M Football: Five Years Among the Elite
A small item in my daily Axios Sports feed:
Over the last five years, just nine FBS teams have won at least 75% of their games.
- Question: How many can you name?
- Hint: SEC (2), Big Ten (2), ACC, AAC, Independent, Big 12, Sun Belt.
Answer: Alabama (89.9% win percentage), Ohio State (88.7%), Georgia (88.2%), Clemson (87%), Cincinnati (82.8%), Notre Dame (82.8%), Oklahoma (76.9%), Michigan (76.7%), Appalachian State (75.4%)
The top four are ridiculous.
That nonsensical 2020 season really is an anchor here.
i assumed they just aren't counting it
like I
They're counting it.
Including 2020, we're 46-14 (76.7%)
Excluding that year, we're 44-10 (81.5%).
thatsthejokedotgif
true - they are at 81.4% without it. It is certainly cherry picking; but over the last 2 years we are 89.2% which is pretty good
nah, that msu "loss" doesn't count in my book. Strip sack/TD is good anywhere except SpartanBob and OSU fanboi refs. Our only losses last two years were Georgia and TCU.
To be fair, if the strip sack touchdown should have counted, then so too should have been the Wilson TCU touchdown. We walked away from that possession with zero points instead of the 7 they earned. We lost to TCU by 6 points.
So, Georgia was the only loss that wasn't decided by the refs stealing a valid touchdown.
The blatant miss spotting of the ball on the interception is definite example of ref bias. He spotted the ball 4 whole yards from where it was intercepted. 4 whole frickin yards!!!
It’s crazy because we all know this as it’s literally on camera. There is no argument for it or subjectivity to it. Just a horrible job by the ref crew and infuriating how it wasn’t fixed immediately.
And Georgia, the juggernaut, beat the Buckeyes (how much did UM beat them by at the 'Shoe?) by how many points in their CFB semi-finals? Holding them to how many points?
Things accomplished on the field that are game changing and incorrectly called despite review do not have to be overcome by then having to make even more plays in a justly referee'd game.
I agree it was a bad call (thanks for the apology B1G) but I went by the records in the books.
Over the past two years, only one team has gotten walloped 42-27 and then 45-23. Can you guess which?
Kind of bizarrely, there's another FBS team in Washtenaw County that won games by scores of 42-28 (off by 1) in 2021 and by 45-23 in 2022. EMU's wins weren't over the same opponent, but still kind of weird the scores (and school) are so close to U-M.
Also --- Western Michigan LOST games, both to in-state conference rivals no less, by scores of 42-30 (off by 3) in 2021 and by 45-23 in 2022.
I could only guess Appalachian State. The rest were far too obscure.
And thank god Michigan, at least, out percentaged them on this metric.
That's a great and a hell of an accomplishment, but until they win a playoff game, it's not elite
Four out of five years among the elite? Probably just elite for 2 years and very good for 3 more years of Harbaugh's 8. When you only play 4-5 other very good teams (OSU, PSU, MSU, [Wisconsin] and bowl game) you have to go over .500 to be considered elite. A 3 loss season isn't elite. It should be our floor. That said the 2016 OSU game shows that it truly is a game of inches; it is a fine line between very good and elite.
2015Jim Harbaugh 10-3 Very Good
2016Jim Harbaugh 10-3 Very Good (if the OSU spot was right I'd say elite.)
2017Jim Harbaugh 8-5 Meh minus
2018Jim Harbaugh 10-3 Very Good
2019Jim Harbaugh 9-4 Meh
2020Jim Harbaugh 2-4 God Awful
2021Jim Harbaugh 12-2 Elite
2022Jim Harbaugh 13-1 Elite
1. Its a good thing he wasn't fired....
2. Its no wonder NFL teams come calling every year.
3. I hope he retires from Michigan football, an old, wise, National Championship winning, weird man.
4. Who's got it better than us?
Wow, seeing that all lined up reminds me how lucky we have been to have Harbaugh coaching, especially if you place any stock in recruiting stars. He has done more with (supposedly) lesser classes than pretty much any football power. That string of losses to OSU obscured a remarkable run.
Now, let's get Jim to improve on his 1-6 Bowl record. He can do it.
All 10-3 seasons had good to very good defenses, and meh QB (sorry Rudock).
The 12-2/13-1 teams had good to very good QB play and good defenses.
Interesting.
They cancelled the 2020 season, then after about half of our starters transferred or opted out, they decided to play in the middle of the worst pandemic in 100 years.
Also, those who judged Harbaugh based on the 2020 season sure turned out to be foolish. Warde navigated through that as well as can be expected and has been able to keep our coach. I think history will prove that this is a period of great leadership in Michigan athletics because the challenges were so daunting.
I like 25-3 in the past two yeas and only UGA has been better.
What make it sweeter is beating extremely talented/good OSU teams to get there. No BS about backing into or not deserving these titles. A three peat in the B1G would be so satisfying, especially if this is the year we at least win the first game and play for the NC. Winning it all would be oh so fucking sweet though. It would piss off so many other fanbases to have to deal with all of us after a championship run in this current system. Plus that alone would make it special. The last NC of the 4 team playoff era. I’ll come down to earth a bit and hope for at least another OSU win and B1G championship. At least then we have the opportunity in front of us for the ultimate goal.
I mean, sure, but 2021 and 2022 are the only seasons in which we would qualify as "elite". Prior to that, we beat up on a bunch of overmatched teams (and in 2020, we couldn't even do that) but could never win the one game that mattered most. 2021 is when we finally broke through and got over the hump.
So these stats that are based solely on quantity of wins are pretty close to meaningless. For us, a win over Ohio State >>>>>>>>> the other 11 games combined.
If the 2020 team had to play an entire season, Michigan would most assuredly not be on this list. But if that season needed to happen to lead to 2021 and 2022 successes, fine by me.