PM ^
I'm fired up that we're talking seriously about that. It's totally possible. If Denard has offensive success against Alabamas defense (many of those players lead draft boards right now) then nobody will be able to top that. LSU and Bama had a field goal kicking contest and basically "earned" the BSC championship for it.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:27 PM ^
I can see where you would get that. An 11-2 Michigan returning it's entire Offensive Skill players would definitely be a favorite for preseason hype. And it doesn't hurt we have some defense coming back too so people won't say like "oh they only have 3 returning starters on D"
December 21st, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
Hemingway is gone and so is Odoms, so we dont return all the skill guys. But we do get Stonum back hopefully.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:09 PM ^
Kevin Koger too...but we do get D. Stonum back.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:32 PM ^
Its going to be a fairly veteran team, so purely from that standpoint (and a second year under DC Mattison - finally consistency on the defensive side), I can see where he is coming from. With that said, top 10 to me says 2 losses at most.
Just looking at the schedule Alabama, Ohio, and Nebraska are "potential" losses. Air Force, Michigan State, and Iowa are "possible" losses. Assuming we win all of the "possible" losses, we would need to win at least one out of three of the "potential" - and that doesn't include some slip up against a team Michigan should beat (see Iowa this year).
Cowherd's been high on UM this year, had Coach Hoke as his #2 Coach of the Year, so I wonder how much of that is a factor.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:40 PM ^
I'd chalk Notre Dame under possible losses as well. Especially away, and they're looking for revenge after 3 years of frustrating losses.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:44 PM ^
Luckily they won't have a solid QB (again)
December 21st, 2011 at 1:09 PM ^
It will be a stressful, gutwrenching game which we will win in the last minute...if recent history is any indication.
December 21st, 2011 at 2:46 PM ^
Which would definitely be worth a "possible loss" designation. I like our chances, but you gotta hand it to ND that they're a decent squad every year and always a big challenge.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:11 PM ^
Notre Dame has been "looking for revenge" against their opponents for 15 years now.....
December 21st, 2011 at 1:40 PM ^
Good catch, forgot about them.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^
but it will be tough to END the year there.
BAMA in TX
At Nebraska
At ND
At ohio
gonna be tough.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:38 PM ^
Cowherd's a moron, so I'd take his opinion with a large grain of salt. Plus, I don't put too much stock in preseason polls. Denard & Co. will prove their mettle once the season starts.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:42 PM ^
I was listening to that broadcast too. My first thought was "cool, finally something he says makes sense." Then I continued listening and heard his conversation with Herbstreit and immediately retracted that thought. What a strange conversation that was
December 21st, 2011 at 2:42 PM ^
he's always like that with KH, and its usually pretty funny. Did you notice Herbstreit laughed when he heard the Ohio "sanctions" like he was a crook getting away with robbing a bank? Even he admits that they were a joke
December 21st, 2011 at 12:46 PM ^
The NCAA/BCS hype machine will want to have 2 top 10 teams kicking things off in Dallas. I expect Alabama to be #1 or #2 and Michigan to be in the bottom of the top 10.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:48 PM ^
The only big loss on offense will be Molk because it's hard to replace the best center in the country. Hemingway would hurt a bit if we weren't getting Stonum back. We return 3 of the 5 starters on the line, 4 if you count Schofield and of the 5-6 OL we bring in in this class, I'd guess that one can probably be good enough to start on day one.
On defense, we lose 3/4 of the linemen. All of the other starters return. If our DL is competent next year, I definitely think we can end up in the top 10 at the end of the year. Considering that we have 3 DL coaches, I'd say that's a very real possibility.
December 21st, 2011 at 12:55 PM ^
December 21st, 2011 at 12:59 PM ^
No he's done
December 21st, 2011 at 1:10 PM ^
December 21st, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
know after the first couple games. Seems we are a bunch on the D line and Molk.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:01 PM ^
I could see it in terms of pre-season rankings, especially if we win the sugar bowl but the schedule will tough, especially that first game in dallas against bama.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:19 PM ^
If for no other reason than to make the Bama Game a big ratings getting of course we will be top 10. Bama 1 us 5 sounds about right lmao
December 21st, 2011 at 1:22 PM ^
Obviously, way too early to tell. On offense, we will pretty much be the same and if Denard can limit turnovers then the sky is the limit for that unit.
On D, we return some great players and some younger guys will be bigger and more experienced. The key, as has been said a million times before, is replacing Mike Martin and RVB. It doesn't matter how good everyone else is, if our D-line is weak it won't matter. William Campbell's development in the off-season is more important than any other players IMO.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:26 PM ^
Could we not have posts based on what Cowherd says? He angries up my blood.
December 21st, 2011 at 1:30 PM ^
Sorry couldn't resist.
December 21st, 2011 at 2:16 PM ^
Someones negging the crap out of the threads today.
Same team Farva!
December 21st, 2011 at 2:37 PM ^
That seems very, very optimistic to me. Michigan loses the heart of both of its lines.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:02 PM ^
I guarantee that if we win 11 games we will be a preseason top ten. I'm not saying we deserve to be but the college football world has been waiting for our real return. Plus imagine pre season number one Bama against number nine Michigan kick off weekend.
December 21st, 2011 at 3:17 PM ^
Michigan loses so much from a team that looked pretty shakey at times. I think we'd be lying to ourselves to say that Team 132, as much as we love them, is as strong as your typical Sugar Bowl participant. I cringe when I think about a bunch of people jumping off of the bandwagon next year as Michigan (perhaps) comes out of the gate losing to Bama and ND. Some people seem to be getting pretty spoiled pretty fast.