Got to be high so they can hype the Florida game.

lostleader said:

Got to be high so they can hype the Florida game.

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probably a little of that, yeah.

in 2012 didn't we start the season in the top 5? it's true we had finished 11-2 and won a BCS bowl, but even we Michigan fans have to acknowledge that team had a lot of luck on its side. Denard's "50/50" throws were more like "75/25" throws that year.

Being ranked #9 in the Coaches Poll tells me folks don't know what to expect -- perhaps feel MICHIGAN may very well be "15th" but could also surprise and be a playoff contender. Without Harbaugh, I bet we're Top 20 but not Top 10.

Do the coaches care about hyping a given football game?

byco42 said:

Do the coaches care about hyping a given football game?

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good point. I didn't notice the source of the poll when commenting.

still coaches aren't above petty bias and outside influence.

questionable coaches polls go back a ways ( thinking of Fat Phil Fulmer ranking the '97 Wolverines 4th, coincidentally *just* low enough to give Nebraska a share of the title).

and conference commissioners and bowl presidents obviously have no qualms about getting on the phone and pushing people around (for all practical purposes, the UF game is more like a bowl than a regular season game).

I think that saying about not attributing to malice what can be explained by incompetence (or laziness) probably applies here.

most coaches in the poll (or the staffers they delegate responsibility to) glance at last years records, maybe read a season preview or two, then cobble together a list of rankings.

we'd probably be top 15 but-for the Harbaugh factor, which is worth a couple ranks up on its own. possibly Jerry Jones' PR guy, and/or ABC or ESPN got on the horn to some coaches in the poll to talk up how great UF and UM were going to be, send them trinkets promoting the game, etc. and that bumped each team up another rank or two.