Michigan #3 in ESPN way too early top 25
Yeah hard to bet against Saban. I think it is in LSU this year so I gave them the benefit of the doubt, but that #1 slot could just say "SEC Champ".
Can you imagine the hype of a Miles V Harbaugh NC game? The press would lap that shit up like starving dogs.
Much like....
I think we would win this hypothetical matchup that is 8 months away pretty comfortably. Their defense is stout as always, but in classic LSU fashion their QB is going to be someone who makes terrible decisions with the ball or whose eligibility and legal standing is questionable...or both. We will put 9 in the box against Fournette and play ball.
And yes, i'm going to continue to analyze hypothetical matchups in great depth until we kickoff against Hawaii.
actually not intended as a sarcastic question - Who is the stud QB you are talking about? For me, a stud is somebody that plays great football for UM (Good Rudock level or better), and has a chance to play on Sunday.. Obviously definitions vary.
I think there are three (or even four) guys that could conceivably start, but I'm not sure I see any of those four as guys that I am confident will be a stud QB in 2016.
The guy I have the most confidence in as a stud at some point might be the least likely to start in 2016 - Brandon Peters. Between film and his spring game play, I think he has a chance to be a great Michigan QB. But probably not in 2016.
I actually have less confidence in O'Korn at this point than I did in Rudock last year (of course, he wasn't even on campus yet). His quick trigger on pulling the ball down and running in the spring game makes me nervous. If anybody can fix that, of course, we have the best.
I'm hard pressed to imagine Speight getting to the Good Rudock level this year. That said, he is in his second year with the same OC, same system, same Harbaugh (!!!).
The main thing that gives me more confidence that this will go well is that we have at least two if not three games where whoever gets the nod will have time to work into the role. With this defense, HARBAUGH, and so on, I don't think there are any Hoke-style surprises in those first three games.
Go Blue!
Rob
JOK was working with 3rd string receivers, a mixed OL, and a backup TE and RB and led TD drives on each of the only two drives he played.
Watch his film from his freshman year at Houston, he's like a video game create-a-player. And yeah, Jimmy does pretty well when his guy can scramble effectively (see: Kaepernick, Luck).
Also ill advised I'm willing to bet. O'Korn is very good. He'll be ready to go guns blazing game one. By game 5 he's lighting mother truckers up like xmas trees left and right. You'll see what I mean soon enough my good friend!
Playoffs, I'm sticking with the four I predicted after the bowls: LSU, Michigan, FSU and Baylor.
Good looks. Fight me on Baylor v. Oklahoma tho
I am very skeptical of Baylor. Those air raid type teams always seem to falter.
It was the same thing with Oregon. They would look good all year under Kelly, and then they would crap the bed against a team that could slow them down (Hi Stanford! Hi past Harbaugh!).
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#1 In my cold black dead heart.
There was a time. Seems like a long time ago now. Had a good coach who had been around since 1969. It seemed like every year Michigan would start ranked in the top 5 and the fan base liked it and thought, that's right.
With the exception of not having a returning QB this team is as loaded talent wise. Moreso than I can recall post '97.
PTSD aside, Harbaugh!
I can remember a time we were ranked preseason top 5-10 almost every year. Isn't that why Harbaugh came back?
I'll just leave this here in no particular order:
Peppers
Lewis
Thomas
Butt
Chesson
Darboh
Charlton
Mone
Cole
Smith
Johnson
Wheatley
Gary
Clark
Wormley
Hurst
Glasgow
Perry
You don't think Perry fits in that group? I think he will have a big a year. He will be a very solid contributor and very consistent.
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I do not disagree with you.
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He will be a go-to third down playmaker. We have so many options this year that nobody really knows how or where we will spread the ball around.
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I agree that #3 is too high for pre-season. Something in the 7-12 range makes more sense. If we can nail down a solid QB, if our lingering doubts at LT/C on the O-Line can be erased, and if we can avoid key injuries on thin position groups like OL, S and LB, then I think we're definitely in the hunt for a top 5 season.
I think it is telling he did no bragging last fall and said we had a long way to go. That produced a 10-3 year that could have been better without some misfortune. At the end of last year he was talking about going all the way.
I trust Harbaugh's boys will make MI fans very proud this year.
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some pundits are giving us and do think this could be a very good season. But starting at #3 could be a little high without a proven QB, yet and still a question mark for the LB position.
I have faith in Harbaugh, but think we should start the season around #10
Sparty would lose that game 99 times out of 100. They got lucky and went down there on time 100 during a monsoon and epic Urban Meyer brain fart.
We will have to play like the Michigan of old (and they like the Ohio State of old) to win down there.
But with the scores reversed. Even though we lost that was a game for the ages.
Matter none, wins are all that count!
I agree wins are everything, but the polls do matter. A team starting off ranked highly who losses one game early in the season is in far better position to finish the year in the top 4 than a team which starts off ranked low and losses one game.
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I see your point, but we talk about this because we don't have actual games or actual news to talk about for another four months. This is all we got, and its certainly better than talking about nothing.
Sure these rankings are oftentimes a load of nonsense, but it allows us to start thinking and talking about next season, and who around here doesn't want to do that?
That seems high. Top-10 sure, but it's a new QB, some questions along the offensive line with a new C and some position switches, and a new defensive coordinator. In 2-3 years UM should be expected to just reload every year, but now feels a bit premature to assume a jump top elite off a one-year improvement.
Since Coach Harbaugh himself said "year one is done, now we go for the big one", I think this ranking is too low.
We don't have to be the 3rd best. We just have to win the Big Ten. Fair or not, that's how it works.
Ohio State was probably the second best team last year, maybe the best, but they failed to survive and advance.
Why must we be afraid of a high ranking? If we all believe this team is truly going to be great, then why hide from a faux preseason ranking?
Bring it on, I say.
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