<p>Yeah, that's insane. What are we ranked this year? Every ranking has us different. I think we were 14 last time I checked...Ohio State (yuck) is 1 (noooo...).</p>
<p>Michigan gets a few unfair advantages in things like this, though. First of all, we get the bonus of having had a football team as long as college football has been around (late 1890s/early 1900s), so we get a lot of padded stats from the 50 years or so when they didn't even have the forward pass.</p>
<p>Also, in the modern era we get an advantage as far as earning bowl appearances because of the large alumni/fan base. Even if our team has an average season, the people in charge of bowl games know we'll still pack the house and bring in good tv ratings.</p>
<p>Also, various preseason ratings have us roughly pegged at 14th/15th. I guess the good thing about having OSU ranked so high is even if we have a mediocre season, we still have a chance to ruin theirs at the end =P. What's really disappointing is the lack of quality home games this year. We have MSU, but even though they're our in-state rival, they're not particularly good. And then there's Iowa, which will likely determine which of us gets second in the Big Ten. Thanks to the BCS, Michigan has been increasingly scheduling crappier and crappier opponents. Besides Notre Dame and Big Ten teams, which are practically required, we get Vanderbilt, Central Michigan, and Ball State? I suppose using out of conference games on crappy teams helps the bottom line, both with BCS rankings and making money (we can force the crappy teams to play us at home), but it doesn't really make for exciting football.</p>
<p>Ohio State has every reason to be ranked number 1 as much as its so not cool. Great returning offense as well as a defense that should return enough starters minus the linebackers from last year. 14 or 15 is about as good as Michigan can expect until they can win Week Three in South Bend against a very overrated Notre Dame team.</p>
<p>Keep in mind the perils of playing that average pac-10 team early in the season. (Mediocre Oregon took the sails out of a GREAT 2003 team) The schedule is about appropriate in difficulty and the good home schedule comes back around next year.</p>
<p>Vanderbilt is dead last in their conference, Central Michigan is Central Michigan and Ball State is Ball State. I'm not particularly worried about any of these games.</p>
<p>I missed my one chance to do some scouting on OSU's team. My family was driving down to NC for a wedding and we stopped in Columbus and actually got into the Woody Hayes Athletic Center. We thought it was open to the public, but apparently it was family-visitation day, so our cameras gave us away and we got shooed out. On the plus side, there was an open door to get into the Horseshoe, presumably for family members. My brother yelled "cheaters" into the stadium as we left, and my dad photoshopped an engraved square outside the stadium from "watching with woody from above" to "watching with woody from hell".</p>
<p>Dilsky, Notre Dame, Ohio State and several other football programs have been around as long as Michigan has. Michigan has a winning record against most of those programs, even after the forward pass was invented!</p>
<p>Also, with regards to Bowl games, Michigan's current bowl streak has nothing to do with its alumni base, although that does help in securing better bowl games. Michigan has qualified for 31 straight bowl games because they had 6-5 or better seasons and 4-4 or better Big 10 records every season since 1968.</p>
<p>Playing devil's advocate:
I don't think OSU has a chance at the national title. When you lose 9 starters on defense, of which 6 went to the NFL, that's tough. Losing Hawk, Schlekel, Carpenter, and Whitner is just too much. They've also gotto play UM, PSU, and Texas.
I think UM needs to watch out for CMU and Vandy. Sure, Vandy lost Cutler, but they are returning some great WRs. CMU has a great QB and perhaps the best DE in the country in Dan Bauzin.</p>
<p>I agree Maguo. The preseason polls this year are very strange. Michigan deserves its 10-15 ranking given its lackluster performance last year. However, OSU has lost way too much to contend for the NC. A record 5 OSU players were picked in the first round of the draft and 9 starters on defense alone left. I say OSU will finish no better than 10-2 in the regular season. Although OSU has a good offense, it does not have NC level talent on offense, with the exception of Ginn. Anyway, I think this Michigan team is going to surprise many people, starting with our trip to South Bend on the 16th.</p>
<p>I have to say that I'm a little worried about Michigan this year. I have no doubt they are able to bounce back from last season, but will they?
Losing Avant wasn't that big of a deal; Breaston is as good of a playmaker and 10 times the worker. We all know Breaston's return ability, but how about his skills at receiver?
Henne has improved a lot, and I'm sure he can lead the offense. Hart is deadly when he's healthy, and Kevin Grady dropped a couple pounds so he's more explosive.
I just hope we have a decent corner to play opposite of Hall after losing Jackson.</p>
<p>edit: Anyone thinking of playing Intramural football? Heh I wish I was good enough to make the varsity team</p>
<p>Alexandre to be fair there are more reasons as to why Michigan leads both series other than Michigan simply has been the better program. Ohio State was at first a land grant school when they started their football program, and it wasn't really until the 1920s or so that they really knew what they were doing. Michigan went to Notre Dame in 1887 to "teach" the Irish how to play football. Michigan has been around and been dominant since college football was started , basically when it was us, the ivy leagues, and UChicago.</p>