<p>Some of you really don’t follow CFB huh? Lol</p>
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Aren’t we jumping the gun a bit? This is only Michigan’s 5th game of the season and its first conference game where they dominated a “B1G contender” Purdue 44-13 (Vegas line: -3).</p>
<p>Michigan was 5-0 in 2010 and 4-0 in 2009, beating Notre Dame both years. Would you say they were great at the time? Similarly, Clemson was 5-0 at this time last year, only to lose three conference games to close the season. Let’s wait till after the Nebraska game to see what kinda team we have this year.</p>
<p>May be we forget that this is still Michigan’s rebuilding season. Lloyd Carr’s class is gone and RR left the cupboard pretty bare … Michigan played 11 freshmen against Notre Dame.</p>
<p>drivel, waynegarth.</p>
<p>I had a mental lapse when I typed that FSU beat NC State-obviously it was the other way around and Mike Glennon carried the Wolfpack to a surprise last second victory.</p>
<p>I predict a close, hard fought victory over the Illini for the Wolverines this weekend.</p>
<p>"I predict a close, hard fought victory over the Illini for the Wolverines this weekend. "</p>
<p>Good prediction goldenboy. It was a real nailbighter! More than 30 Michigan alums got together for this game and we were all on the edge of our seat!</p>
<p>lol goldenboy, nice try. What’s next? Michigan losing 5x in a row?</p>
<p>Although losing 4 more games this season (6-6) is highly unlikely, Michigan could lose 2-3 more games. On the other hand, it may lose just one morw game, or even none. Personally, I think the most likely outcome for the season will be 8-4 at worst and 10-3 (inluding the Big 10 championship game) at best. The defense is definitely playing well. Unfortunately, until we find a consistant and reliable RB, I think we are vulnerable. As of now, if a team with a strong defense manages to limit DR’s effectiveness, we lose.</p>
<p>Wow, I guess I was wrong. Alas, you can’t be right all the time. I think 9-3 will be the likely outcome of the season for this Michigan team with a loss in the Big 10 Championship and a loss in the Bowl Game</p>
<p>Wisconsin has basically locked up their division and we’re way better than Wisconsin. Whoever wins the legends division is going to the Rose bowl, which will be either us or Nebraska (Iowa’s not a real contender). We have a one game lead on the cornhuskers right now and I don’t think their defense will be able to do anything against Denard. I’m not being at all unrealistic to say we shouldn’t have too much of a problem making it to the Rose Bowl this year. As far as that goes, we’d probably lose to Oregon, maybe beat USC, probably beat Stanford or Oregon State.</p>
<p>Again goldenboy, you clearly are not following the Big 10. The winner of the legends division (most likely Michigan or Nebraska) will probably win the Big 10 championship game since the leaders division’s best eligible team is Wisconsin, and they are not that good this year. If Michigan were to win the legends division, it would likely face Wisconsin in the Big 10 championship game, and all things being equal, Michigan has the edge in that game. </p>
<p>Should Michigan beat Wisconsin in such a scenario, it would go to the Rose Bowl, in which case, Michigan will face Oregon or USC. I think both teams are overrated and the game could go either way. </p>
<p>Should Michigan somehow lose to Wisconsin, we likely play in the Capital One, in which case we will probably play a very good SEC team. Other than Alabama though, I think Michigan can hang with any SEC team. </p>
<p>I do agree that 9-3 is a possible record for Michigan in the regular season. 8-4 is also possible, as is 10-2. The next two weeks will give us a very much clearer picture of the Big 10.</p>
<p>I agree that the Rose Bowl is starting to look more realistic for Michigan now due to a down year for the Big 10. However, Alexandre you seem to think that the Wolverines are a top 5 college football team this year and they are not. Michigan would have almost no shot vs. Oregon, would lose most likely at USC, and be a slight underdog vs. Stanford or Oregon St.</p>
<p>I want to see Michigan beat Ohio St. by at least 3 touchdowns before I can accept that they are that good. Beating up on Illinois and Purdue, who would probably lose to Maryland and Duke this year, isn’t going to impress the BCS folks. Wisconsin looked impressive as well in their drubbing of Purdue.</p>
<p>[NCAA</a> College Football BCS Standings Week 8 - ESPN](<a href=“http://espn.go.com/college-football/bcs]NCAA”>College Football Standings - 2022 season - ESPN)
Michigan’s not in the top 25 in the BCS standings.</p>
<p>“I want to see Michigan beat Ohio St. by at least 3 touchdowns before I can accept that they are that good.”</p>
<p>Like your opinion on anything pertaining to Michigan is important to the readers on this board. Alexandre never said Michigan is a top five team. Your constant negative projections and not so subtle jabs at U-M are tiresome at best and annoying at worst. Please stop with your continues trolling of the Michigan board already.</p>
<p>Let’s just focus on beating moo. Saturday is going to be tough. We can take things from there next week.</p>
<p>Right on res ipsa. This is a big week and let’s get some smack talk going on MSU. I see UM as 10 point victors. I think 20 points is going to win the game. When MSU commits the personal fouls, let’s hope our guys keep their tempers in check …play 'em tough but straight up.</p>
<p>Did anyone watch the State game last Saturday? Whatever happened to moo u’s “vaunted defense”? Little brother seems to be in a melt down, giving up 27 points and nearly losing to Indiana, then followed with a loss to Iowa.</p>
<p>goldenboy, Michigan is not a top 5 team at the momment. I never claimed that it was. But it is playing like a top top 15 team, and the difference between a top 15 team and a top 5 team (save Alabama) is not that great. </p>
<p>I am also not sure I agree with your appraisal of Purdue or Illinois. Illinois would light up the Duke scoreboard with their potent offense, while Purdue would beat Duke with ease. Michigan’s loss to Alabama was expected. Alabama beat LSU 21-0 at the end of last season and has pretty much destroyed every team they have played against this year. </p>
<p>And the Michigan vs Notre Dame game could have gone either way. When you consider that Notre Dame is clearly a top 15 team, that DR had the worst game in a long time, that the game was played in South Bend and that Michigan was on a three-game winning streak against the Irish, the fact that Michigan lost by 7 points says a great deal about this team. </p>
<p>Obviously, Michigan still needs to improve, but we all knew that this was going to be a rebuilding year. Come November, this team should be in great shape. As for the BCS standings, I do not expect Michigan be at the top anytime soon. Michigan must first prove that it can beat MSU and Nerbaska. Going 2-0 in the next two weeks is going to be tough. If we can do that, then the polls will start taking Michigan seriously.</p>
<p>Finally, I am not sure why Michigan would have to beat OSU by 3 TDs in Columbus to prove that they are good enough to play against teams like Stanford, Oregon or USC. If Michigan beats OSU by 25 points, and ends the regular season 11-2, it would be making a case for more than just the Rose Bowl!</p>
<p>Alexandre, you said a potential Michigan-USC or a Michigan-Oregon matchup could go “either way” in your last post-that sounds awfully close to calling Michigan a top 5 team wouldn’t you say given the fact that most college football experts and viewers see Oregon as at least a top 5 team if not outright the 2nd best team in the country? Oregon beat Arizona 49-0 and Washington 52-21 and those two teams are definitely top 25. They were absolutely demolished by the Ducks. USC is stepping up again so I see them going toe to toe with Oregon moving forward and lets not forget, Barkley & Co. were the preseason favorites.</p>
<p>As far as Duke and Maryland vs. Purdue and Illinois goes, you clearly haven’t been following the ACC. Lets just defer to an expert like Jeff Sagarin whose statistical model captures the strength of a team by taking into account SOS: [College</a> Football Ratings Page](<a href=“http://sagarin.com/sports/cfsend.htm]College”>College Football Ratings Page) </p>
<p>Purdue: #64
Maryland: #66
Duke: #77
Illinois: #95</p>
<p>Right, Illinois would “light up” Maryland or Duke when they couldn’t even put a field goal on the board vs. Michigan. I think its fair to say a game between either of these teams could go either way with the home team getting the edge.</p>
<p>Alexandre, watch Oregon play on national TV vs. Arizona State and you will see how electric they are.</p>
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Both of these teams are 3-3, and they will likely lose a couple more as they haven’t played each other yet.</p>
<p>goldenboy, let us regroup in 2 weeks. Much will have happened then. Perhaps Michigan will be 4-4 at that point, in which case your 6-6 projection could well materialize. Let us take it one week at a time. In college football anything can happen. Last week alone #13 Oklahoma destroyed #15 Texas 63-21, unranked Texas Tech spanked #5 West Virginia 49-14 and unranked Indiana almost beat #8 OSU. Anything can happen on any given Saturday.</p>
<p>That was way too close for comfort! Oh well, an ugly win beats a loss any day…all the more so when it is Michigan’s 900th win! Go Blue!!! </p>
<p>Great Defense but mediocre offense. With games against Nebraska, Northwestern, Iowa and OSU, we had better find consistant offensive production or we could well lose before the season is over.</p>