Is this Wisconsin game the most important of the Harbaugh era?

No, but it is a barometer for the rest of the season and will show were we are mid season 

I hope everyone understands that threads like this are for fans only. I guarantee you that, for the players,  the biggest game of the season is the Wisconsin game...and next week it will be the MSU game...and the next week...

Otherwise, I do not know how one could possibly say that two years ago at OSU wasn't the biggest game since Harbaugh came to Michigan. 

No, 2016 Ohio State was the most important for reasons already stated. 

Also, the perception of Harbaugh is more specific than just big games - it's that he can't beat rivals.  Let's be honest, the giant shadow over this program is OSU.  We must beat them at some point to get the monkey off our backs.  

If a mid-season, cross-division game is the most important game of the Harbaugh era then I need to reset my expectations for the Harbaugh era.

No

No. We need a road win over a ranked opponent, preferably the OSU.

No. The 2016 OSU game is still his biggest game.

A chance to win the BIGE, be in driver seat to be a 2 seed in CFP, and beat our rivals.

That will be tough to beat. This year is shaping up to do it but we shall see.

NoGameMoreImportantThanThisGame.Bo.Speech.mov

It's no bigger than the other four games we've had circled on this schedule.  We win this and the discussion will immediately shift to our game with MSU on the 20th.  Win that and the emphasis will shift to Penn State.  The only thing that makes this game big this weekend is that if we win it we get another week of reprieve from the incessant trolling we had to endure for much of September.  Lose and all the naysayers will pop back up with their stream of bullshit.

I think this is an important game, but I'm not sure that it's any more important than the other big games on the schedule (PSU, MSU, & OSU).  As long as the team is competitive without glaring problems a loss is just another loss.  A win would be great...a night game at home with lots of recruits.  But, so would a win against PSU or OSU for example.  A loss is only bad if you project more losses as a result, which every game is independent of each other.   If someone said you'd lose this game, but beat OSU (instead of beating Wiscy & losing to OSU), and everything else stayed the same, I'm sure you'd take that.

No. In fact, a loss to Wisconsin has no bearing on their B1G title hopes. It would hurt playoff chances, yes, but they would still control their destiny in the B1G even with a loss.

Hell no. Not even the most important game in the next week and a half. 

No disrespect to Wisconsin: they're a great team and this is an important game. But we could lose this game and most of the season's goals are still completely within our control to achieve. Lose to MSU, PSU or OSU, and those remaining goals take a devastating blow that make winning the Big Ten improbable at best. 

It's also not the most important game on the schedule simply for the mindset and psyche of this program. MSU and OSU are the monkeys that Michigan can never seem to get off its back. OSU especially. If you want to TRULY re-establish this program's respect on a national level, you need to beat MSU most every year, and you should at least be getting close to splitting with OSU. I would not expect us to beat an Urban Meyer coached OSU team every year. Not even most years. But I'd hope we can get them half the time, or somewhere close to it. 

I'd say Wisconsin is probably our 4th most important remaining game. PSU is 3rd, MSU 2nd, and OSU 1st. 

Its a huge game, obviously. And, I can easily argue that it is the most important game for JH up until this point and before next week. Do I believe in Harbaugh for the long haul? Absolutely. However, the program needs a jolt of momentum and respect from our doubters (and a win will also help the team with confidence). If we can run the table going into OSU, we most certainly will be in the CFB Playoff picture, but it will also be HUGE for recruiting to take the next step as a program. So, the Wisconsin game starts that journey. A loss to Wisconsin and the road for the rest of the season becomes even more difficult from a mental stand point. Sure, we can still win the division, but what does it do to the psyche of the team (and staff)????  This is a must win for us, despite the fact that we can still win the division and Big Ten regardless of this weekend's outcome.

Nah. Not by a long shot. I think it's an inflection point in the season...win and we're feeling pretty good about the next two games and rest of the season, lose and then the perpetual uncertainty remains (and I'll have to stay off the board for a week).

But It's objectively the least important of the remaining games left in terms of winning the Big ten title, only because Wisconsin is in the other division.

I mean we beat Wisconsin in 2016 but all everyone remembers is losing to OSU (fucking refs...) and Iowa (gah Kinnick stadium nighttime voodoo).  

On a related topic, one of my big pet peeves in sports are discussions like this, usually words like "must win" are thrown around. And the vast majority of the time the discussion is overblown. You're only setting yourself up for disappointment if you think HARBAUGH MUST ABSOLUTELY WIN THIS GAME OR ELSE <shakes fist>

I mean, yes, but only because of the context of the big games we've already lost and that we haven't yet played the bigger games this year (MSU, PSU, OSU) against the "MOP" States.

Win or lose, the game the following week is more important.  Penn State is probably less significant than either MSU or OSU.  And OSU is the most important game on the schedule.

So...yeah, but only for a week, and only because we can't play 2016 OSU again.

With ESPN there and Herbstreit calling the game? Yes. ESPN hates us as does Herby. 

So, I don't really care whether this is the most important game, or just an important game.  What bothers me in this thread is that there are people freely admitting that they hope we don't get into the playoffs because they're scared of playing a good team.  That is just sad.

This team has an improving offense, and a fantastic defense.  The defense is championship level, by any statistic.  The offense certainly needs to continue improving, but it's well balanced and has a array of weapons that rivals any other team's weapon set.  Maybe Bama would win, but I relish that matchup.  Don Brown's defense will keep any game close.  Maybe the offense isn't quite ready to win one, but the defense will certainly keep it respectable.

I say bring on the playoffs.  If this team is good enough to get in, then it's good enough to compete.

Gee, I would rather get beat by Alabama in the playoff then not make the playoff. 

Nope, 2016 OSU was... the game we “won” but we’re jobbed at then shoe. 

That puts us in the B1G title game with playoff birth on the line.  Win that one, which by all accounts we outplayed them and got jobbed by absurd one sided officiating, and go on to the playoff, and the entire “Harbaugh can’t win big games, UM can’t win on the road” narrative is not in existence.

Two games which we outplayed our rivals and deserved to win 2015 MSU and 2016 OSU have unfortunately and unjustly perpetuated the “Harbaugh is overrated” narrative.

MSU was a 1 in 1,000,000 fluke and OSU had some really sketchy shit going on to even keep it close.  We /Harbaugh has been snake bitten and cheated- hopefully the universe corrects itself and we start getting the important W’s.

These are not excuses, just facts.  If I wanted to throw in excuses I could mention last year’s fluke 5 turnover monsoon game against MSU and our QB injuries heading in to the game against OSU the past 2 years.

So when people start bitching for Harbaugh’s head, I just laugh -morons have no idea how much better we have it now. 

We’ve been overwhelmed in exactly 2 games in the Harbaugh era..2015 OSU - they were a superior team, and 2017 PSU- also a superior team playing at home at night. Every other game has been winnable....and soon, we will tip the scales.

TLDR- no, not the most important game, Harbaugh will wi big here, just needs a bit more luck.

to all the msu worrying...

"Be confident.... for bad always defeats good"

I think we roll msu.

And our team is way better than most think....

we had o'korn last year, and is why everyone is a bit insecure.... he couldn't cut here, nor at houston, and was exposed... speight got hurt...  now we have patterson....  things are great...

Hell no. Next week vs. MSU is and then after that, it's at OSU.

No, if only because of the division alignment. Michigan can lose this game and would still control its destiny. 

Michigan and Harbaugh will be judged by 2 games. This ain’t one of em.

The game Saturday night is definitely an important one because we build momentum to face an MSU team that hasn't lived up to expectations.  Our lone loss to ND is looking more and more like a quality to loss.

Each game is important, but I would say this is a crucial game for the team.

So dramatic. 

No.  Win or lose, MSU and OSU will be more important.  Just the way it is.

Unfortunately, no. We could lose against Wisc, but beat MSU-PSU-OSU and it would be an excellent season.  We could beat Wisconsin, but lose to any of the *Su schools and we will go into the off season bitter. I would rank it the following...

1) MSU - Rival,  In-State,  and very beatable. A loss this year would be VERY demoralizing 

2) OSU - It’s the game. I almost put this one first... but  no one in the nation would blame us for losing to an undefeated OSU on the road. With that said, it is THE GAME and we need to end the bleeding. 

3) PSU - Our side of the conference. Need it to keep the dreams alive.

4) Wisc - In the spot light and would setup a nice October narrative that we haven’t had in a while. A loss would still sting and make everyone fretful of the rest of the season... but would not derail EVERYTHING.

The good news is that it feels for the first time like our offense is truly getting more complicated and nuanced as we head into October, with new wrinkles appearing each week.... instead of the previous 2 years where it felt like we had to pull in the reins and simplify because we had too much duct tape trying to hold broken pieces together. I would attribute this to Better OLine coaching and to getting Patterson. A reasonably functional OLine who understands the basics of blocking schemes has been missing since.......... 3 years before Carr retired. Almost as long since we had reliable, functional QB play (may be tied together). If we pull out Wins the rest of the season, we need to sign Coach W and Coach Brown to a life time contract

Are you listening Ron?......No

Not really, though I expect a win over WI, and beside MSU, WI may be our 2nd easiest big game to win. But it is not a division game. MSU, PSU and OSU are much more important games to win.