Michigan #4 in AP Poll
https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
Notable B1G & rivals in top 25:
#3 OSU
#4 Michigan
#8 ND
#14 MSU
#19 Wisconsin
Penn State, Minnesota, and Purdue all receiving votes
September 6th, 2022 at 2:30 PM ^
Lemme guess... #1 and #2 are SEC schools
Surprised we jumped ND, given how much love they always get in the polls.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:40 PM ^
I mean UGA and Bama are essentially NFL farm teams at this point, so hard to complain. It's annoying, but it's not a biased ranking.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:22 PM ^
And anyone denying that the SEC middle isn't looking superior to the middle of other conferences is kind of kidding themselves. Florida beat a top 10 team. Arkansas beat a ranked team that made the playoff last year.
Glad LSU lost or it would have been a totally dominating weekend all around for the SEC.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:30 PM ^
Maybe but the counterpoint to that is the Pac 12 has sucked the last whatever many years in ranked matchups and Utah was just overrated. Arkansas also beat a lower ranked team on their home field that lost a ton including the best QB in school history. So I don't think that one is as big of boon for the SEC as you're making it out to be.
September 6th, 2022 at 5:07 PM ^
Past PAC12 performance is totally irrelevant to Utah this year. Utah was a top 10 team last year and is likely still a top 10ish team this year and Florida beat them. Credit where it's due.
Agree that Arkansas should have beaten Cincinnati so not that big of a deal but at least they took care of business. Still a ranked team that the SEC beat. Means something that Arkansas performed to expectations as a ranked team.
Three ranked teams lost this week and the SEC administered two of the beatings.
September 6th, 2022 at 6:37 PM ^
Florida won on a last second interception.
Arkansas beat a Cincinnati team that’s a shell of its former self.
not all that impressed with either win
September 6th, 2022 at 6:08 PM ^
This year's Cincinnati is not last year's Cincinnati. They were ranked out of respect for last year. They lost a ton of talent.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:40 PM ^
Exactly. Very annoying!
September 6th, 2022 at 3:47 PM ^
Bo.. come on.. what do you mean. Only 8 players from Georgia’s D were drafted into the NFL after last season…
Oh, I get it… sorry about that…
September 6th, 2022 at 2:41 PM ^
I don't see how anyone could not think that the best two teams are SEC teams (Georgia and Alabama). I despise the SEC, but the drop off from those two to the next group of teams is massive.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:09 PM ^
While I reluctantly agree lets see if Oregon ends up 5-5 or if they are actually a halfway decent team. I hesitate to make any conclusions from the first few weeks of games as beginning of year rankings can be WAY off.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:19 PM ^
Even if they're a 500 PAC12 team, they got absolutely crushed as if they were an FCS team. It was very impressive by UGA.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:33 PM ^
Oregon isn’t great but Georgia is next level. It isn’t impossible to beat those teams but you have to play perfect football. Last year Michigan was the best Michigan team since at least 2006 and Georgia annihilated them.
September 6th, 2022 at 4:44 PM ^
And Michigan certainly did not play its best game either, and that goes for the game planning as well. But even if we did play our best game we still probably would not have beaten that UGA squad.
September 6th, 2022 at 6:43 PM ^
Oregon might at the moment be an upper echelon pac 12 team but they’d be very mid in the B16…….Minnesota level…..a threat in the B16 west, probably the 4th or 5th best team in the east….
September 6th, 2022 at 3:55 PM ^
I mean I hate it too, but you can't tell me Georgia and Alabama aren't the two best teams in America right now. They would each pave just about everyone else they played.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:31 PM ^
Difference between AP and Coaches' polls is that AP voters actually watched the Clemson game instead of simply looking at the final score.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:34 PM ^
I didn't see a single second of Clemson's game, did they look like last years Clemson?
September 6th, 2022 at 2:39 PM ^
You and most of the grad assistants casting the coaches vote didnt watch.
Clemson looked pretty meh to bad against a really bad Georgia Tech team. Score was 24-10 going into the 4th quarter and it was a struggle to get there. At least for now, Clemson is most definitely NOT back, at least not elite talent back and certainly not a team that Alabama, Georgia, OSU and even Michigan would fear very much.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:40 PM ^
It was already Monday night, I wouldn't really want our GA's watching that game, they should be prepping for next week.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:44 PM ^
100% agree, except it's about matchups.
Clemson's D-line is elite, even if the rest of the team is meh. They could neutralize our biggest strength, O-line and running game. UM-Clemson could be a total rock fight unless we get our passing game going. I still think we'd be favored and are a better overall team, but not the ideal matchup.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:50 PM ^
Bo, respectfully - I haven’t seen enough of Clemson’s D to make that statement. Georgia continues to be very solid.
September 6th, 2022 at 9:34 PM ^
D.J. Oo-ee-unga-la-lay is slightly better than last season and that is mainly because he lost weight and is quicker. He got crucial yards on the run last night. But his field recognition and overall passing game still needs a lot of work. Their defense looks really good but Clemson won't get back to the final 4 with that offense. O-line was uninspiring and they do not have much of a rushing attack.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:43 PM ^
A very talented team with a QB who might be limiting their ceiling. I could see why we'd be ranked similarly to them...
September 6th, 2022 at 3:20 PM ^
Eh, I think UM's Rb's, o-line and WR's are all better than Clemson's honestly. Clemson has some other issues or questions on their offense besides just QB.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:25 PM ^
Agree that top to bottom Michigan's offense is better, but Clemson's entire DL is insane. Pretty sure all four are going to go in the first two rounds of the draft.
September 6th, 2022 at 6:12 PM ^
I find it interesting that Clemson's QB throws for 209 yds, 1 TD, 60% completion, and runs for 20 yards and a TD -- against a power5 team -- and Clemson fans want him benched. Meanwhile, Cade throws for 136 yards, 1 TD, 50%, and -8 rushing yards -- and half the blog wants him to keep his job no matter what bc he was on a good team last year. We need to raise our expectations if we want to play with the big boys.
September 6th, 2022 at 7:27 PM ^
Lol. I mean Rob has a point. Ive always supported Cade, but I'm starting to waiver. Clemson fans dgaf about finishing #2 in the ACC as a baseline. NC or bust. Thats the difference. How does UM get there? Probably by giving JJ reps….😢
September 6th, 2022 at 6:50 PM ^
Will Shipley is a pretty good RB
September 6th, 2022 at 2:31 PM ^
Let’s stop the season right here and go directly to the playoff
September 6th, 2022 at 3:54 PM ^
Conference Championships don’t mean anything with respect to the playoff. So, why bother with conference games.
The playoff is a beauty contest. Let’s get ready for the bathing suit competition - is that even part of the pageant anymore? For sure, there can be a talent section.
Prepare to vote for Mr / Mrs / Miss Congeniality…
September 6th, 2022 at 8:27 PM ^
And, based on these rankings, this time we wouldn't have to face Georgia in the first round.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:32 PM ^
LOL that ND is still in the top 10. So many teams currently ranked below them would beat them.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:13 PM ^
I don't know if ND has a tough Defense or Ohio is missing those two 1st round receivers more than people thought they would.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:27 PM ^
Hanging with OSU for 3.5 quarters and largely stopping that offense was very impressive. Open question as to how much to credit OSU defense or just a bad ND offense but ND exceeded the expectations they had in that game so hard to drop them out of the top 10.
September 6th, 2022 at 5:01 PM ^
2003 - I think the Bucks are a question mark on both sides of the ball. ND didn’t have a passing game - for several reasons - their receiving corps is depleted, first time starter at QB, etc. it was a run the ball game plan for ND - and, the Bucks were prepared for it.
The Bucks O vs ND’s D. The Bucks did enough to win, obviously - and ND carried over a lot of defensive talent, schemes, etc - from last year. But, the Bucks O didn’t resemble the Death Star.
I look forward to the Badgers visit to Columbus, and the Bucks visit to EL.
September 6th, 2022 at 5:11 PM ^
Look, if you think the Bucks are a question mark on offense then you must think there has never been an offense without question marks, which like, fine if that's your bar. They aren't a (full) NFL offense so there's that.
They were insane last year and return almost all of the key pieces. Their offense is about as sure thing as it gets in CFB. A credit to NDs defense which is probably going to be very good this year. But OSU did gain 395 yards so still pretty good in a low possession game (they only had four real drives in the whole second half). And they missed a 39-yard FG that was very uncharacteristic of Ruggles.
The Bucks do have question marks on defense, like I said. Unclear how improved they are or how bad ND's offense is. They certainly have a lot of talent so it's not hard to see how they would be very good this year with much better coaching.
September 6th, 2022 at 5:49 PM ^
2003 - perhaps I misstated it a bit, when referring to the Bucks O. Are they talented? Yes, absolutely, they are. Are they deep at skill positions? Again, I would say - yes. Has their OL stepped up a notch? Honestly, I’m not so sure if they have.
I was expecting to see “more” from the Bucks offense.
The question - and, it may remain unanswered until later this season is - quality of execution. I saw several inaccurately thrown passes - and, it’s difficult to say whether it was the ND coverage, the route, or the delivery.
It will be interesting to see what the Bucks do in the conference season - and, September 24th - hosting Wisconsin - will be the next test.
September 6th, 2022 at 9:43 PM ^
I was also expecting to see more from the Buckeyes. I took them -17...FML. Hopefully this level of offensive output is how their season will go the rest of the way. But would I bet against them again? Probably not, at least until the Michigan game.
September 6th, 2022 at 5:54 PM ^
Seriously, you think OSU is a question mark on offense. Why? They return just about everybody and in addition two starting WRs were basically out this game - Julian Fleming and that Jaxon Smith Whatever kid (hurt in 1st quarter). I have a feeling people are going to find out that the ND defense is elite and that all points to Marcus Freeman. ND was dropping their safeties deep refusing to let OSU get behind them so eventually OSU just started pounding them on the ground - in the late 3rd and 4th quarters - and there was nothing ND could do to stop it
Now I do agree with you about the defense. I realize they looked solid under those new coaches on Saturday but I want to see a bigger sample before I declare them the 2nd coming of the Steel Curtain. Plus, I really don't think ND had the skilled players to challenge them
September 6th, 2022 at 6:34 PM ^
largely stopping that offense
That was not the same offense we faced in November. Smith-Njigba got hurt, meaning that all three of their WRs from last year were out against ND.
September 6th, 2022 at 2:39 PM ^
Say OSU and Michigan both go undefeated until they play. Would the one loss loser of that most likely top 2 or 3 team matchup be left out of the playoff?
September 6th, 2022 at 2:41 PM ^
Have to see what other teams do but…probably?
September 6th, 2022 at 7:43 PM ^
See Bama and GA last year. 1 vs 3 when they played, and both got in to the CFP. It’s not impossible to think that Michigan and OSU couldn’t have a similar situation happen
September 6th, 2022 at 2:46 PM ^
If there are at least 3 undefeated 13-0 teams among the SEC, Clemson, Oklahoma and USC --- 100% absolutely they're left out.
If everyone in the rest of the Power 5 conferences has at least 2 losses --- 100% absolutely they're in.
The only answer to your question is --- "it's way too early to tell."
September 6th, 2022 at 2:48 PM ^
Beat Hawaii..
September 6th, 2022 at 3:00 PM ^
Yeah! Don't these message boarders know that you can't look past an opponent!! All fans must be fully committed to the task at hand each game week, lest you lose focus!!
September 6th, 2022 at 3:03 PM ^
I think as long as the winner is undefeated and wins the conference, a one loss loser of "The Game" has a solid chance of getting in, a la Georgia last year. OSU would probably have a better chance of getting in as that one loss team than M though, mostly because of the ND win.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:07 PM ^
Except UGA lost in the conference title game. The loser of the game would not have that on their resume because of the stupid East/West stuff.
September 6th, 2022 at 3:31 PM ^
Michigan's abysmal non-conference schedule would almost certainly keep them out unless there aren't any other 1 loss conference champs and I could see a 2-loss conference champ making it over them. Their non-conference schedule means they have no margin for error against OSU. The best team they'll have beaten will be..Iowa? PSU? MSU?
OSU would have a much better chance of making it considering they have the win over ND and hence would have a much stronger SoS and all-important strength of record metric than a hypothetical 1-loss Michigan team.
OSU might be able to make the argument to be in over even 1-loss conference champs, especially if ND beats Clemson and USC (who are the most likely candidates to be 1-loss conference champs vying for the fourth spot from their respective conferences).