Am I the only M fan who thinks we are ranked too high

[bphillips4gg]

I don't expect Michigan to finish in the top 10 but given their current resume vs the rest of the country I'm not surprised at all. There are 2 teams that are head and shoulders above the field this year and they're ranked 1-2. I don't expect to beat OSU, I would not be surprised by a win or a loss against MSU and PSU. Polls look at records and style points. Once Michigan plays a team with an actual offense, that is when we'll know if they're ranked correctly or if they're overrated.

 

[tinselwolverine]

I guess you?re not the only one MichLady.

After its second road win in a road in a place that?s always tough to play, our Wolverines drop a little in the rankings.

A number of teams with losses remain ranked above both the Wolverines and the Spartans.

Anyway, it is still way too early to pay much attention to any of this.

 

[wlvrnstlr4life]

I guess you?re not the only one MichLady.

After its second road win in a road in a place that?s always tough to play, our Wolverines drop a little in the rankings.

A number of teams with losses remain ranked above both the Wolverines and the Spartans.

Anyway, it is still way too early to pay much attention to any of this.

That's a rankings poll that CBS makes up. They are an SEC shill.

Michigan up to #7 in coaches poll.

 

[tinselwolverine]

That's a rankings poll that CBS makes up. They are an SEC shill.

Michigan up to #7 in coaches poll.

Oh.

Boy, CBS Sports must sure be having a laugh on me.

I will make a note of that going forward.

 

[bphillips4gg]

I don't think that michigan is the 7th best team in the country but I do think that their resume is easily in the top 7. I'd argue that their resume is more impressive than Ohio State's even though I think Ohio State is going to beat Michigan by 20+ points. Michigan is one of 8 unbeaten P5 teams.

 

[Gulo Blue]

I don't think that michigan is the 7th best team in the country but I do think that their resume is easily in the top 7. I'd argue that their resume is more impressive than Ohio State's even though I think Ohio State is going to beat Michigan by 20+ points. Michigan is one of 8 unbeaten P5 teams.

Agreed. Ranking the best teams and ranking the best records are two different things. So far so good. I don't think we'll have a good day against a strong passing game, but until that happens, we deserve the ranking. Should we be a top ten team in betting odds for winning the national championship? Absolutely not.

 

[Michchamp]

Agreed. Ranking the best teams and ranking the best records are two different things. So far so good. I don't think we'll have a good day against a strong passing game, but until that happens, we deserve the ranking. Should we be a top ten team in betting odds for winning the national championship? Absolutely not.

Who are the 10 teams better than us so far?

Alabama, Georgia, OSU... okay.

Iowa? Maybe. Penn St?

Cincinnati? Who knows how they'd fare in the Big Ten.

Oklahoma? Coastal Carolina? Kentucky? Wake Forest? There's 10

 

[Gulo Blue]

Who are the 10 teams better than us so far?

Alabama, Georgia, OSU... okay.

Iowa? Maybe. Penn St?

Cincinnati? Who knows how they'd fare in the Big Ten.

Oklahoma? Coastal Carolina? Kentucky? Wake Forest? There's 10

So far has nothing to do with it. Pitt and UVA would be trouble.

 

[Gulo Blue]

OK. Nevermind. I looked up the Vegas odds and Michigan is 7. Dayum.

 

[Michchamp]

So far has nothing to do with it. Pitt and UVA would be trouble.

sure, but the odds of winning the championship have nothing to do with whether or not crappy teams like Pitt or UVA might beat us.

They also might beat a lot of other teams...

As an aside, college football is structured in a really insane way, for such a widely popular sport. Is there any other sport where you can go 12-1 (a 92% winning percentage), and NOT have a chance to play for a championship? It's like the worst possible mix of subjectivity and objective win/loss records imaginable. It really does seem to lend itself to some uniquely sleazy behavior from the people surrounding the sport.

 

[bphillips4gg]

sure, but the odds of winning the championship have nothing to do with whether or not crappy teams like Pitt or UVA might beat us.

They also might beat a lot of other teams...

As an aside, college football is structured in a really insane way, for such a widely popular sport. Is there any other sport where you can go 12-1 (a 92% winning percentage), and NOT have a chance to play for a championship? It's like the worst possible mix of subjectivity and objective win/loss records imaginable. It really does seem to lend itself to some uniquely sleazy behavior from the people surrounding the sport.

I don't disagree that it sucks that 11-1 teams being left out is a bit of a sham but the argument against is that there's usually a pretty large gap between the top 2-3 teams and everyone else.

Then again, we got another example this weekend of how everyone has a chance any time you play. I wouldn't mind seeing the playoffs expanded. If nothing else at least it makes more bowl games actually matter. And of course in year 1 you'd have the 7 or 8 seed win it and we'd have to hear everyone clamoring to expand further.

 

[Michchamp]

I don't disagree that it sucks that 11-1 teams being left out is a bit of a sham but the argument against is that there's usually a pretty large gap between the top 2-3 teams and everyone else.

Then again, we got another example this weekend of how everyone has a chance any time you play. I wouldn't mind seeing the playoffs expanded. If nothing else at least it makes more bowl games actually matter. And of course in year 1 you'd have the 7 or 8 seed win it and we'd have to hear everyone clamoring to expand further.

Playoff expansion talks died when the "UT & OU to SEC" move happened.

anyways... I think we're appropriately ranked right now, based on how the season has gone, but I also think the rankings are meaningless, and I am not concerned that our team or coaching staff will let it go to their heads

I think everyone in Ann Arbor knows nothing matters anymore if we can't beat Ohio St in November

 

[sggatecl]

I'm genuinely concerned with how we match up against Michigan State. Their offense gets better and better each week and they have massive big-play potential. I don't know how our 'meh' passing game will hold up if we were to get into a shootout.

Having said that, MSU suffers from the same problem as Michigan. They're ranked in the top 10 but we still really don't have a solid idea of how good they are because their schedule is highly suspect. How much of their 'explosive offense can be attributed to playing weak teams? Their best win is a road game at night vs a Miami team that's best win came at home vs Appalachian State.

In my opinion, both teams are ranked right where they should be because you can only beat the team in front of you. But I also think anyone that thinks they have a solid feel for either team is getting ahead of themselves.

 

[tinselwolverine]

I'm genuinely concerned with how we match up against Michigan State. Their offense gets better and better each week and they have massive big-play potential. I don't know how our 'meh' passing game will hold up if we were to get into a shootout.

Having said that, MSU suffers from the same problem as Michigan. They're ranked in the top 10 but we still really don't have a solid idea of how good they are because their schedule is highly suspect. How much of their 'explosive offense can be attributed to playing weak teams? Their best win is a road game at night vs a Miami team that's best win came at home vs Appalachian State.

In my opinion, both teams are ranked right where they should be because you can only beat the team in front of you. But I also think anyone that thinks they have a solid feel for either team is getting ahead of themselves.

I guess it?s a good thing then, that the two teams play each other in each team?s second game from now.

We?ll watch and find out.

 

[zyxt9]

I guess it?s a good thing then, that the two teams play each other in each team?s second game from now.

We?ll watch and find out.

Yes, but even them we won't really know how good either team is until the end of the year, after each has played PSU and OSU. It all comes down to which of those 4 wins the East, and even then whether or not they win the B1G...but then we won't REALLY KNOW until they play in the playoffs...

So when the season ends is when we will TRULY, ABSOLUTELY know...so right now, we just do not know... ya know? No... of course you don't, and neither do I... unless you are a time traveler... and you are certain that your timeline is correct... but if you told us then that would change the timeline, so do NOT tell. Unless by telling it means UM wins the Natty, then DO tell... or don't???

 

[GoBlueInAtlanta]

So far has nothing to do with it. Pitt and UVA would be trouble.

Pitt lost to Western Michigan. I watched a good portion of that game and Western just outplayed them. I think Michigan takes them pretty easily.

 

[bphillips4gg]

MSU fans seem to think that they're the team to beat in the B1G. They also think that Walker has locked up the Heisman. The only thing that truly worries me about MSU is that they get all their flukey luck plays and they have the clock operator.

MSU fans seem to want to read into the transitive properties of football as well. They seem to think UM is a pushover because they beat Rutgers by a wider margin. They don't consider that michigan had the better win against Nebraska as it was a road game at night and it didn't take a total breakdown on special teams for Michigan to win.

A lot of people seem to be attributing the late fumble to Nebraska making a mistake. Having seen it multiple times, I look at it as Hawkins making a huge play. We made a play to win, they got a break and got to return a punt in a straight line to the endzone for a win.

 

[tomdalton22]

MSU fans seem to think that they're the team to beat in the B1G. They also think that Walker has locked up the Heisman. The only thing that truly worries me about MSU is that they get all their flukey luck plays and they have the clock operator.

MSU fans seem to want to read into the transitive properties of football as well. They seem to think UM is a pushover because they beat Rutgers by a wider margin. They don't consider that michigan had the better win against Nebraska as it was a road game at night and it didn't take a total breakdown on special teams for Michigan to win.

A lot of people seem to be attributing the late fumble to Nebraska making a mistake. Having seen it multiple times, I look at it as Hawkins making a huge play. We made a play to win, they got a break and got to return a punt in a straight line to the endzone for a win.

As of now, I think the team to beat in the Big 10 is Iowa. They are really the only team that has a quality conference win.

In the east, as of now it's probably a 3 way tie between UM, OSU, & MSU.

Each team has 3 difficult games

UM @MSU, @PSU, vs OSU
MSU UM, @OSU, PSU
OSU PSU, MSU, @ UM

UM probably has the most difficult road due to two of the games being on the road.