Michigan 7th in AP poll

Submitted by Wee-Bey Brice on

The annual AP poll that most were waiting for was released this morning, UM will begin the season #7 ranked team in the country. Fair ranking, IMO.

Michigan will open up the season ranked No. 7 in the AP Poll.

Time to go to work. #GoBlue pic.twitter.com/iCNfi18J5x

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) August 21, 2016

Notable: Oklahoma and OSU both ranked ahead of us, obviously one of those will fall. Also, FSU. With Maguire being out, they will start a redshirt freshman QB. How is that any different than the big question mark we have at QB? Either way, FSU and Clemson matchup will drop one or the other as well.

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Hotel Putingrad

August 21st, 2016 at 11:40 AM ^

you could also rearrange 4-8 any way imaginable and not be wrong Georgia and TCU are probably underrated, and Baylor and Florida shouldn't even be ranked. Rest of the list is solid. This will be a great college football season.

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TrueBlue2003

August 21st, 2016 at 2:29 PM ^

clearly didn't rank the teams on projected quality/talent but rather on strength of schedule with a strong bias towards last years Ws and Ls as the indicator of this year's quality rather than more predictive measures of future quality (as he seems to still be buying that Iowa was as good as their record last year).  If you buy that Iowa was a top tenish team last year and that their scheduled opponents will be as good or bad as their records last year (eg. that Nebraska was as bad as their record), then it does looks like their schedule should be a cakewalk aside from a home game against us. But they almost certainly won't be as good/lucky as last year and several teams will probably be better than they were last year (PSU, Neb, Minn come to mind).

Does anyone keep a running tab on how good "rankers" perform from preseason to final rankings, historically?  Would be interesting to see who, if any, are statistically much better or worse than the field.

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Alumnus93

August 21st, 2016 at 11:51 AM ^

wow Oregon has fallen from glory. I thought they'd be what Alabama is now, a perennial title contender. watch Kelly flame out in SD and return there

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TrueBlue2003

August 21st, 2016 at 2:47 PM ^

preseason ranking of #24 that makes you think they've fallen from glory and not Chip Kelly leaving or losing by 44 at home to Utah or finishing 8-4 and hiring Brady Hoke as DC? This was the fall-from-glory moment?

I actually think they'll be fine, although no one can be as dominant as Alabama has been if they're a) from a talent deficient state like Oregon and b) don't oversign or cheat, so even with Kelly, they weren't going to be winning natty's more than every other year like Alabama does.

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MGJS SuperKick Party

August 21st, 2016 at 12:02 PM ^

I think the rating is fair. 7 -15 is that happy zone. Expectations are high, but you arent in the national spotlight all the time. It kinda sets you up still as someone who can fly under the radar.

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Ronnie Kaye

August 21st, 2016 at 12:13 PM ^

You're seriously comparing FSU to our QB situation? Maguire is out for the first two or three games. You act like it's the whole season.

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Ty Butterfield

August 21st, 2016 at 12:26 PM ^

I am pretty sure Rittenberg said on ESPN radio the other week that the Big Ten would be left out of the playoffs. I could see that happening.

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SpikeFan2016

August 21st, 2016 at 4:07 PM ^

MSU and OSU yes. Michigan no. 

 

OSU and MSU have the option of either losing early on to a Top 10 nonconference opponent on the road (certainly wouldn't hurt playoff chances), or they have the ability to lose a Big Ten game but say "look we beat this Top Ten team on the road in Week 3, our resume is strong."

 

Michigan basically needs to go undefeated. In addition to all of that, there's almost no chance we get to Indy if we go 11-1 with a loss to OSU. And OSU is likely the only team good enough on our schedule to lose to but still have a chance at the playoffs given the weak schedule we have. 

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Moonlight Graham

August 21st, 2016 at 12:28 PM ^

With the slight possible exception of Clemson that is a seriously well-partitioned division of BLUE BLOODS in the top 10 and the second tier 11-25. Good to see us included ... This could be an AP top 10 from the early 80's.



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steve sharik

August 21st, 2016 at 12:33 PM ^

Winston was a redshirt freshman when he won the Heisman and the Noles dominated college football, so having a RS freshman QB doesn't mean they won't be good. Moreover, I bet Peters will be our starter as a redshirt freshman next year.

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Wee-Bey Brice

August 21st, 2016 at 1:38 PM ^

Didn't say being a RS Frosh meant he won't be good. But it does mean he's an unproven player. Mostly everyone points to our QB position battle as a question mark because they are unproven. Im pointing out that there's no difference. Jameis' success doesn't guarantee success for Francois, just like Manziel's didn't for Kenny HIll. 

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Brendan71388

August 21st, 2016 at 12:36 PM ^

I have no issue with 7. Seems perfectly fair. It makes sense to have us just below OSU.

People want to talk about OSU's attrition and all of our returning talent, and I get that. But when you look at the 42-13 drubbing at the Big House, factor in the NFL attrition, all of their recruiting success, and the fact that it's at OSU this year, I'd say those factors are enough to make it closer to even, not an argument for us to be ranked higher. And most of their inexperience won't really be a factor in late November.



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charblue.

August 21st, 2016 at 12:41 PM ^

of the challenge teams on Michigan's schedule as road games, the rivals and Iowa, are all ranked in the Top 20 to start. So, if that were to hold then Michigan beating them at their venue would make an even stronger case for Michigan's season-ending spot, hopefully in the Top four.

Plus there are early season challenges ahead for most of the Top 20 that Michigan will not face giving the Wolverines an early season chance to rise before they face the hardest part of their schedule in late October and November. That is a good recipe for playoff entry. Get ranked high early, stay there until it's winning time, then state your case.

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Hobo5589

August 21st, 2016 at 12:46 PM ^

I saw on Angelique Chengelis's twitter a picture of Michigan history with the AP poll including preseason rank, vote point totals, first place votes, and final rank.  It was interesting to see how people viewed previous Michigan teams in the preseason.  Like in 2012, Michigan got one first place vote which looking back...womp womp but I guess I can kind of understand if someone wanted to rank Michigan #1 in the preseason after 2011.  But it was crazy to me that the 2012 got 1 first place vote but so many teams before 2012 didnt get one vote.  

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Perkis-Size Me

August 21st, 2016 at 2:47 PM ^

It's really odd but very true. I think they were ranked #1 at the start of 2010 after winning their first title, and then lost 3 times to South Carolina, LSU and Auburn I think.

In 2012 they started out ranked #2 before we played them. USC was preseason #1.
In 2013 they were ranked #1 but lost that miracle game at Auburn and got demoted to the Sugar Bowl.
In 2014 they were ranked #1, then lost to OSU in the semi-finals. And lost to Ole Miss at the start of the year.



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WolverineHistorian

August 21st, 2016 at 2:48 PM ^

In 2012, USC was the AP preseason #1. They finished 7-6. In 2011, Oklahoma was the AP preseason #1. They finished 10-3. In 2009, Florida was preseason #1. They finished 13-1 and out of the title game after losing to Bama in the SEC championship game. Last year, OSU was unanimous #1 in all polls. And as we all remember, they didn't even try to win that MSU game so they were left on the outside looking in. All four years, Bama won it all. I'd love it if they didn't even contend this year but for that to happen, they're going to have to lose two regular season games. 3 of their 4 national title teams stumbled once, sometimes at the beginning of the season and sometimes at the end but they were always left in perfect position for the title game. And of course, the rules that kept Michigan out in 2006 did not keep Bama out in 2011...but let's not go down that road again.

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BlueHills

August 21st, 2016 at 4:01 PM ^

It's going to be exciting. While I am a little worried about those rival road games, I take solace in the fact that Harbaugh isn't Brady Hoke, whose teams were miserable on the road for the most part.

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