Michigan is No. 41 in Rivals countdown
http://collegefootball.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1100919 (behind paywall).
I was actually pretty disappointed in this review, as it seemed to focus more on RichRod being on the hot seat than anything else. Won't divulge too much of the remaining content, except team strenghts and weaknesses:
Strengths: QB, WR, DL, OL(middle)
Weaknesses: DB's, Special Teams, turnovers.
Rivals ranked a 5-7 team (that was previously a 3-9 team) higher than 50? I actually think that is going out on a limb and, while not stating it outright, giving something for expectations - a little deeper analysis than some of you give them credit for. Looking at what this team and coaching staff have done on the field in the past 2 seasons, a ranking at 41 is a bit of a gift. The RIvals folks are thinking deeper (talent level, non-UM coaching stats), it is just not stated outright.
We need to have a HUGE start to the careers of Will Hagerup and Brendan Gibbons. And if they don't have a huge start, we're going to need to have some incredible perfromances by some guys that most Michiganians have never heard of.
If Hagerup and Gibbons perform, it will be a huge plus. If not, it will be a huge hole.
We know there will be question marks at some positions this year, but these two positions are huge question marks. Often with punting, kick-offs and FG's one tends to take these for granted until they show themselves to be a weakness. In a season where the defense is looking to be iffy having a nice punter to change field position could be huge, as well as having a solid FG kicker to make sure UM is taking advantage of all it's opportunities to score.