Michigan ranked 24th in final AP poll

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January 8th, 2013 at 4:50 AM
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bo_lives
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Michigan ranked 24th in final AP poll

Bama a unanimous no. 1 of course; Oregon moves up to 2nd with Ohio 3rd and ND falling to fourth. Good to see ND fall multiple places after that lambasting. I think we can all agree an Alabama vs. Oregon title game would have been much more interesting than the one we got... oh well.

http://collegefootball.ap.org/poll

Michigan is the only team with 5 losses to make the final poll. Glad to get some respect seeing as we had a mighty tough schedule and 4/5 of our losses were quite close. But close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades and we were 0-5 against ranked opponents. Definitely proud of our team, and a lot of it was just balls not bouncing our way, but this season was clearly a letdown. Here's hoping Gardner & co. can make a statement in 2013, and most importantly beat Ohio. As always, Go Blue!

"That's right. It's an off-tackle play. It's coming right over you. And there's not a thing you can do about it."

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January 8th, 2013 at 5:16 AM | Better days ahead! (Score:1 Normal)
michiganman14
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Joined: 02/21/2012
MGoPoints: 169

This season stings a bit...but there are plenty of bright days ahead for the maize and blue. Recruiting is going great and the schedule is more manageable the next few years. We are in line to put together a nice run for multiple B1G titles and maybe more. Salute to the Seniors who helped turn this program around From the ashes.

Go Blue

January 8th, 2013 at 5:21 AM | Tough season (Score:5 Normal)
Knight
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Joined: 09/16/2010
MGoPoints: 589

Michigan is better than #24, but with 5 losses it is hard to be ranked any higher than that even though 4 of those losses were against top 10 teams (3 of them close). Surprised that Nebraska fell to number 25 behind Michigan. 

January 8th, 2013 at 7:55 AM | Yeah, Nebraska actually had a (Score:2 Normal)
quasioptimistic
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Joined: 09/13/2011
MGoPoints: 125

Yeah, Nebraska actually had a decent game against Georgia, who ended up at #5. Anyway, these things get hinky after the top 4-5 teams. I don't mind South Carolina ending up where they are.

I do think we are probably much better than San Jose State, however. (channeling Tate Forcier?)

Polonium 210 is the new dilithium.

January 8th, 2013 at 8:04 AM | we didn't beat a good team all year (Score:-1 Trolling)
January 8th, 2013 at 8:30 AM | People forget that we (Score:5 Normal)
unWavering
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Joined: 01/13/2011
MGoPoints: 1767

People forget that we (barely) beat Northwestern, who wasn't THAT far from going undefeated. They are a better team than most are giving them credit for and what's scary is that they return almost everyone. They will definitely be in contention for the division title next year.

January 8th, 2013 at 9:37 AM | what makes you think (Score:2)
Bodogblog
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MGoPoints: 7631

well, like he said, we had close losses to the #3 and #4 ranked teams on the road, and lost to the #8 team in the last :11 of a bowl game.  A fourth loss was to the #25 team on the road, where the game was near tied at half when we lost our starting QB.

I don't think Michigan was that much better than its record, but it's not unreasonable to look at some of the 1-24 teams and see potential wins.

This was a good team that fought like dogs, but just couldn't get over the hump (or out of its own way at times, with suspensions, turnovers and some playcalling).  Still sets us up well for '13

January 8th, 2013 at 9:57 AM | I honestly dont see the (Score:-1 Offtopic)
January 8th, 2013 at 11:37 AM | Because (Score:3 Normal)
DealerCamel
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MGoPoints: 374

To a point, it's not about ranking the "best" teams.  Bama's clearly the best team in football, but they still managed to lose a game.  It happens.  Notre Dame is ranked high because they are 12-1.  We are ranked low because we lost five games.  That also happens.

January 8th, 2013 at 12:12 PM | We were not outplayed by (Score:1)
Kaminski16
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Joined: 09/07/2010
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We were not outplayed by Ohio.

See it through.

January 8th, 2013 at 12:51 PM | We are the top-ranked five loss team (Score:1)
Muttley
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What could have been.

A smackdown from Bama,

Woulda, shoulda losses to the #4 & #8 teams

Coulda six point loss (somehow) to the #3 team

And a loss to the #25 team w/ our offense tied behind our back

January 8th, 2013 at 8:45 AM | Why did ND only drop 3 spots (Score:4 Normal)
Logan88
Joined: 01/05/2009
MGoPoints: 2989

Why did ND only drop 3 spots after getting punk'd by Bama? Michigan dropped 7 or 8 spots after their disaster against the Tide and ND got beat just as badly. Domers should have finished around 8th IMO.  Regarding UM, I know that the team lost to a lot of highly ranked opponents but I have a hard time accepting a 5 loss team in the Top 25 poll.

We ARE Michigan....COME GET SOME!!!

January 8th, 2013 at 8:58 AM | First game vs last game (Score:1 Normal)
bluesalt
Joined: 11/02/2011
MGoPoints: 204

If you're a voter, and you watched 12 regular season games and thought Notre Dame was #1, a loss, even a bad one, against your #2, shouldn't erase the prior 4 months. Michigan, meanwhile, was ranked high off of expectation, and those expectations were lowered post-Bama, and rightfully so.

Now, we can argue that Notre Dame had no business being #1 going into yesterday if you actually watched football and didn't merely look at records, but voters aren't going to admit they were that wrong. It's big of them to drop ND to fourth as is.

January 8th, 2013 at 9:04 AM | Early season losses cause bigger swings (Score:1)
mgoDave
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Joined: 10/15/2011
MGoPoints: 137

Early season losses cause bigger swings in the rankings. We played them first game of the year so of course we fell farther. At the end of the day ND is still a one loss team.

January 8th, 2013 at 9:59 AM | Well they did still finish (Score:2)
saveferris
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Well they did still finish 12-1.  The hilarious thing reading their blogs is they seem for the most part to consider themselves having turned a corner and a return to the title game and victory is inevitable.  What I see is 2012 ND = 2011 Michigan, a talented but flawed team that had all the breaks go their way.  When Michigan saw fewer breaks, they wound up at 8-5 and the margin was razor thin between ND being 12-0 and 9-3.  Frustration awaits them next season I'll wager, although things will probably improve a bit for them when they load up on ACC snacky cakes after 2014.

 

"...what do you say, is it the new Bluesmobile or what?"

"Fix the cigarette lighter."

January 8th, 2013 at 12:18 PM | agreed ... (Score:1)
Indiana Blue
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nd should have fallen below Texas A&M and Georgia, especially considering how they each played against Alabama.  No question about it !

Go Blue!

No place on earth I'd rather be on a football Saturday than Michigan Stadium !

January 8th, 2013 at 9:34 AM | Close only counts in (Score:3 Normal)
bringthewood
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Close only counts in horseshoes, hand grenades and DRIVE IN MOVIES.

"I knew Bo Schembechler and you sir, are no Bo Schembechler!"

January 8th, 2013 at 9:35 AM | Question (Score:2 Normal)
Mr. Yost
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When is Taylor Lewan announcing his decision?

“True loyalty is that quality of service that grows under adversity and expands in defeat. Any street urchin can shout applause in victory, but it takes character to stand fast in defeat. One is noise — the other, loyalty.”

January 8th, 2013 at 9:46 AM | I know that most don't (Score:4 Normal)
BraveWolverine730
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I know that most don't respect NW becaue you don't expect the wildcats to be good, but I think a win over a 10 win squad who is ranked in the top 20 should count as a good wini.  That being said, the season overall was a bit of a disappointment, but I'm proud of how hard the team fought.

" I want to win Big 10 titles. Multiply. Consecutively. I just made that word up (multiply). I'm like that. I'm good at Scrabble."

January 8th, 2013 at 10:12 AM | The first step to respecting Northwestern (Score:-1 Flamebait)
January 8th, 2013 at 10:44 AM | But you knew who he meant (Score:5 Normal)
Greg McMurtry
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And Gan isn't a direction.

...confidence is the stain they can't wipe off...

January 8th, 2013 at 11:32 AM | Notice anything here? (Score:5 Normal)
Ernis
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January 8th, 2013 at 12:38 PM | We don't get our panties in a (Score:1 Flamebait)
DIABEETUS
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Joined: 09/29/2009
MGoPoints: 2321

We don't get our panties in a bunch about people leaving "The University of" off the front of Michigan, so why be bothered by the omission from the end of Northwestern? Are you from Ohio or something?

Michigan: 903–315–36 (Best in NCAA)
vs Ohio State: 58-44-6
vs Notre Dame: 23-16-1
vs MSU:  68-32-5
vs B1G: 522-197-24
vs SEC:  20-8-1
vs PAC 12: 48-24-1
vs Big 12: 10-5-1<

January 8th, 2013 at 12:45 PM | F*** NW, or NU (Score:1)
TexanGOBLUE
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F*** NW, or NU which ever you prefer.

'Try growing up in Texas a Michigan WOLVERINE'. Follow me on Twitter: RudygoBLUE

January 8th, 2013 at 12:45 PM | BEAT NW (Score:2)
DIABEETUS
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BEAT NW

Michigan: 903–315–36 (Best in NCAA)
vs Ohio State: 58-44-6
vs Notre Dame: 23-16-1
vs MSU:  68-32-5
vs B1G: 522-197-24
vs SEC:  20-8-1
vs PAC 12: 48-24-1
vs Big 12: 10-5-1<

January 8th, 2013 at 9:59 AM | This years final combined (Score:3 Normal)
Wolverine Devotee
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Joined: 06/29/2009
MGoPoints: 5599

This years final combined opponent record: 100-66. That is the toughest schedule Michigan has ever played. Teams with 13, 12, 12, 11 & 10 wins on there. 

Scary thing is if Michigan scheduled an at least, not HS level MAC team in UMass (1-11), it would have been even higher.

May we never see that kind of schedule again. 

January 8th, 2013 at 10:02 AM | Close should count in (Score:1)
jocular_jock
Joined: 01/03/2012
MGoPoints: 97

Close should count in subjective rankings. There is a big difference between a 3 point OT victory and a 30 point halftime lead.

I could really use a good ass kickin, but I would rather have my 200 dollars 

January 8th, 2013 at 10:14 AM | Im OK with this. I think we (Score:1)
TexanGOBLUE
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MGoPoints: 1194

Im OK with this. I think we should be ranked around the same at the begining of the season too. Next season, I would love to keep winning and moving up and going to a BCS game.

'Try growing up in Texas a Michigan WOLVERINE'. Follow me on Twitter: RudygoBLUE

January 8th, 2013 at 10:18 AM | We had a brutal schedule, but some games could have went better (Score:0 Offtopic)
January 8th, 2013 at 12:56 PM | Borges was Gorgeous in the Outback (Score:1)
Muttley
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Joined: 07/07/2009
MGoPoints: 4624

Maybe all of our games should have a restaurant theme

January 8th, 2013 at 1:16 PM | Well, we're moving toward the (Score:0 Normal)
January 8th, 2013 at 10:50 AM | The right poll rank (Score:2)
neoavatara
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Joined: 08/01/2009
MGoPoints: 1584

That is appropriate for what we accomplished.

Things did not break our way all year.  We lost Stonum, an OL, and the Fitz.  Then Countess went down.  We didn't get any breaks...basically all the close games other than MSU went against us.  Then Denard got hurt, and we moved our best WR to QB.  That is a tough slog. 

I am optimistic going forward though. 

neoavatara.com/blog

January 8th, 2013 at 11:38 AM | Northwestern begs to differ (Score:3 Normal)
bluesalt
Joined: 11/02/2011
MGoPoints: 204

That was definitely a close game that went our way.

We had more bad luck than good this year, but we still had some moments of good luck.

January 8th, 2013 at 1:50 PM | this year was, in some ways, (Score:2)
russale2012
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this year was, in some ways, the opposite of last year. lets admit it: we were spoiled last year. we won 11 games and a bcs bowl, and some of those games we very well could have (perhaps should have?) lost. but all the breaks went our way last year. this year, we got close to zero breaks. the bama game was a reality check if i've ever seen one. its just part of football. sometimes teams will get all the breaks and lucky bounces in the world. then other times they will just flat out get the shaft on injuries, bad calls, etc. we needed to have a year like this to remind ourselves to keep expectations grounded.

Brady Hoke: Kicking Ass And Signing Names On The Recruiting Trail

January 8th, 2013 at 11:15 AM | Agree with ranking (Score:4 Normal)
StephenRKass
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MGoPoints: 4283

I agree more or less with the ranking. And I think we were in the right bowl.

People have complained that ND was overrated and lucky. Well, they were pantsed, exposed, and embarassed last night against Alabama. Personally, I'm glad it was them and not us.

As I reflected on this MNC game between men and boys, I was actually thankful for the regular season schedule including Alabama, and for our losses this year. If we had not opened with Alabama, if Denard had not been injured, and we had beaten ND, and Nebraska, and Ohio, we would have been in the National Championship Game. And we would have been annihilated by Alabama. Of all the losses, I would gladly flip Ohio. But the rest I'm ok with. Why? Because, as I believe Hoke said, to be the best, you have to play the best. And we're not there yet. Playing Alabama in the regular season gave a truer picture of how far Michigan needs to go.

Michigan is heading in the right direction. I'm excited about the future. But I'm not torn up about this year. I still think that Borges, Mattison, and Hoke overperformed in 2012, given our player personnel. With the offensive and defensive line recruiting, and Green at RB, and Gardner (and then Morris) at QB, and improvement across the board on the defense, we will be much better in years to come. I actually think the receiving won't be bad, although that's the one area I'd like to see improvement.

"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up." Vince Lombardi

 

January 8th, 2013 at 11:40 AM | If we had gone 12-0 and (Score:5 Normal)
Nosce Te Ipsum
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MGoPoints: 5501

If we had gone 12-0 and Denard stayed healthy then he would have probably been up for some post season awards, the team probably gets some of the high profile recruits we missed on, and Hoke would be 2-0 against OSU. A bad loss in the title game isn't as bad as a 5 loss season.

Omnia mutantur nos et mutamur in illis.

January 8th, 2013 at 12:23 PM | Want the win against Ohio (Score:2)
StephenRKass
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Joined: 07/15/2008
MGoPoints: 4283

Of all the losses, the one to Ohio is the one I would change. Of course, we can't do that. But I'd take 9 - 3 or 10 - 2 with this team and a better bowl instead of lucking into 12 - 0 and being embarassed in the title game. We would not have deserved it, and I wouldn't want it. However, I can understand your POV. My perspective is 9 - 4 (with a win against Ohio) is more appropriate this year (to our talent and ability) than 13 - 1 (with a humiliating loss to Alabama in the title game.)

"It does not matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get up." Vince Lombardi

 

January 8th, 2013 at 12:54 PM | If Michigan wins the B1G then (Score:2)
Nosce Te Ipsum
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Joined: 03/12/2010
MGoPoints: 5501

If Michigan wins the B1G then Hoke views the season as a success. I would agree.

Omnia mutantur nos et mutamur in illis.

January 8th, 2013 at 11:29 AM | This year I only felt (Score:1)
crazyjoedavola
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Joined: 07/30/2012
MGoPoints: 255

This year I only felt helpless on 2 occasions, during the Alabama game and the Bellomy debacle against Nebraska.  I am looking forward to the days when I don't experience that feeling anymore.  On paper it should happen in 2 years.

January 8th, 2013 at 11:36 AM | We did beat ranked (Score:3 Normal)
BlueCE
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MGoPoints: 994

We did beat ranked Northwestern, so 1-5

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January 8th, 2013 at 11:49 AM | 0-5 against ranked teams? (Score:2 Normal)
MGoStrength
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MGoPoints: 624

0-5 against ranked teams....but but but we beat Northwestern.

Strength equipment is expensive and guarantees you nothing.  A strong will is free and can give you everything you want.

January 8th, 2013 at 12:21 PM | It really sucked that all 5 (Score:2 Normal)
artds
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Joined: 09/04/2009
MGoPoints: -97191

It really sucked that all 5 of our losses were nationally televised games, while all8 of our wins were not. Every time the nation got a look at us, we looked terrible.

Every time an MGoBoard poster complains about a thread topic, God kills a baby panda.

January 8th, 2013 at 12:49 PM | We looked terrible - and not (Score:3 Normal)
ChopBlock
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MGoPoints: 1502

We looked terrible - and not just because of the uniformz

"The straightest line from A to B is straight: From A to B"

"When you have Denard Robinson, you can have everything"

~George Walden

January 8th, 2013 at 2:44 PM | How many other 5-loss teams... (Score:2 Normal)
User -not THAT user
User -not THAT user's picture
Joined: 06/05/2012
MGoPoints: 364

...have EVER made the final Top 25 poll of a season?

I'm guessing there aren't many.  Considering the STOOPID strength-of-schedule Michigan got tagged with this year, this is probably a good ranking considering Team 133's overall lack of offensive depth.  Looks like the voters at least recognized the S-O-S in the final tabulation.

Bottom line, if you don't either win your conference, beat your rivals, or at least win your bowl game, your season probably isn't going to be regarded as much of a success.  If it hadn't been for the fact that Michigan beat State for the first time since Mike Hart's senior season, there wouldn't be much of a shine to the 2012 campaign at all.  Finishing in the Top 25 despite all that probably should be considered a success of sorts.

Beats going 5-7.  

January 8th, 2013 at 2:54 PM | How Many Votes And Where? (Score:2)
LSAClassOf2000
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Joined: 01/07/2011
MGoPoints: 8940

Our distribution on the final ballot, if anyone is interested. It is an interesting variation, I would think.

 



RANK NO. OF VOTES
15 2
16 1
17 2
18 3
19 2
20 1
21 2
22 5
23 3
24 4
25 4
N/R 29

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."

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January 8th, 2013 at 3:54 PM | With our final record #24 (Score:1)
Michiganfootball13
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Joined: 04/12/2012
MGoPoints: 205

With our final record #24 seems about right BUT looking at the teams we lost to and if they took that into consideration we definitely could have been in the teens.

Lloyd Brady is my homeboy...for real he is!

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