So Who Wins It All Next Season?
Bama is losing a lot to the draft, portal and Saban is gone.
We lose a lot on offense but return an elite defense. I’ll be fine with 9-10 wins(we won a freaking natty)
Ole miss is loaded next year,
OSU seems to be going all out to win one next year.(I don’t trust day to win 3 or 4 playoff games much less beat us)
Oregon will be elite on offense but their defense is soft as cotton.
Right now, I’d put my money on Georgia.
January 17th, 2024 at 3:19 PM ^
Michigan
January 17th, 2024 at 3:27 PM ^
Qb and wide receiver play in the spring game will show me whether we’re capable of winning it again. The defense alone is good for 8 wins. If Orji is Kaepernick and Semaj and Morris make huge leaps we’re a top 5 team.
January 17th, 2024 at 3:28 PM ^
Spring game wont tell us anything. Clemons was a spring game superstar....
January 17th, 2024 at 3:31 PM ^
The talent was there. According to the “insiders” he missed a lot of practice and didn't like contact.
January 17th, 2024 at 3:58 PM ^
Knowing him from his youth playing days this seems plausible. Still sucks to lose him though.
January 17th, 2024 at 6:21 PM ^
Chris fitz??? Is that you?
January 17th, 2024 at 5:10 PM ^
Anthony Carter was on somewhere with that Wangler guy. He was asked how he worked his way into the lineup - AC responded with 'by blocking'.
January 17th, 2024 at 6:26 PM ^
BS. I also saw him play most of his life. Sounds like an excuse for not being able to/wanting to get the ball to your receivers.
Harbs told Drel he didn't block enough. Give me a break. We went long stretches without getting Roman the ball as well. Its just a weird quirk with Harbs.
Then all the winning didn't help the argument to change this tendency. But here we are, a place WRs generally avoid.
January 17th, 2024 at 7:47 PM ^
"...didn't like contact..." is not a good ingredient for a football player recipe...
January 17th, 2024 at 3:47 PM ^
"Spring game wont tell us anything."
I think that's harsh.
Clemons caught a TD pass when going up against a walk-on. Somewhat promising, sure, but I don't think any informed observer declared him a superstar based on that single play.
Spring games sometimes provide useful information. Benjamin Hall is one of many examples. His college career is mostly in the future, but he was written off as a charity case prior to last year's game and performed well.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:11 PM ^
The spring game also showed us pretty definitively that Walker was not the answer at CB2.
January 17th, 2024 at 6:33 PM ^
So was Peyton Oleary..
January 17th, 2024 at 3:34 PM ^
If Orji is Kaepernick, M is top 5. If Orji is Taylor Martinez, then M is still top-15.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:08 PM ^
If Orji is Adrian Martinez, we almost always almost go 15-0.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:21 PM ^
If there's an Orji is in the end zone, we all score.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:51 PM ^
...multiple people score...
FIFY
January 17th, 2024 at 9:13 PM ^
Orji is way tougher than Adrian Martinez.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:54 PM ^
If you're not an Orji fan your eyes are wide shut.
January 17th, 2024 at 6:04 PM ^
I'd like to think you're right about the D, but if Minter goes, who knows what scheme we'll have and how successful it will or won't be.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:14 PM ^
“When the old season is over you and I know it’s gonna be Michigan again. Michigan!”
January 17th, 2024 at 3:19 PM ^
Michigan
January 17th, 2024 at 3:20 PM ^
Probably Georgia.
But now the dance is much bigger.
My hope is we're 2021 Michigan and we pull off a miracle run
January 17th, 2024 at 3:32 PM ^
UConn
January 17th, 2024 at 3:55 PM ^
Georgia and - don't shoot me - OSU with Oregon having an outside shot. Just think the OSU NIL - with most of their key players returning that were considering the NFL - is in full charge ahead. Keep an eye on Oregon as they play OSU in Eugene next year.
Just feel we're losing a lot and will return to the top in 2025
January 17th, 2024 at 4:21 PM ^
Agreed it’s probably OSU. They are already talent and have dominated the portal this year. They’ll have a better defense than Ole miss and Oregon. We lose a lot, schembechler hall is radio silent in the portal, and we might be replacing our best coaches. It could be a rough year for us if JH doesn’t come back.
January 17th, 2024 at 5:20 PM ^
(with 'everyone' returning') OSU's defense returns 8 all-BT players, 2 from the first team, none from the 2nd team.
(with 'the whole team' declaring) UM's defense returns 7 all-BT players, 2 from the first team, 1 from the 2nd team
Kind of shows the difference that existed this year...and makes the hype for OSU right now seem a bit overboard.
Offense is a different story, but OSU gets, at best, an equal QB, and loses 3 of their top 4 receivers. (didn't look up the stats for their receiving, might be a tad worse or better than that).
January 17th, 2024 at 8:20 PM ^
Football is the consummate team sport-with the most moving parts. Elite players without good coaching struggle to win. We love the talent and commitment of our great team of '23 but without the coaching, guidance and orchestration by an elite staff of coaches they are just another team. OSU can amass all the talent in the world...a huge hurtle remains.
January 18th, 2024 at 12:22 PM ^
OSU also has a much easier (on paper) schedule.
Their non-conference games are: Akron, WMU, and Marshall.
The only "new" conference team they have is Oregon (granted a good team, but they dodge the rest of them, unlike us).
And they get Michigan at home.
January 17th, 2024 at 5:16 PM ^
No way OSU until they axe Third Base. And that’s third base in Softball not baseball. Soft, bitches, soft
January 17th, 2024 at 9:23 PM ^
OSU = 2007 Michigan
At the time I was convinced we were going to win that year because of our seniors that came back just to win that game. Only afterwards did I realize that it didn't matter. Our coaches were stuck in their ways that had led to our demise the previous three years.
They lose to Akron, Oregon, Nebraska, Michigan.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. But we're national champions so apparently we're in a phase where my dreams are coming true.
January 17th, 2024 at 3:20 PM ^
Michigan
January 17th, 2024 at 3:20 PM ^
UGA beats UM in 1 semi
Oregon beats OSU in another semi
UGA wins it all again
January 17th, 2024 at 3:38 PM ^
Oregon was the 2nd to last weakest team in a weak Pac-12. I'll be surprised if they manage to win 8 in their first season in the BIG.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:01 PM ^
They got that top portal QB and almost every "way too early" 2024 forecast has both Oregon and OSU in the top 5. A lot of what we do depends on what happens to JH - of course
January 17th, 2024 at 4:15 PM ^
Oregon? The team whose only two losses were to Washington and both by less than a touchdown? That Oregon? Pac-12 may be overrated but come on.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:31 PM ^
Yeah, agree, Oregon is LOADED next year and anyone saying otherwise is clueless
January 17th, 2024 at 4:54 PM ^
A team can be LOADED with talent, and still be weak.
January 17th, 2024 at 5:41 PM ^
Oregon also has one of the top HCs in America in Dan Lanning. Not understanding what your point is
January 17th, 2024 at 9:26 PM ^
They may be weak, but damn are they fast.
January 18th, 2024 at 9:33 AM ^
Do you know how many times we've seen a loaded Oregon team shit themselves? Every single year.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:46 PM ^
I think he means 2nd least weakest.
Technically, Michigan was the least weakest team in the B1G.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:52 PM ^
Correct. My eyes and fingers aren't always on the same page.
January 17th, 2024 at 5:15 PM ^
well, that's just unnecessarily convoluted language.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:49 PM ^
Washington? that team that was held to a touchdown and a field goal? The Pac-12 has been an echo chamber of weak teams for a little under a decade now. USC, UCLA, Oregon, and Washington will expand the annual BIG money chest... but as far as winning championships? Not for a while.
January 17th, 2024 at 5:14 PM ^
Washington did make it to the finals. Sure, Alabama was probably the tougher team but they did beat Texas to get in.
Oregon also beat OSU in 2021; they’ve had their moments over the lasr twenty or so years.
January 17th, 2024 at 4:29 PM ^
2nd to last???
January 17th, 2024 at 3:39 PM ^
Three B1G teams making it to the semis would be pretty wild
January 17th, 2024 at 4:07 PM ^
Everybody is bringing up OSU, Oregon and UM as the most possible Playoff teams, but the sleeper is Lincoln Riley and USC and yes, I know their defense SUCKS but if they can ever figure it out, watch out
January 17th, 2024 at 4:23 PM ^
Figure what out? They lost a lot from this year when they sucked. You think they make a playoff run in 2024?
January 17th, 2024 at 4:34 PM ^
Didn't say they'll make a Playoff run just saying that team always has talent and if they can figure out defense - a big if - they could be a factor