Michigan #14 in Preseason AP Poll

Submitted by Wolverine Devotee on

Fair. 

  1. Alabama
  2. Clemson
  3. Georgia
  4. Wisconsin
  5. Ohio State
  6. Washington
  7. Oklahoma
  8. Miami
  9. Auburn
  10. Penn State
  11. Michigan State
  12. Notre Dame
  13. Stanford
  14. Michigan
  15. USC
  16. TCU
  17. West Virginia
  18. Mississippi State
  19. Florida State
  20. Virginia Tech
  21. UCF
  22. Boise State
  23. Texas
  24. Oregon
  25. LSU

DualThreat

August 20th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^

From 1997 Michigan football wikipedia page...

(Bolded emphasis mine.)

Going into the 1997 season, the Wolverines were ranked No. 17 in the pre-season Coaches' Poll and had experienced four consecutive four-loss seasons for the first time since the 19341937 Michigan Wolverines football teams.[1] Michigan had not won a national championship in nearly 50 years and had not played in a Rose Bowl Game since the 1992 season. The 1997 Michigan team was the first since the 1969 team to have no Rose Bowl veterans.[2][3] In early September 1997, The Columbus Dispatch wrote off Michigan, noting that "the longtime beast of the Big Ten ... has lost much of its aura" and predicting that Michigan's 1997 schedule "doesn't create a feeling that the pendulum is about to swing back."[4]

Let's doooooooo this!!!

saveferris

August 20th, 2018 at 1:26 PM ^

Wisconsin's schedule boils down to road games against Michigan and Penn State, both of which could be considered toss-ups.  They'll be prohibitive favorites in the remainder of their games.  If the Badgers can split those two marque games, they'll easily be ranked Top 5, inflated or not.

WolverineHistorian

August 20th, 2018 at 1:55 PM ^

I don't know.  When you only have to get up for two games all year (a common theme for Wisconsin) and you split them, I don't think you deserve to be in the top five.  If you win the conference title game in addition to one of those games, I guess.  But that's still pretty generous. 

Wisconsin's freakishly easy schedules over the years have not fooled the pollsters, especially in regards to preseason predictions.  This is the first time I can ever remember them being picked this high. 

ScruffyTheJanitor

August 20th, 2018 at 1:05 PM ^

Seriously; offensive line play feels very week across the board. Maybe it's a Big 10 thing, but there seems to be a ton of teams with an Offensive line problem. Wiscy having like 8 quality starters or whatever feels like it's worth a top-ten ranking by itself.

Given that they have a good defense, good RBs, and Randy Rivers leading the way... #4 seems OK.

WolverineHistorian

August 20th, 2018 at 2:19 PM ^

Yeah, but here's the thing.  Even before the divisions were created, Wisconsin's schedules were almost always a joke.  They played a home and home with one elite team in non-conference play per decade and the rest were cupcakes.  Last year, someone here added up all the records of every non-conference team the Badgers have played in the last 25 years and I believe it was barely 30% win percentage.  

Their Rose Bowl teams under Barry Alvarez always missed out on playing one of the top conference teams (Penn State in 93 and 99 and Ohio State in 98) in addition to losing to Michigan.  And even when they went to the Rose Bowl, they played against teams like UCLA which had a RichRod defense and unranked Stanford coached by Ty Willingham.  That's a pitiful comparison to the competition we would often play in the Rose Bowl like Texas with Vince Young and USC with all the best players Pete Carroll could buy.

Wisconsin just continues to get very special treatment from the schedule GODS, whether it's from incredibly lucky timing or by their own hand.  I thought this would finally stop once the Big Ten split in two divisions but that hasn't been the case. 

 

DrMantisToboggan

August 20th, 2018 at 12:17 PM ^

If you're into numerology, The Bear (Chris Fallica) tweeted a nice note a few days ago. In each of the last two seasons, the highest ranked team in the preseason poll which finished the previous season unranked made the Playoff. 

2016 - Washington

2017 - Georgia

2018 - Michigan is the team that fits this description.

Mr Grainger

August 20th, 2018 at 1:20 PM ^

All right, I'll make another comparison. The 2005 Michigan team was decimated by injury, finished the regular season with four losses, including a close one at home to OSU, then lost a bowl game nearly everyone expected them to win. 

During the offseason, Coach Carr made some high-profile coaching changes, including at OC.

At the beginning of 2006 the Wolverines were ranked #14 (AP).

They finished 11-1 and missed the NC game by three points.

Year of Revenge II

August 20th, 2018 at 12:18 PM ^

Fair--maybe.  Enlightened--no way. I think Georgia is the favorite, and we are definitely in the top 5.  AP is nothing but a beauty contest, and for now, based on nothing but returning people from last  year.  How we are 14 with that defense and the addition of Patterson is laughable.

Good part is--it doesn't matter.  Just win.

DualThreat

August 20th, 2018 at 12:30 PM ^

I actually think Michigan should be #6.

I look at each of those teams and think, right now, based on the limited info on each team, who do I think would win on a neutral field?

I believe Michigan would lose to all the teams ranked 1-5 and beat the teams 6 and below.

(Polls should never be predictive of season performance or strength of schedule.  They should just be snapshot on perceived team strength, IMO).