2010 Conference Predictions According to ESPN

Submitted by the_big_house 500th on

ESPN has their conference predictions already out it appears and it looks like they are really loving Ohio State in the All Big Ten team. Justin Boren? Really espn? really?....

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=5345688

They have Michigan finishing 7th. I'd like to be higher up than that. At least 6th or 5th. Though all of us wish 1st but still have a bit till were up there.

jmblue

July 21st, 2010 at 10:17 PM ^

Why would I be pissed off?  Your argument is comical.  It's not serious enough to be anger-inducing. 

Since you are apparently serious, let me ask you this: what in the H-E-double hockey sticks does Dave Wannstedt taking advantage of Pat White's broken thumb have to do with whether or not Rich Rodriguez "gets" that OSU is a big game?

Here is all that needs to be "gotten" about a rivalry: it's a big game, so you should try your best and prepare your hardest.  I'll make sure to email RR this insightful tidbit in case he doesn't know. 

maizenbluenc

July 21st, 2010 at 12:45 PM ^

My interpretation is Harbaugh worries him because he is a product of Bo, lived the rivalry under Bo, and much like Tressel and Dantonio would come in day one and rally players, fans and boosters around it. And oh by the way, he's proved he can win a rivalry game with lesser talent.

Not to mention that Harbaugh would have a head start in the hearts and minds department based on his havign played at Michigan.

maizenbluenc

July 21st, 2010 at 6:40 PM ^

I totally understand why we hired Rich. He was a hot commodity, the leading authority on that speedy spread thingy that kept killing us, and the loss to Pitt and internal issues at WVU practically landed him at our doorstep.

Not to mention he was coached by Don Nehlen, and brought in to coach by Don Nehlen. This makes Rich an extended 2nd cousin sort of part of the Bo coaching tree [WVA cousin jokes notwithstanding].

So, if I were Bill Martin, I would have hired him too. I just would have committed to paying the damned termination fee up front to avoid the whole muddy law suit thing. (i.e., UofM hired him, and Bill Martin should have hired him "the right way".)

I question a few things about Rich (the past doesn't matter, and not totally outwardly embracing the OSU rivalry to name a few). He's had some public miscues, and some of them have been laid on him.

The NCAA thing is all about doing 60 in a 55 or loosely interpreting some unclear or il-defined bylaws, and being reported for 100 in a 55. [The QC Staff were interpreted to be ok as part time interdepartmental S&C staff. After the fact the NCAA determined they were not qualified, therefore any activity they undertook in a "S&C staff" role was determined to be countable coached activity. We didn't even have forms to prove countable hours because they weren't being submitted even before Rich's tenure. The whole thing rests on miscommunicated interpretations.]

Bottom line is, I believe that Rich can be very successful "the right way". he obviously was at WVU, and should be able to be here. I hope he really is - with a breakout this year.

However - I forgot the term OSU guy used last night - there is what should be able to happen, versus whether the environment around Rich makes it impossible. Sometimes you need a change in leadership, to get a change in direction (e.g., watch 12 O'Clock High).

If we get to the point where Rich is fired. I think Harbaugh is one of the first people called. Don't get me wrong, Jim has warts too: a big mouth to start with. But Jim was at Michigan when I was, was in some of my History classes. If he were to be the next coach at Michigan, I would be behind him 100%.

In the meantime, I support Rich and the team 100% as is. And I don't see where winning "the right way" is not something they are trying very hard to do.

bluenyc

July 21st, 2010 at 8:22 PM ^

Great point about the connection with Bo.  I didnt think of that right off the bat.  Coach Rod wasnt who I wanted.  Being from NYC, you watch alot of Big East football and I hated his offense.  I always thought that a spread offense that ran as much as he did at WVU was a oxymoron.  Kind of like a wishbone passing attack.  When we got him, I thought wow, big name who turned Alabama down but are we going to run it as much as the old days.  My friends from Big East schools said he was pretty shady and could give us a bad name, but they did say he was a winner. 

I knew that I would support him because its not about what I want.  Its about the school.   I want what everyone on this board wants which is for us to win, but I would rather lose than tarnish our name.  You are absolutely right about the past and I also questioned some of Coach Rod's decisions in the past.  But now, I feel for him.  I think even if he has a bad season, he may deserve one more year.  I think it is really sad that he never got a fresh start.

As for if he does leave, I dont want Harbaugh.  I loved him as a QB, but I still cant believe he said what he said about Michigan.  Family business should be kept in the family and not aired in public.  I know I might have rambled a bit, but I thought this was a great conversation. 

maizenbluenc

July 21st, 2010 at 9:18 PM ^

It's OK. Seems to be my day for rambling as well.

As far as Harbaugh is concerned, as long as what he said is true (athletes were steered to to easier degree programs), and he said it for  the right reasons (they should be encouraged and supported to pursue degrees of choice), then I don't have a real issue. He came out on the side of student athletes from his own experience as one.

Because his comments got tied in with Ann Arbor News' insinuation of easy grades from a specific professor -- well he can't steer the context.

I would prefer he didn't comment, but as long as the comment was fair: OK.

Don

July 21st, 2010 at 8:31 AM ^

are as good at developing talent as their WVU reputation said they were. What was one of the main knocks on Lloyd Carr?... that he didn't develop the talent that he recruited. One of the major reasons so many UM fans celebrated the hiring of RR was that he was supposed to develop great teams with just 3-star players, and "gee, he'll be awesome once he gets to UM and can recruit equally with the big boys."

Now's the time for the rubber to meet the road. Obviously the won-loss record is the most important thing, but if the post-season All-conference lists closely resemble ESPN's list in terms of an absolute absence of UM guys, that would not be encouraging, to say the least.

clarkiefromcanada

July 21st, 2010 at 10:50 AM ^

We at the MGoBlog obsess about all things Michigan and are aware of the most minute progress made by Denard or Tate. We follow the depth obsessively and analyze accordingly. This is not the case with the mainstream media who, basically, look at the last couple years of record, maybe account recruiting, add in "gut feeling" and Michigan is 7th, apparently.

If the development of the team persists and *god help me* David Molk retains his health I predict success come September.

ESPN "analysis" means mostly nothing to me.

icefins26

July 21st, 2010 at 9:05 AM ^

My brother-in-law's uncle's cousin's step-brother, told me that he heard that the kid down the block ranked us 5th in the Big Ten.  Seriously though, as amped as I am for the season, these rankings/projections are really worthless.

bronxblue

July 21st, 2010 at 9:08 AM ^

I will believe Pryor is the Big 10's #1 QB when he shows up against decent defenses and Tressel allows him to be a playmaker.  I know he looked really good against Oregon and showed flashes of brilliance in other games, but Tressel is notorious for keeping a tight leash with his QBs(outside of Troy Smith), and with that defense there is no reason that he'll ask Pryor to do much more than manage this offense.  Not saying Pryor doesn't have the ability, but that team won't let him maximize his skill set.

Beyond that, though, the list looks reasonable.  UM doesn't really have that stud player coming into the season, and I really cannot see a position here where they should have a representative outside of maybe Molk or Schilling on the OL and Stonum as a returner.  Still, I expect this team to compete all season, and would not be surprised to see a couple of Wolverines make the end-of-the-year list. 

Blue in sec country

July 21st, 2010 at 10:21 AM ^

In that case I think Tate is the #1 QB in the big ten, when he shows up. I know what you're trying to say but if we are going to judge players on "if" then we can at least pick players on our team. I haven't seen anything fro Pryor that tells me he can be a great QB in the big ten week in and week out. I know he looked good in the Rose Bowl. But he was about the same size as Oregon's DT. If I recall correctly he was only 280.
As far as where we are ranked, that will all work itself out. That's one of many reasons it's good to be a wolverine, if we win we will shoot up the polls and our players will get the recognition the deserve.

Gino

July 21st, 2010 at 10:37 AM ^

Of course prognosticators are predicting us to finish so low... those in the media never like to go out on a limb and be ostracized, so they go with the flow. And in that light, the past two years dictate that prediction. 

However, it is not accurate. This is a very unusual situation with a cutting edge spread coach in Rodriguez who did not have the keystone of the offense... a very mobile QB.  And now we do.

It will be fun to hear the same media people backtrack and kiss Rodriguez' ass, after we drop 65 pts on Purdue and really put the hurt to them...

SwordDancer710

July 21st, 2010 at 10:58 AM ^

Michigan tends to do really well when we're the underdogs ('06 ND, '07 Florida, '09 ND), so I'm okay with taking this for now and proving everyone wrong once the season starts.

Demar Dorsey 4ever

July 21st, 2010 at 11:32 AM ^

After looking at the confrence predictions i am shocked we are sitting behind northwestern. I mean they lost there QB in Kafka and Cory Wooten. 

Now im not saying we sould be in the top 3-4 bu i feel we should be at least 5 or 6

Bodogblog

July 21st, 2010 at 12:17 PM ^

After going 4-1 (with an away OT loss), a lot of pundits jumped on the "this is the second-year jump for RR teams" bandwagon.  After falling flat in the second half, no one's going to rank us higher until we prove it

bdneely4

July 21st, 2010 at 4:55 PM ^

I have two points to make.  First to Not A Blue Fan:  In all due respect, I think it is a little pre-mature to make a bold statement on a Michigan blog that Rich Rodriguez does not "get it."  Now, if Rich Rodriguez is still consistantly losing once he has his system and players in place, then I believe you may have a point.  I have heard this statement from many OSU fans that RichRod doesn't "get it," and they always seem to bring up the loss to Pitt the year West Virginia could have made it to the National Championship  Many forget that Pat White was hurt halfway through that game and was clearly never the same during the game after the injury.  After two seasons I just don't think there is any evidence to clearly back up such a statement.

Second, I am on the bandwagon that Terrelle Pryor is one of the most over-hyped players coming into this year.  I painfully watched many OSU games last year and continually realized that Pryor has a horribly inaccurate arm.  Does it look like he floats in the air when he runs, absolutely, but Tressel will never allow him to fully reach his true potential in running that offense.  I would venture to say that 5-8 of his touchdown passes last year were from Hail Mary throws where the receivers were not even remotely close to being open.  Pryor has a lot of hype to live up to and he did not live up to it 2 years ago or last year, and I have a "gut feeling" that this year will be no different.  Also, having a coach like Tressel leaves no doubt in my mind that Pryor will never live up to the hype.  Please remind me of the last time Tressel developed an All Star QB.