Michigan #25 in Post-Spring Top 25 on ESPN
Mark Schlabach posted a post-spring top 25 on ESPN today. I figured I'd post it to talk some football. Florida State remains at #1. Of the B1G schools, MSU is at #6, Ohio is at #7, Wisky is at #15, Iowa is at #18, the Nebraska kitty cats are at #24 and Michigan at #25.
I guess we deserve to be ranked lower in the conference because of last season but I personally feel 6th in the B1G is pretty low. What are your thoughts? I'm a little surprised to see Iowa 7 spots above us.
http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10884991/college-footbal…
WI and NE are in the top-5 strongest teams. IA avoided 2...maybe 3. UM & OH avoid 2. Sparty avoids 1. The real crime is WI...they get NE and that's it.
Iowa's chances that they have Northwestern, Wiscy, and Nebraska at home.
that schedule, in my opinion at least, is that if Iowa gets a break or two it's not even hard to see them going 10-2 or possibly even 11-1. Their toughest road game is...Maryland? Minnesota? Pitt? Not exactly Murderer's Row. 10-2 Iowa in 2014...think about that.
Eh, I have no idea what to expect from this team anymore. I would say UM has the 'talent' to be in the top 25 (probably the same reason UF is there), but good lord, there's no certainty they can actually put it together, and, you know, win.
I do too. I think we'll go 9-3 and should finish up somewhere between 20-25 cause I think our three losses we'll be to ND, MSU & OSU (unfortunately) but I dont think we lose to anybody else. And if Borges was even have as bad as I think he was ("what a shitty offense") then 10-2 is not out of the question. 8-4 is also in play if things dont break right and anything less......well.....anything less will obviously create a shitstorm of coaching threads now won't it?
While the defense will need to carry the team for a while I have a LOT of faith in our Senior QB and a return to some level of competence on the offensive line. I think this year will be better than most people think (fear?). Believe it or not I'm in the semi-optimistic camp.
I will join you. I'm saying 9-3 with some good wins, should be good enough for Top 25. Still believe potential for better than that, but I'm an optimist.
I know they have great coaching and were very good last year, but I would like to have the opportunity to short that #6 Sparty ranking. I was totally wrong on them last year (I thought they would be mediocre), but am doubling down this year: I see an 8-4/9-3 teaam based on watching their players in spring. I rarely bet on games, but I will look closely at that Oregon line as it gets nearer.
Here's the bottom half of the AP pool from 2013.
11. Stanford 11-3
12. Ohio 12-2
13. Baylor 11-2
14. LSU 10-3
15. Louisville 12-1
16. UCLA 10-3
17. Oklahoma St 10-3
18. Texas A&M 9-4
19. USC 10-4
20. Notre Dame 9-4
21. Arizona St. 10-4
22. Wisconsin 9-4
23. Duke 10-4
24. Vandy 9-4
25. Washington 9-4
As you can see 9-3 should be good for a top 20, possibly top 15 finish. I personally think a 1-2 loss season is a very realistic possibility given the schedule and potential improvement on offense with Nuss and returning/experienced Gardner (remeber he was a WR in 2012).
So many people give up on the team before the season even starts. Spread the optimism.
You are entirely welcome as far as I'm concerned.
But hey, I'm an optimist. I say 2-10 for sure.
"Wide receiver Freddy Canteen, a midyear enrollee, was perhaps the biggest surprise of the spring and might give UM a much-needed deep threat in the passing game."
As an aside, I am interested to see what Canteen looks like in game action this fall. I believe we'll have Darboh back as well, which is doubly nice as I believe losing him hurt in ways that we felt throughout the season.
As for the ranking, it's hard at this point to take too seriously something based on last season's data and this year's spring camp. After all, using 2013 Sagarin ratings, last year's team would be potentially (key word there) go 9-3 against this year's schedule (also using 2013 data for opponents, putting aside for the moment that not all wins would be equally likely). For us, I think August is a far more telling month as the offense in particular gets time in Nussmeier's system. We would be a difficult team to pinpoint at the moment, I think.
Watching that spring game again, I was stunned at how often Gardner targeted Canteen. DG needs to spread the ball around more (a RS senior should do that), but the fact that he went for Canteen so often means the kid made catches in practice and closed scrimmages. That supports the insider hype coming out of camp. And he looked good on the field. I'm on the Canteen train.
Well that is good and bad in my book. Gardner has a bad habit of locking in on the primary target and that's his throw - one way or the other. He has been limited this offseason due to injury but he has all the physical tools - he needs to improve his mental game big time, and that comes from recognizing defenses presnap, and then finding his 2nd or ...heck, 3rd option. Of course that also relies on an OL giving him time to find his 2nd or 3rd option but that's another topic. But Gardner chucking it over and over to the same 2 guys is essentially Gardner of 2013 as well. There literally is no 2nd guy right now other than Funchess that is established so Canteen it is.
When Jake Butt returns I believe he has the full confidence of DG. If Canteen is what he seems - and that's an enormous if, despite my belief in it - then we have 3 viable targets, one of them lethal. Throw in Chesson (who showed a lot of toughness last year) and healthy Darboh and we should be pretty good.
I agree DG needs to stop locking in. Having a RB or H-back option to hit in the flat - assuming the playcalling gets that guy open - would be a big help. Funchess intermediate and deep, Canteen deep and slotty, Butt flat to intermediate, and screens (that work) to RBs would be nice.
Of course even Butt is not a sure thing this year, coming off injury. Lots of questions, could be a great season.
I think this is about right. I belive the defense will be solid and Nuss will give us two more wins.
tragic, now it seems like we have accomplished something. I don't know about you but I am sick and tired of mediocracy. Do you think the fanbase in Alabama, LSU or even OSU would be excited over a preseason 25th ranking. At the very least the head coach would be on the hot seat, the AD's sphincter would be tight, but no, this is the new Michigan and we are fine with inferior results. Just win some damn games!
Hey man, you gotta get ranked low before you can get ranked high. I don't think anyone here is super amped about a #25 ranking as an endpoint, but probably more as a glimmer of hope for the possibility that exceeding expectations could put us in a nice spot.
Before losing in some crappy bowl game and we finish 24th. Celebrate good times are here!
Do you think the fanbase in Alabama, LSU or even OSU would be excited over a preseason 25th ranking.If Alabama, LSU, and OSU were emerging from a decade-long malaise with the slightest glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel, then yes, they would be excited. You can't compare expectations of Michigan to those of powerhouse programs already built and lament that we're settling for less. Being encouraged by a preseason number 25 ranking coming off a 7-6 season is not celebrating "mediocracy", it's finding encouragement that the program may be heading in the right direction. All the programs you mention had their rough spots at some point in the past, and when they started to emerge from those doldrums, no matter how minute the uptick might have been, I'm sure fanbases at those times were pretty excited. Enough with the false equivalencies hiding behind the usual "This is Michigan!" tripe.
Nothing to see here. Teams 20-25 will have 3, 4 or even 5 losses. It's likely UM will fall in that range...post-Spring polls serve only to spark discussions like this.
Yep, ranking is not out of line. Most will have UM as a 4 or 5 loss team (most 4 based on reptuation alone) and plenty of Carr's 4 loss teams finished here in the 20-25 range. Par for the course for that many losses as long as they don't come in the SEC.
are when polls should be introduced. Given that, the preseason polls do provide the fodder what what we're doing right now, discussing the upcoming season. I don't believe a team that finished NO. 1 should automatically retain that spot. This isn't the NFL and college teams rotate players every year. Granted no. 1 teams bringing everyone back have already shown they know how to win the entire game, i.e. season, and that should mean something.
However, even with the loss of Steele and Woodson we were overranked going into '98. Reasoning, according to most voters was due to the fact we returned 9 starters from the no. 1 defense in cfb. Steele and Woodson were both AAs and one was the best player in the nation. Now that last statement definitely mitigates the importance of the one above it and makes their notion absurd at best.
Not surprised we are ranked that low. We haven't showed shit in the past two years. Yes, this team is loaded with talent. Sso many keep using inexperience for an excuse, but most of these OLmen will be, at minimum, participating in their third year in the program. Even RSs get coached and participate in practice. They also bulk up, get stronger and have a far greater understanding of their role and requirements of their position If we do start any true freshmen, they will be outstanding fb players. I think Canteen, from all reports is the most likely candidate.
Do we deserve to even be in the Top 25? Even with the talent and a 5th yr senior at qb, one that I think will disprove a lot of naysayer this season, we still have to play football like those mentioned above us to climb back into the top ten on a perennial basis. To do this, Hoke has to light a fire under these kid's asses to make them understand you do not play Michigan without knowing you'll be soaking for a week after that game. That's the way Bo built the modern day program, but we haven't seen a semblance of that, except from just a few players for a long time. There should be 7 to 8 winged helments within a yd of the tackle on every running play. When you start seeing that again, you can then start expecting a possibility of a return to greatness. Without the effort it requires to be among the best it just won't happen.
Exactly. I don't know why anyone thinks Michigan deserves to be in the top 25 or even that they're a good team.
I won't disagree with the second half of your statement; the jury remains out about this year.
They will not and should not be in the pointless preseason top 25. This team has a lot of work to do and I still think they are a year or two away from being really good.
6 teams in the Top 25? Us in the top 25? Did they watch last season? Are they just ignoring the incompetence of Big Ten Football the past few years? I hate to be a downer but shit, let's start winning again so the optimism can return.
Just came here to ask the same question. How are SIX B1G teams in the top 25?
The problem is that the SEC plays D1AA teams.
This feels like a reputation vote, but whatever.
They'll have to figure out the offensive line, but if it is at least competent the defense should be solid enough to get them 8-9 wins.
MSU and OSU look like the class of the conference, though #6 and #7 might be a bit high.
Sparty is way too high. Teams that win a pile of close games and then lose a lot of talented seniors tend to regress.
But I suppose if you're an 8-4 type team, that's about right.
MSU loses Bullough, Dennard, Allen, Lewis, et al. on defense, and 3 o-lineman and they are ranked #6? Are you kidding me? This shouldn't be based on last year's performance. They are going to be be playing a lot of unproven guys on defense. I see them losing at least 3 games and maybe 5 (Oregon, Neb, UM, OSU, and PSU). Even if they go 9-3 that's not good enough to be in the top 10.
I also don't see Iowa finishing ahead of PSU, Neb, or UM. I know they beat UM last year, but I think UM is a stronger team this year, especially since Iowa loses 3 senior starting LBs.
It's hard to argue with UM's ranking. Since I picture them as an 8-4 team that seems about right.
Preseason ramkings never mean anything. It's our team's job to prove it wrong.