Michigan DNP; moves to 19 in AP, stays at 17 in Coaches

Submitted by glewe on

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/rankings

Other B1G+ teams in Top 25 of either poll:

Team AP/Coaches

Ohio 4/3
Northwestern 16/15
Maryland 25/RV
Nebraska RV/25
Wisconsin, MSU, Rutgers, and Notre Dame all receiving votes in both

 

michiganman01

September 29th, 2013 at 12:23 PM ^

winning will take care of everything. polls really dont matter until november when you have 5 teams vying for 2 spots. And if it does matter to you, dont worry because in the coaches we are 17th and the coaches is part of the BCS. 

Benoit Balls

September 29th, 2013 at 12:26 PM ^

the fact that Ole Miss only dropped to 24 (from 21) after getting shut out and losing by 25 tells me all I need to know. Sure, it was Alabama, but its not like they were remotely competitive.

remdog

September 29th, 2013 at 1:43 PM ^

You did not watch the game. It was MUCH closer than the final score. Ole Miss would have been ahead at half time if they hadn't shot themselves in the foot more than once. They were completely shutting down Bama's offense for most of the game. The final score was padded by some late scores. Bama looks very beatable this year despite the final score.

Mr. Peteyall

September 29th, 2013 at 12:31 PM ^

Our SOS isn't looking too hot either.  ND struggled against Purdue before losing handily to Oklahoma. UConn got routed by Buffalo. Akron, CMU and UConn have a total of two wins, over FCS teams.  They all lost this weekend.  Let us hope we just play down to our competition.

glewe

September 29th, 2013 at 12:35 PM ^

Everyone seems to think that this year is the UCronpocalypse, but I think our game against UConn was a total fluke. Even with our offensive woes, we handled them easily on defense. Our special teams made one unusual error, and our offense made a few usual ones. Without the unusual special teams error, the game is easily ours with all--was it four?--of our turnovers.

I think we showed enough development against UConn that I have great hope for the rest of the season.

glewe

September 29th, 2013 at 1:09 PM ^

The Akron game was a "fluke" in the sense that we completely underplayed our level of talent--hence, not a fluke (in my opinion). We consistently failed on both sides of the ball. Defense couldn't generate pressure or play coverage; offense turned the ball over half a dozen times.

The UConn game was a fluke in the sense that the special teams miffed one play that completely changed the rest of the game and made us play catch-up. But we caught up, and we overcame the other team because we played better than they did.

Offense still failed against UConn, but defense didn't. Hence: Enough growth for me to be encouraged.

SirJack II

September 29th, 2013 at 2:41 PM ^

Some people's ability to maintain a high level of optimism is astounding to me. According to this line of thinking, we've somehow managed to play 8 quarters in a row of flukey football.

Regardless of the circumstances, if you can't beat up on Akron and UConn you're probably just not that good. 

Double Wolverine

September 30th, 2013 at 1:11 AM ^

The defense is good and hopefully improves with Jake Ryan's return along with young players getting more PT.

The offense can be good as long as they avoid turnovers. One stat I was amazed by during the UConn game: for the however many games Devin was starter he has more turnovers than any other player, during that same stretch only Manziel accounted for more TDs. Huge upside but also a big risk if Devin can't shake the TOs.

BlueHills

September 29th, 2013 at 12:30 PM ^

Not surprising. We went from, "Wow, Michigan beat Mighty ND," to "Nice record but Michigan hasn't played anyone," pretty quickly.

And willya look at Maryland...

LSAClassOf2000

September 29th, 2013 at 12:28 PM ^

Here's the distribution of the votes this week:

14th - 5 votes

15th - 4 votes

16th - 11 votes

17th - 7 votes

18th - 7 votes

19th - 9 votes

20th - 10 votes

21st - 1 vote

22nd  - 2 votes

25th - 2 votes

unranked - 3 votes

What it amounts to actually is a slight upward tick in our average ranking to 17.88 from 18.11 last week, so that at least is good news. After six polls now, our cumulative average position is 15.71 across 347 votes and the median and mode are both 16. 

Mitch Cumstein

September 29th, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^

It's nice to see a low number next to the name, but let's be honest, we're not winning a NC this year and that is all that rankings really matter for.  Our goal is winning the Big Ten and then the Rose bowl, and this goal is still attainable (although looking less likely after the last couple weeks),

Perkis-Size Me

September 29th, 2013 at 12:48 PM ^

Did you really ever sit there at one point during this season, or even before it, and think to yourself that this team was ready to win a NC? If so, you are a far more optimistic man than I.

Don't get me wrong; this is a talented team, especially with some of the younger guys. But there were going to be a LOT of growing pains this year with having to play so many young guys, and I think there could be again next year. Both tackles, including the best left tackle in America, have to be replaced going into next year. Gallon will be gone, along with Fitz, Gordon, Q-Wash, Jibreel Black, and others. The O-Line could again be completely overhauled, and its not a stretch to think that next year, Kalis could be the only returning starter on the line, especially with talented guys like Dawson, Kugler, Bosch, and Tillman waiting in the wings.

I'm going on a bit of a long rant here, but I guess I'm saying we should temper our expectations a little bit. Not to say this team isn't capable of big things, but if you asked me, I'd say that the level of experience won't be where we ideally want it to be until maybe 2015. The raw talent is already there, but having proven game experience, refined technique, and a lot of time in the weight room count for a lot.

But then again, I'm sometimes a glass half-empty guy. I hope to be proven horribly wrong and watch this team go undefeated.

somewittyname

September 29th, 2013 at 1:02 PM ^

It's all relative though. The big ten frankly sucks. I thought 10 wins +/-1 going into the season, thought more like 10-11 post ND, so at least going undefeated regular season didn't seem that wacky. But I also never thought that we could compete with a Bama, Georgia, Clemson, Oregon caliber team.

Even now though, we've had two very strong performances and two awful ones, and 90% of it is whether DG is turning it over. Obviously the OL is struggling with consistency, but with their youth their is some hope for the season. DG is a wildcard.

Regardless, we're looking at a PSU team who already lost once, Nebraska, who is a shit show (Pelini will probably get axed), MSU, who can't score points with their offense, and finally NW, who is one dimensional in the opposite sense of MSU.

Anyone talking about 7-5, 8-4 seasons needs to realize that Mich has the most potential of anyone in our division and Gardner has previously shown that he can take far better care of the ball than he has the majority of this season.

 

switch26

September 29th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^

7-5 or 8-4 could be very realistic..  Gardner has a huge issue with only focusing on Gallon, and staring down the WR he is throwing to.  This wasn't an issue the first couple games because teams didn't have that much tape to watch..  Now he continues to do it every game and it is becoming easier for teams to just read him, or double team gallon.  Who he still continues to throw to even though he is double covered.  

 

I am all for hoping that he comes off this bye week and dominates again like he did against ND, but I won't hold my breath either..  

somewittyname

September 29th, 2013 at 2:56 PM ^

I'd say worst case scenario, barring key injuries, is 8-4. People are forgetting that we destroyed CMU and torched ND's defense (and while ND lost yesterday, it was strictly because of Rees ints, not defense). People are forgetting how good Devin looked last year. People are forgetting just how bad the B10 is outside of OSU (luckily we don't play Wisco). People are forgetting that we have a pretty good defense. People are forgetting that we are about to get Jake Ryan back. People are forgetting that OSU should have lost to Cal and Purdue last year but instead went undefeated.

maizenbluenc

September 29th, 2013 at 9:13 PM ^

NC State beat CMU 48-14.

We beat CMU 59-9.

NC State lost to Clemson 26-14 (if it weren't for that BS call ...)

So, theoretically, we are better than NC State, and therefore should be able to beat Clemson.

While we are at it, Clemson beat Georgia, so there is that too ...

eamus_caeruli (not verified)

September 29th, 2013 at 1:04 PM ^

I agree with everything you said sans Tillman having a shit at a 2 deep or even starting job. That young man has a long way to go to be game ready, let alone quality starter in the BIG.



We will continue to to have shaking head moments of how did we just do that great play, as well as why did you just do that!

M-Dog

September 29th, 2013 at 8:55 PM ^

Truthfully, I go into every season thinking we might win the NC.  Because you just don't know.

We won it in 1997, but that was not a year where you would have thought going into the season that we would be something special.  The previous year was pretty ordinary, even weak.

Likewise, we were in the NC hunt late in the season in other surprise years like '85, '88, '03, and '06, where based on the previous year, you would have thought there would be no chance.

You never know how much water is going to be in the glass.

 

 

IPFW_Wolverines

September 29th, 2013 at 12:32 PM ^

Maryland didn't play and moved into the top 25 for the AP. Michigan didn't play and moved down a spot in the AP. 

Wonder why...

Oh right, Maryland plays number 8 FSU this week and for the media it looks a lot better for ranked FSU to be playing ranked Maryland. 

 

 

Leaders And Best

September 29th, 2013 at 12:49 PM ^

I have no problem with Maryland being ranked right now. It's better than the Coaches' Poll where Maryland is unranked and Nebraska somehow found a way back into the poll after getting obliterated by UCLA at home.

Northern Illinois deserves to be in the Top 25 as well.