Will we be ranked this week?
I know that some on this board don’t care about the rankings until the very do the season, but I, for one, like seeing us in the top 25. I think it’s important for recruiting to consistently be ranked, and ranked teams going head to head get a bit more play in the media and on shows like Gameday. So, with that set up, where, if at all, does everyone think we will be ranked. A number of ranked teams lost opening week.
Own breakdown:
Lost but will remain ahead of us: Clemson, UNC, Miami
Lost and should fall out of the T25: Louisville, Washington, Indiana
Lost and we may jump them: Wisconsin
That means that there are 3, possibly 4, spots open. MAC caveats apply, but we pounded our opening week opponent.
My prediction is that we sneak in around 24-25. What says everyone else?
September 6th, 2021 at 9:59 AM ^
Yes, I think so. Probably around #20.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:00 AM ^
Nah. No hype this year
September 6th, 2021 at 10:01 AM ^
No. We looked good against a MAC team, I don't see that moving the needle much.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
A lot of teams that were ranked looked worse.
I don't really care one way or the other but if we're going off of 1 week of results then I could see us being ranked
September 6th, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
delete
September 6th, 2021 at 11:51 AM ^
Yes and some unranked teams looked good as well. VT and UCLA had more impressive wins. So if 3 teams are coming out those 2 are headed in. That leaves 1 spot open. FSU has a claim, after their outing last night against a top 10 foe. MSU going on the road and beating the defending B1G West champs will garner some votes. Ole Miss was right on the door step of being ranked, if they thrash Louisville tonight I’m sure they will get some ppl backing them.
I wouldn’t be shocked if we ended up in the polls but I think we are Michigan fans and see things through that prism. However, when looking at the totality of this weekend, other teams were more impressive than us beating WMU. Follow up this weekend with a beatdown of Washington and I think we have a claim for a top 20 spot.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:02 AM ^
I think I saw projected , #17 in Coaches poll or AP.
Rankings dont matter much now though . Its just a way to sell games to the masses .
September 6th, 2021 at 10:47 AM ^
I think OP makes a decent argument that selling games to the masses does matter for recruiting.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:07 AM ^
I would agree both are kind of correct.
I don't think being ranked this week matters at all.
When the CFP Rankings come out...THAT is what I think matters to recruits.
I don't think guys are looking at Michigan any differently if we're...
#24 Michigan
...or just
Michigan
That INCLUDES recruits. But when that CFP comes out, a whole new ballgame.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:31 AM ^
But what OP says is correct. Ranked teams get more play on college game day, their scores are on the top line on ESPN, and in general are covered much more. This may not make a difference in Michigan, but for out of state it is a huge difference. Being ranked does matter.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:54 AM ^
We have the prime time slot on ABC(where Clemson/UGA & ND/FSU were this week). The game will get talked about and picked by the panel on Gameday regardless. Whether their ranked this week or possibly next is really inconsequential.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
I don't know why, but when I was skimming the comments I mistook what you said as "Its just a way to sell games to the manatees."
September 6th, 2021 at 11:33 AM ^
ABC needs more eyeballs on the game this weekend. We will be in the Top 25 ... but just barely.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:57 AM ^
Why does a guy with a vote from the Omaha World Herald or the New Orleans Times-Picayune care about ABC’s television schedule?
September 6th, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
Louisville plays tonight and they are unranked.
Did you mean Louisiana?
September 6th, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
This actually applies to two different Louisianas: LSU and LA Lafayette, neither of whom deserve to hang onto their top-25 statuses. Good chance LSU gets replaced by UCLA in the rankings, but Lafayette represents a genuine vacancy.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:06 AM ^
Yes forgot about LSU.
Still don’t think UM should be ranked. If they can take care of business against UW, then they should be able to sneak into the top 20.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:07 AM ^
Since Washington lost and will definitely be out, I think Michigan garners enough to sneak in. Hard to push a Saturday game on the networks without any rankings.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:15 AM ^
This is how I thought about it too. I like rankings too, but if we win our games, we will be ranked soon enough.
Go Blue!
September 6th, 2021 at 10:16 AM ^
I'd be surprised, maybe they sneak in at the bottom. It was a good showing against a MAC program but I wouldn't read a ton into it.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
27. I'd rather not see a ranking until after Wisconsin. Ucla will climb fast.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:20 AM ^
24. Michigan
25. MSU
September 6th, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
Disrespekt, shoulder chips, etc
September 6th, 2021 at 10:23 AM ^
If we're ranked at all, then probably somewhere in the 20-25 range.
I am among those who really doesn't pay much attention to polls for the first several weeks though. I don't even take much notice of the Coaches Poll at all and will not until it is called the Sports Information Director Or Duly Appointed Representative Poll, or SIDODARP for short.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
I for one welcome our new sidodarp overlords.
September 6th, 2021 at 9:24 PM ^
HAIL SIDODARP
September 6th, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
I would be surprised if we weren't. A lot of wait and see with this team and they looked the part on Saturday. I expect them to be in the 20-25 range.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:26 AM ^
Yes, because with Washington dropping out, ESPN/ABC/Mickey Mouse will demand it.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:02 AM ^
I’m certainly not saying this in a mean way, but to whom would they be making these demands? I think Rece Davis is the only ESPN AP voter. The AP voters are usually just a bunch of local newspaper reporters.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:28 AM ^
We'll probably should be somewhere between 20 and 25.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:28 AM ^
Just win!
September 6th, 2021 at 10:36 AM ^
I don't really care. As long as they keep getting wins and look NOTHING like last year, that's all that matters.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:37 AM ^
No and we shouldn’t
September 6th, 2021 at 10:54 AM ^
247 is projecting us at 24. I think that's reasonable given a complete dismantling of a decent MAC opponent where we really didn't need to show much.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:55 AM ^
Not sure how you thought Michigan would jump Wisconsin?
Wisconsin was ranked and lost a game at home to a ranked team in a one score game.
Unranked Michigan beat an unranked MAC team at home in a game they were favored in by 17.5...
maybe they scratch into the 25th spot.. but wouldn't be surprised if they didn't either
Lots of eyeballs on that FSU/ND game, so I would not be surprised if FSU made a jump
September 6th, 2021 at 11:11 AM ^
Might’ve been a MAC team but I’m pleased it was a blow out and not an OT win like Rutgers or close like Army last year…been too many of these close games that shouldn’t be close.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
Michigan did what it was supposed to do, and looked a lot better doing it than many thought.
They looked organized on defense, and were actually mixing things up a bit on offense...it felt... coherent for a change.
Saying it was a MAC team wasn't meant to denigrate, simply to contextualize
Michigan put the boots to an inferior opponent like it used to do in Harbaugh's first couple of years - that alone should provide some optimism.
September 6th, 2021 at 12:14 PM ^
Wisconsin also really bullied PSU but unloaded a full clip into their cleats. (Shot themselves in the foot)
They could easily remained ranked, Miami, Clemson also lost to top 10 teams and won't go anywhere.
UNC and Washington lost to significantly lower teams and should drop out.
LSU lost to UCLA who looks good. They could remain.
Indiana lost to a ranked team on the road but got boat raced - hard to say.
Michigan was probably ranked around the 30-35 range. 3 teams will drop out with a high degree of certainty, UNC, Wash, Louisiana with Indiana and LSU as probabilities.
Of the teams on the cusp like Michigan did they play sufficiently well enough to jump 7ish spots to take up the 5 or so vacated spots?
Between us and a ranking are OK- State, Ole-Miss, TCU, Liberty, Auburn and NC State.
Auburn, TCU and NC State rolled and Liberty also crushed the Campbell Fighting Camels.
OK State was the only team that struggled and Ole Miss is yet to play.
UCLA will take 1 spot and 4 of the 6 teams in front of us had impressive victories with one left to play. MSU's victory is more impressive than ours but they would have been ranked lower.
Based on the numbers, despite a rather complete victory and UM's cache it would be a leap for them to be ranked.
Not that any of it matters. Let's see where we are after week 5.
September 6th, 2021 at 10:56 AM ^
How much you wanna bet they don't drop LSU from the rankings? "But, they're from the SEC! They must be good! It's only 1 loss to an unranked team. Put them at 25."
September 6th, 2021 at 11:04 AM ^
LSU could start 0-3 and still be ranked ??
September 6th, 2021 at 10:57 AM ^
I for one hope we remain unranked and underestimated.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:03 AM ^
Good assessment but I don’t think we jump Wisconsin yet. I’m curious to see how far UNC drops and FSU should get some love for taking ND to overtime.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:14 AM ^
I don't care, but I agree with you #24 or #25.
Rankings mattered in the BCS, but in the CFP...win the B1G or SEC and you're in the playoff 99 times out of 100. And that one time is a crap B1G West team upsetting OSU in the B1G championship game.
Rankings absolutely matter for group of 5 teams. From day 1 they matter.
And like I just said, for recruits...I think the CFP rankings matter but no kid is thinking week 2 #24 Michigan means something over week 2 unranked/#26 Michigan.
But when the ESPN show comes on with the fancy graphics and the red and green arrows, then it certainly matters to recruits.
September 6th, 2021 at 12:42 PM ^
Only 98 times out of 100, as Penn State demonstrated in 2016.
Really, it's just "be Ohio State and you're in the playoffs with 1 or fewer losses, even if you lose your division".
September 6th, 2021 at 11:19 AM ^
That's probably about right - 23-25
September 6th, 2021 at 11:35 AM ^
Not ranked. You forgot to factor in the other schools with bigger wins that were not ranked, like UCLA and MSU. FSU lost, but could make an argument as well.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:41 AM ^
I hope for a 23 to 25 spot.... moving up every week...... all season long.
GO BLUE
September 6th, 2021 at 11:42 AM ^
Louisville is not ranked. They might be if they beat Ole Miss tonight, but not currently.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:44 AM ^
Washington losing to Montana does not assure a matchup against two Top 25 ranked teams this weekend. Had they won, Michigan would grabbed the 24th or 25th spot, which they can still do.
Yes, being ranked does help recruiting. Almost everything matters today when it comes to recruiting those 4* and 5* athletes.
September 6th, 2021 at 11:52 AM ^
No, we beat a MAC team that’s not expected to finish in the top of the conference. We won’t sniff being ranked without a win against Wisconsin now that Washington lost to Montana.