Joel Klatt's take: Can Michigan Win it all?

Board is out of control.  I'd like to speak to a manager!

He thinks Michigan, maybe, can win it all. I am pretty sure that if OSU had won, by even a single point, he would have much more effusive about their chances. 

I think we have better chances than last year, when I was just happy to have the opportunity to be sacrificed to Georgia. This year our team is even better, Georgia seems more mortal than before, and there won't be any Alabama (hopefully..)

This is so clearly our best shot at a national title in decades.  We cleared the biggest hurdle, Ohio State.  There's only 2 playoff teams standing between us and unlike last year, there's no obvious juggernaut.  Georgia has scraped by more this year than we have.  USC and TCU are good but flawed teams that don't have enough defense strength to stop us.

Really feel like we can win it if just a few things go our way (like Blake Corum getting back to nearly 100% with a few weeks off)

This team feels very similar to 97-98.  After beating Penn State, I remember thinking that we were going to beat anyone else we played that year.  I feel the same way now.  

One play, series, and game - at a time.

Michigan has the potential to win three more games - and, the next step is against Purdue in Indy on Saturday evening.

I respect the other teams that are projected to be in the CFP - Georgia, TCU, and USC.  Georgia seems to have the strongest defense in that group.

Michigan is a solid team, and is built on its lines - the foundation for success.

It's always the basics - solid game plans, with a high quality of execution.

I'll defer any national championship conversations until next week.   

Go Blue!

This team will want Georgia. I love it.

It's that day where I'll be listening to podcasts and watching youtube all day. I have about an hour left on the MGoPodcast. This is fun.

11W threat level column should be amusing too.

Beat Purdue. 

I think Michigan has a great shot. A better chance than last year, especially considering that its likely they will avoid Georgia in the semi-finals, but you have to believe that if you get past TCU, Georgia will be there waiting for you in the title game. 

This is Michigan's best chance in years. Georgia is #1, deserves to be #1, and will be favored the rest of the way. They won last year, are still undefeated, so they've earned that. But Michigan, in my mind, is better than it was last year, and Georgia is (at least on defense) not as good this year, either. That's relatively speaking, as last year was a generational defense and its still really good this year. But its not what it was last year, and Georgia has struggled in several games this year. 

Assuming Michigan takes care of business this weekend, and gets by TCU (which is not a given), they can do it. I'd say Georgia is probably a safer bet to repeat than Michigan is to win it all, but this team would be locked in and foaming for redemption after what happened last year. 

Corum said after the game last season "We will be back." He wasn't kidding, and he's going to want that chance badly. 

My favorite Klatt line from saturday-

"75 yards! They said the kid couldnt throw a deep ball"

Goosebumps.

The Michigan we saw Saturday absolutely can win it all. A team that can balance a great run game with some QB runs and a downfield passing threat is a legit threat to win it. With what we showed thru Illinois I didnt think we had it, but post-OSU its clear this is probably the 2nd most likely team to win the title

Michigan should be 25-1 over the past two seasons and on par with Georgia if not for the bullshit rip-off that was the MSU game last season.

I was very confident we could beat Georgia last year.

This year I'm just going to be hopeful.

I don't see why we shouldn't be favorites against TCU, USC, or OSU (lol) though.

This was SO great.  I love Klatt.  This is a must listen for any die hard Michigan Football fan!

At least the servers aren't literally melting any more. The site crashed so hard Saturday for a little while and I wasn't the slightest bit mad, nor surprised.

I respect every opponent - and, I particularly like this pic.  It's from the "after game" celebration / trophy presentation to Georgian in the national semi-final.   I believe that both Morris and Blake Corum were near them, but not captured in this photo.

It's attitude - it's effort - it's every day, 365 days a year.   I believe Blake said "we'll be back".

I believe in these young men - this team - Go Blue!

This photo has all five of them... feeling the "sting" can provide motivation.  I respect and appreciate their attitude and commitment.   Next game - Purdue on Saturday night - in Indy.

Here's hoping the team is laser focused on Purdue and ignoring all this "can Michigan win it all" nonsense.  

Can we? Sure, USC/TCU are tough teams, but beatable and Georgia is a great team, but not what they were last year

I enjoyed listening to Klatt's take on The Game, and his views on the state of the two teams. He made some great points, the most important being that M has finally caught up to OSU, and that it's a real-deal rivalry again.

I also agree with his points about Day being an obviously excellent coach, and (I grit my teeth saying this) that OSU should be in the playoff over Alabama or anyone else if either USC or TCU loses their championship game.

If McCarthy continues playing the way he played in Columbus, I think we have a good chance at the natty.

Joel as usual very on-point breaking down this game, particularly how OSU's defense was "stealing" from its secondary to stop the run and not playing fundamentally sound defense.

Beat Purdue first.

This bit about M “joining” OSU at the elite table, and how we got there is as thoughtful as I’ve ever heard Klatt be.  Good stuff here.

We don't have the explosive pass rush we had last year, naturally, but we're better all around, especially on offense. I think we're in a better position to score on Georgia, and stop Georgia from scoring, than we were last year.