Phil Steele: Michigan 2nd to last in Legends division
Minnesota.
Pretty easy if you remember it as Iowa plus all Ms and Ns.
This is very handy- thank you. Hopefully I can remember it while inebriated.
Iowa and Wisconsin, it would have been really easy since the divisions would have been the MNW and IPO leagues
MNW = Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Wisconsin
IPO = Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Penn State, Purdue, Ohio State
How about:
Many (Michigan)
Mental (Minnesota)
Midgets (MSU)
Imposed (Iowa)
Nonsensical (Nebraska)
[Division] Names (Northwestern)
OK, it's a work in progress . . . .
good way to remember.
Michigan is the only team you need to know about.
Our division has Iowa, plus all the schools that start with "M", (Michigan, MSU, Minnesota), and "N", (Nebraska and Northwestern).
All of the other schools are in the other division.
I believe Michigan should be significantly better on defense due to (a) the return of Woolfolk, (b) further experience, and (c) improved coaching. On offense, I am hoping that improvement in turnovers and efficiency offset a likely regression in yardage and potency. I think we have a good shot at 2nd in our division, but I also think that it's hard to argue with that list based on last year performances and personnel.
It will be interesting to see how Iowa performs this season. Last year they had a roster full of NFL talent (I think they had 5 or 6 guys drafted, which is pretty high for Iowa) and still limped to a 7-5 regular season. This year they only have 9 returning starters combined on offense and defense. Personally, I have a hard time seeing them eclipsing last year's win total.
My prediction:
Nebraska (10-2, 6-2)
MSU (9-3, 6-2)
Michigan (8-4, 5-3)
Northwestern (7-5, 4-4)
Iowa (7-5, 3-5)
Minnesota (less than 6 wins total/ no bowl game)
You can figure Nebraska fighting it out to win the division every year as a realistic competitor.
Hopefully Michigan will be too, sooner rather than later.
But it is hardly crazy to have Nebraska, Michigan State, Iowa and NW ahead of Michigan this year. Maybe the rebound will start this year but realistically I think Steele is probably close to right.
I'd have it: Neb., MSU, Iowa at the top, then NW and Michigan tied for fourth and Minnesota, of course, in last.
comfortable using the awful "Legends/Leaders" names than I am about anything Phil Steele says.
I agree with you there. I am going to simply start referring to them as our division and the other division.
We are Legend.
an impossibly comprehensive college football preview guide. And his name is Phil Steele. And he has a mustache.
He is also much more accurate in his predictions year-in and year-out than the average preview magazine (as he is quick to tell you). He's not correct all the time, of course.
A brief clarification: He has Nebraska and MSU tied for 1st, with Nebraska winning the tie-breaker. He has Iowa third. He has NU and Michigan tied for fourth...Michigan's spot sounds about right to me, FWIW.
One last point to consider: Phil Steele lives in Cleveland, OH and has acknowledged that he is a Buckeye fan. While I am sure he tries to remove any bias in his predictions re: UM and OSU, it is hard to imagine that he can be completely impartial in said predictions.
For now, it looks like a high-variance year for Michigan. Look at its peers:
Iowa
Michigan State
Minnesota
Nebraska
Northwestern
I don't see anyone unbeatable if all goes well. If (e.g.) Denard gets hurt or struggles, though, I could see UMich losing to all but Minnesota.
I don't see us falling off too much if we lose Denard. From what I hear Devin has also been impressing. However if we lose a DB, or someone at a position with little to no depth, then I'd be quite concerned.
For the first time in a while, we have "decent" DB depth. I am not as worried as I was last year about losing any one particular guy in the secondary. There is one guy who I am concerned about due to little depth/depth being siginificant talent drop-off.
We're a significant Mike Martin Injury away from watching all of our opponents go 2010 Wisconsin on us and run it up the middle 20,000,000 straight plays.
Exactly. I doubt Ash or Quintion Washington are much better than Sagesse and Banks (hope I'm wrong). Talbot looks like he is 260ish and is easily another year away from helping.
I mean. Who knows with this team. My way too early range of possible placing in our division 2-5. So, he's got us in the bottom of my way too early range. It is possible. I think doubtful.
More like Phil Schpiel. Hahaha.... am I right, or am I right?
proved him wrong. Our team has proved nothing, until we start winning on the football field we deserve to be shit on by these idiots... After all, this is Michigan for Pete sake!
Is there a link or is this in the mag?
in the mag
Don't Care. This is probably one of the toughest years to predict Michigan's record. Especially with a new team in the Big 10 and the OSU scandal.
Do they really think MSU and Iowa are Big Ten title contenders this year?
I think MSU will be decent, but not 10-11 wins like last year.
And Iowa? Sheesh, talk about decimated. Something I would not expect to have to say to Phil Steele, but look at the math man.
The reason Steele is down on Michigan this year is because of 1.) the defense is a huge question mark and he believe Mouton and Ezeh were fantastic, and 2.) due to his theory about swapping offensive styles back and forth and that change is usually never a good thing the 1st year.
Actually, I think I've read him say that the switching pro-set to spread option/wishbone is a tougher transition than spread option/wishbone to pro-set style offenses, so WTF?
I could be wrong.
He did predict a 7-5 finish for Michigan last year, which is kind of exactly what happened.
I see MSU 2011 mirroring Iowa 2010 in terms of falling short of expectations. All the variables that Brian pointed to last season in predicting Iowa dropping off from it's stellar 2009 year seem to apply to the Spartans. Iowa 2011 post-Stanzi, I don't see how they improve.
I see Michigan as having a really good chance of finishing 2nd to Nebraska this season.
I would agree with him about finishing ahead of Minnesota.
IMO there will be three surprise teams this year: Northwestern, Illinois and Michigan.
The realist in me says he could very well be correct. Our defense was horrible last year and it looks basically the same this year. Our offense was great last year, but sputtered and turned the ball over against good competition. Now we have a new, as yet unseen offensive scheme. How will it play out?
But the Michigan fan in me says our defense will be better because they have better coaches and more experience than they did last year. Our offense will be better because Denard and less turnovers.
Who knows. One thing is for sure though: we have a tough schedule.
When it came to defense under RichRod, the only thing I looked forward to at the start of a season was, well, it can't get any worse than last year. And I was always wrong. 458 points we gave up last season...the worst in school history. Losing Woolfolk was big, but even if he was in there healthy, it would have been a struggle.
I can't expect miracles in year 1 with Mattison back. But I hope it's not asking too much for the D to not make inexperienced QB's look like Super Bowl MVP's.
And please, please, please come up with some stops on 3rd and long. When a team gets an easy 40 yard gain on 3rd and 20, that's a real momentum killer. Especially when it happens several times in a game.
I dont necessarily disagree with Mr Phil here
I dont think there is a clear, dominant, great team in this division. A lot of the teams are good, but with some fatal flaws.
Been saying it all offseason, so I will stick to it here. I think we'll get at least a three way tie for the top spot with 5-3 records. I hope MICH can be one of those, but 4-4 in the league is more likely, which could put them in 4rth or 5th in this division, but only a game off the lead.
I think we'll still be in contention going into the Brasker game. That game will eliminate us or, if MICH wins, put us in great position to steal the division......and, like Steele, I think MSU has a good chance of winning this thing
More bulltein board material I guess.
Why are the divisions still called 'Legends' & 'Leaders?' I thought Delany said the names would be changed since everyone hated them.
What are these "Legends & Leaders" you speak of? The only divisional names I recognize are Eastern and Western.
They'll be around for at least the 2011 season. Delaney made some weird statement like, "People don't like them now, but we have to play a season under them to find out for sure."
Of commentators making fun of the names. Tremendous, Jim.
Outside of Nebraska at the top and Minnesota at the bottom, I think that the rest of the division is a crapshoot. Who knows how Iowa is going to respond to a new QB and everything that went down with them last season? Who knows if Persa will be able to come back effectively after his injury?
One thing that I'm surprised about is how much love Sparty is getting. I'm consistently seeing them in the Top 15-25. Yes, their record was pretty sweet at 11-2, but they only beat one team that ended up in the top 25 and got their asses kicked in their two losses (combined score 86-13). They barely beat ND, had to make big comebacks to beat Northwestern and Purdue, and barely held off Penn State at the end of season. Not to mention the fact that they lost a number of key contributors from last year's team.
This is meant to single them out, I'm sure there are other teams that are overrated, I just happen to know more about Sparty. I get MSU fans thinking that last year was the year became a national power, I don't get why the media thinks that.
Compared to most other B10 teams, though, MSU is losing way less, especially on offense. It seems reasonable for them to get preseason hype within the league, especially considering OSU's troubles. I do agree, however, that they were supremely lucky last year and probably won't be as lucky this year. Here's to hoping that they'll NEED to be lucky, though.
Didn't MSU lose about 4-5 starters on each side of the ball, including most of their O-line, and some key defenders like Jones? I remember looking at opposing rosters last year and seeing a ton of departing seniors for teams like Iowa, MSU and OSU.
You may be right about that; I know they lost a decent amount of their OL. But they return all their flashy pieces aside from Greg Jones, which is easier to pick up on if you're the media, I suppose. OL aside, I'm still a little afraid of Cousins and their stable of RBs.
finishing that high. i see them doing what iowa did this past year (edit: beaten to the punch by comment above) - losing some of those close games (nd, psu, nw, and even purdue were all tossups). couple that with the fact that msu goes to nd, nebraska, osu, and iowa i dont see them doing nearly as well as they did last year.
Speaking of preview magazines, anyone heard if Brian is again going to be the editor and main put-it-together-guy of the Maple Street Press preview mag? I'm used to reading weekly plugs to go put one on order around this time of the year...
Question marks
Iowa= QB, RB depth, Front Seven on D.
MSU= OL, Front Seven on D.
Minny= New coaching staff AND it's the Gophers.
NW= ???? Persa healthy?
NU= ???? have no clue except QB Depth/new RB.
Looks wide open to me.
Nebraska's RB isn't new per se -- Rex Burkhead started two games last year, played in all 14, and put up 990 yards.