Michigan Football’s 2018 final ranking
January 1st, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
Who cares really
January 1st, 2019 at 8:07 PM ^
True. But... based on the regular season results, UM is a Top 10 team.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:51 PM ^
The #7 team got blown out. That doesn't add up to top 10
January 1st, 2019 at 9:09 PM ^
Blown out without 2 All Americans on defense, Starting RB and O-linemen and a host of injuries during the game.
Excuses, maybe. But true!
January 1st, 2019 at 10:54 PM ^
It would not have made that much difference. It's not like Florida was a juggernaut either. 32nd ranked scoring offense.
January 1st, 2019 at 11:45 PM ^
I’m as disappointed as anyone in how the season ended, but all 3 of our losses were to teams that will finish in the top 10. The last two losses were not close, but we need to keep some perspective. We did not lose to any bad teams. Most teams do not even play that many ranked teams, let alone top-10 teams.
I will say ranked 12.
January 2nd, 2019 at 12:25 AM ^
Yeah, I'm sure the voters will go team by team and take into consideration which teams had players sitting out for injury or draft purposes.They always do that. We weren't a very good team when it mattered most and when it's all said a done, we didn't beat a top 20 team.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:09 AM ^
Recruits care.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
twifty threeve
January 1st, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
Rankins mean shit unless you’re #1.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
I bet it has an impact on the recruiting trail, and thus has some meaning.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:58 PM ^
You think being ranked 13th at the end of the season matters in recruiting?
“Come play for us kid, we were the 13th best team in America this season!”
January 1st, 2019 at 8:04 PM ^
I think the 13 is a negative, and the further we fall, the more negative. Obviously recruits can see we suck in any remotely big game and aren’t anywhere near a top/elite team but that translates into a ranking. Being 15 or 20 doesn’t exactly signal, “come here, we are doing great things and are positioned for a championship”
January 1st, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
I can recall the pre-playoff days ... 70s and early 80s ... where the final ranking meant at least something. Not anymore. There's the playoff winner, and everyone else is simply "not #1."
Re: recruiting ... final ranking means nothing. What matters is the impression of a program being ascendant.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:06 PM ^
Correct. And falling from 4 to 16 in two games would not signal ascension.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:27 PM ^
Of greater concern than the final ranking -- what will stick in the minds of potential recruits -- is how Michigan lost its last two games.
If both games were lost in tough fights down to the wire, then the narrative would be different.
That's why 2019 is so important. It's not "championship or bust." It's "show us those two games don't represent the norm." If 2019 Michigan shows the same things that were on display in those two losses, then watch out ...
January 1st, 2019 at 8:50 PM ^
This, a thousand times. If we had kept fighting against OSU and Florida instead of disintegrating, this would have been like 2016. We ended with two tough losses but at no point did we look like an underachieving, mentally weak team.
January 1st, 2019 at 9:23 PM ^
Best post I’ve read all day. You’re so right. Used to be rankings at the end of the year meant something. Like you said, now, you’re #1 or you’re just one of a dozen or two teams who want to be.
January 2nd, 2019 at 10:30 AM ^
...and that's a bad thing. College football originated in teams barnstorming and challenging other schools to see who was tougher. My team is tougher than your team. Now with the CFP, it only matters if you are #1. Players sit out bowl games because they might get hurt and the games don't matter. #13 matters if PSU is #20 and MSU is unranked.
Beating ND, OSU and MSU, and winning the B1G matters. Winning the Rose Bowl matters. National Championships are an awesome cherry on top if you accomplish those other goals, but it shouldn't be the goal in and of itself.
We need to accomplish those first goals, but it sucks that we can't be happy unless we start paying players and win the national championship. I'm starting to lose my enthusiasm for college football even after making it through RR and Hoke.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:59 PM ^
It means you lost the last 2 games thanks Shea /:
January 1st, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
Not true. I'd take 2, 3, 4 or 5.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:50 PM ^
15 sounds about right. You get blown out the last 2 games of the year, including against a not great Florida team, you deserve to drop pretty far.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:51 PM ^
If not 1st, I wanna be 69th.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
Nice?
January 1st, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
Eleventy Seventy Gillion.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:52 PM ^
from a quick glance at the board, we probably will end up ranked below all other programs including NAIA teams and division one high school teams...
in all seriousness, probably 17-20, which is unfortunately what we deserve. an underperformance, which would not have been so if we'd won the peach bowl, in my opinion.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:53 PM ^
I commend you for your enthusiasm in determining a final ranking after the dumpster fire last 2 games Harbaugh coached.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:03 PM ^
I commend you on being mentally capable of watching the rose bowl and typing this post at the same time. I bet you aced every class at OSU.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:29 PM ^
Not much of a game although Huskies are putting up a much better fight than the Wolverines did.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:34 PM ^
If we only had Washington's D. We just played stubborn and continued to play man.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:40 PM ^
They're no Purdue. That's for sure.
January 3rd, 2019 at 7:39 AM ^
The fact that you have to post on this site reveals how truly joyless suckeye fans really are. You can't be happy huh? Please be honest. Your hate drives you to think about HB. You know you can't stand the fact some of us love the most storied program in college football. Keep reading our posts. It pleases me to know your miserable. We are living rent free in you brain.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:44 PM ^
Living in Detroit and are an OSU fan? Really got the best of both worlds huh?
January 1st, 2019 at 8:48 PM ^
Not in Detroit, in the Suburbs. Although it is much easier than being a "Columbus Wolverine" !!!
January 1st, 2019 at 8:58 PM ^
True... Columbus is a shithole, full of shitbags
January 1st, 2019 at 9:03 PM ^
I grew up in Columbus and attended OSU but have lived in the Detroit area (Troy/Birmingham) for the most part since after graduation. While "shit bags" may be a strong term Columbus definitely has a much larger "redneck" feel than this area (other than maybe Downriver).
January 1st, 2019 at 9:29 PM ^
I feel you underestimate your home town due to bias.
It is a shithole.
January 1st, 2019 at 10:13 PM ^
Sadly true. We're awfully tolerant of you guys up here.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:54 PM ^
If OSU can keep good distance from Washington, and we get any goodwill b/c of missing key defensive players (particularly Bush, who was very sorely missed), we'll be 12-13.
Otherwise, 15.
I have a feeling plenty of voters (other coaches, writers, whoever) look for reasons to punish/dump on Harbaugh.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
Harbaugh gave them plenty of reasons these past 2 games
January 1st, 2019 at 8:04 PM ^
I know. That's the point.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:54 PM ^
I’m not sure but we’ll probably be overranked next preseason regardless.
Football team gets the opposite treatment as our b-ball team.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:55 PM ^
Top twenty if we're lucky.
January 1st, 2019 at 7:56 PM ^
I’ve been wondering the same this weekend. I love them and hate to say it but I’m thinking around 15 - 17. Those last two losses were pretty bad.
Can’t wait for the spring game to watch Patterson, McCaffrey & Milton maybe go at each other a little bit. Watch some of these commits showcase what they’ve got to offer. Maybe we’ll have a new OC and Harbaugh will open things up a bit.
Always optimistic! Go Blue.
January 1st, 2019 at 8:03 PM ^
Or Tru Wilson plodding into stacked boxes for 2 yard gains!
January 1st, 2019 at 7:59 PM ^
The total number of points we wish we gave up in the last 2 games?
January 1st, 2019 at 7:59 PM ^
Who needs numbers? Verbally, our ranking should be “Not good enough when it counts.”
January 1st, 2019 at 7:59 PM ^
3 losses aren’t bad, so probably in that 12-15 range. Too bad our best win (PSU) proved themselves not very good by losing their bowl game too.