Ranked 25th In Nation Good or Bad?

Submitted by the_big_house 500th on
After two huge back to back wins Michigan after suffering that dreaded 3-9 2008 campaign, Michigan is ranked in the Top 25 for the first time since 2007. Feels like forever for Michigan fans after last season but it's finally great to see a winning Wolverine team emerging early on in the year. With a 2-0 record so far under Rodriguez's belt the Wolverines are deffinetly pumped with pride, emotion and of course momentum. This weekend at 12 noon the Wolverines will play host to the Eastern Michigan Eagles who last year also had a miserable record of 2-10 much worse than that of Michigan in 2008. But after a close loss to Northwestern on Saturday the Eagles might be showing some improvement or just exploited the Wildcats weak spots. Anyway you slice it Michigan will have to play just as good as they did against Notre Dame two days ago to keep both their non-conference streak alive and their overall record so far undefeated. Now that Michigan is in the Top 25, expectations will have now heightened for the Wolverines as many are expecting a blow out game for Michigan this Saturday in the Big House which will be Michigan's 3rd home game. With the Wolverines being favored to win it could be very bad karma prematuring victory 6 days before the game. Upsets can happen and in the case of 20th ranked BYU against 3rd Oklahoma a week ago we are all aware of what can happen in a college football game. But in my opinion seeing Michigan ranked is a great thing. We have waited so long to see Michigan in the top 25, getting awesome positive media attention from ESPN and having a better future in the recruiting process for 2010. In my opinion being ranked 25th feels awesome and hopefully that number will continue to climb as the season moves along!
MGoBoard

03 Blue 07

September 15th, 2009 at 12:52 AM ^

Top 25 good. We deserve to be there. I don't care if it's only number 25. It's a good thing. Here's hoping we stay in the top 25 of the poll for a decade. Or eternity. Also, though, I kind of agree with you in a way. I think we as a collective fanbase are possibly getting ahead of ourselves. Yeah, yeah, I realize it's EMU, and we've just beaten ND and Western, but we definitely should not overlook this game. I think it's a bit of a "trap" game for the team, and if we get sloppy, EMU could pull off the big upset. I just hope our guys are focused on the task at hand and not basking in last week/looking forward. If we completely shit the bed against EMU, they will beat us. Let us also keep in mind that Ron English is their coach, and their campus is down the road from ours, so this is a big game for them. We need to continue to execute. I have 3-9 and losses to Toledo and Purdue in my memory still, and hopefully the team does too.

Joined: 07/01/2008

MGoPoints: 3427

DCBlue

September 15th, 2009 at 12:53 AM ^

I liked Rodriguez's comment about the ranking today even better. He said something to the effect that it was nice for the fanbase, but that he was more concerned about the seaon's final ranking than the rankings for week 2. Amen, brother, amen. Very Bo-ish/Carr-ish actually. If Michigan keeps playing like the first two weeks, the ranking will take care of itself.

Joined: 07/11/2008

MGoPoints: 533

jaster

September 15th, 2009 at 12:56 AM ^

It's definitely good. I don't buy the idea that being ranked gives the players big heads or has them looking past weaker opponents (I'm confident Rodriguez will have them ready), so I don't see anything bad about being ranked. If anything, it gives this younger team some confidence, and it can help with future recruits. And of course we fans love it. Two thumbs up for being ranked.

Joined: 08/29/2008

MGoPoints: 99

tn wolverine

September 15th, 2009 at 1:09 AM ^

The ranking is good, It should be higher in my opinion, but it's the one that comes out on January 5th or whenever the "National Championship" game is that matters. I just want to be in the top ten in that one is that too much to ask ???!!!!???

Joined: 09/07/2009

MGoPoints: 799

Tater

September 15th, 2009 at 7:29 AM ^

It means UM football is "back," and that the news coming out of Ann Arbor is positive again. If Forcier continues to skip the "freshman mistakes/awe" stage, this team could be in the top ten by the end of the year.

Joined: 08/13/2008

MGoPoints: 30584

Blue in Yarmouth

September 15th, 2009 at 9:04 AM ^

But I also like the role of underdog. Now that we have seen the improvement (as well as everyone else in the nation seeing it) it has increased the expectations for this team significantly. Looking at our schedule I only see two games left that we are a serious underdog in, those being PSU and OSU. This means that we now have a target on our back again and won't have anyone looking past our team. This is what I don't like about being ranked.

Joined: 02/18/2009

MGoPoints: 6522

Hannibal.

September 15th, 2009 at 10:11 AM ^

Being ranked is good. It's really really good. We need the program back in the national spotlight. That's why the win over Notre Dame was so huge. The 3-9 season has really taken its toll on our 2010 recruiting class. RichRod needs a big bounceback for '11.

Joined: 09/09/2008

MGoPoints: 9051

SF_Wolverine

September 15th, 2009 at 2:52 PM ^

It confirms what Coach Rod has been preaching that we'll win when we deserve to win and we'll get the respect nationally when we deserve it. The most important part is for Coach Rod to continue to preach that everyone stay humble and hungry.

Joined: 10/13/2008

MGoPoints: 14

jmblue

September 15th, 2009 at 3:24 PM ^

Personally, I think all the "hunter vs. hunted" stuff is mostly media hype and really doesn't matter. I'm happy to be back in the AP ranking and hope we enter the coaches' next week, too. The ranking reinforces to the players that they are a good team and will build their confidence, which normally shouldn't be an issue but could have been one coming off the 3-9 debacle.

Joined: 11/07/2008

MGoPoints: 102750