ESPN Way Too Early Rankings Are Out
1 Bama
2 Clemson
3 OSU
4 OU
5 UGA
6 Wisco
7 Miami
8 Washington
9 MSU
11 PSU
13 Michigan
18 Stanford
20 Notre Dame
25 South Carolina
MSU at 9 is a bit surprising but they only lose 3 key players apparently and return 10 on offense, 9 on defense and 2 STs.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/21902794/alabama-crimso…
January 9th, 2018 at 5:22 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 5:36 PM ^
In the main what I saw were two freshman QBs making passing decisions faster than any Michigan QB has made all season. Those quick reads and passes can make a mediocre line look impregnable.
January 9th, 2018 at 6:02 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 4:47 PM ^
The bullishness on MSU is all based on Lewerke. They lose their starting center and Rison, along with some other no names....hell, there whole team is no names. They have very little depth. If one of the recievers or Lewerke went down, theyd be FUBAR.
January 9th, 2018 at 5:02 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 5:30 PM ^
But it will impact them down the line
January 9th, 2018 at 5:21 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 6:16 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 6:32 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 4:49 PM ^
If the offensive line takes a step forward as a unit we'll be cool. The SC game we were down 2.5 starters and it erased any progress the line had made throughout the season.
January 9th, 2018 at 5:10 PM ^
The article says we have 7 offensive starters and 8 defensive starters returning. They are saying that Chase and JBB are gone. It also calls John O’Korn a key loss, as it called him our starting quarterback.
January 9th, 2018 at 5:19 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 5:17 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 5:24 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 6:30 PM ^
January 10th, 2018 at 10:36 AM ^
We haven't "stomped" Sparty since 2006, so I'm not holding my breath. Two straight wins in EL would be enough for me, and we have a good shot if we have a respectable day throwing the football.
January 9th, 2018 at 5:51 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 5:54 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 6:05 PM ^
interesting. gardner with harbaugh fixing his throwing motion and non-borges play calling would be very interesting...
January 9th, 2018 at 9:47 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 11:39 PM ^
"Speight I never wanted him to leave he was the best qb on the roster"
beside Harbaugh's name. If he bounces back as expected from the IA hit we win anwyhere from 12 to 15 in 2016 and Harbaugh has things started. This is jmo, of course, but if that occurs, we continue the roll right on into this year and things look completely different.
It happens to all teams at different times, just a bitch to have to start with the transfer of power, and we all witnessed the change from his 4th qtr relief job to FT starter. That is some seriously good qb coaching, hell coaching overall and Harbaugh more than lives up to the hype. But that didn't happen and the man who is just as good of coach as he's ever been is being questioned by almost all who were in his corner. Hell, some fans are even saying, "He's lost his fire. His heart is not into it, etc." Well that is not Jim Harbaugh. They don't realize when things slip that far that fast, a new approach is called for and instead of looking into the eyes of a young man who might have won 20+ at this point in his career is looking at a young man who is probably coming close to an anxiety attack just thinking of taking the field.
And this is why i'm happy we have a Harbaugh, someone built for the fight, someone not just willing but capable of taking on the task of competely changing minds. He is thinking about fb when he rolls out of bed and slides into his khakis every day. They hired Harbaubh because they want someone in case the worst imaginable happens. Well, I can't imagine a more difficult start to getting this program back to where many of us are use to seeing it. Give thanks, and again jmo, whatever you believe in, we had a group of men intelligent enough to sign the man whose name kept appearing at the top of all the lists that are deemed most important at such times.
I'm with you. Speight is not a sexy pick, no matter who's doing it. But he was as good as we needed to meet those check marks Harbaugh had listed.
January 9th, 2018 at 6:00 PM ^
We have serious wood to chop in the offseason - find a QB who adds value, develop a good enough OL, get better results from WRs, integrate new coaches ... not your typical challenges and still transitional on offense. 2019 feels like a top 10 team, next year we should start at best around #25 until we prove we can compete at a higher level than where we ended 2017.
Swing factors - Shea could be dynamite, we find our redshirt OTs are ready to compete after Herbert turns them into men, new coaching demands our young WRs make plays at this level.
So I would say #25 pre-season with good upside if we can get some big wins on the road.
January 9th, 2018 at 6:09 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 9:46 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 6:25 PM ^
The Way Too Early rankings always start discussion, but it's the Valentine's Day rankings and the March 11th Because Why Not rankings that REALLY get people talking, in my experience.
ESPN's college football writer, as there is but the one now after the layoffs, is going to be in a real bind for content. He can only make it so interesting, folks.
January 9th, 2018 at 6:56 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 7:00 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 9:46 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 7:23 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 7:45 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 8:18 PM ^
If by "recency bias" you mean "our offense is fucking putrid" then yeah, we got that.
January 9th, 2018 at 7:46 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 8:32 PM ^
I don't see how we can be ranked this high as of now for a variety of reasons.
1) Who will the offensive coaches be?
2) Who will our QB be?
3) Who will out OTs be?
4) Will we change our playcalling at all?
Also, as an aside....our schedule is BRUTAL as many have noted. I hadn't really taken a close look but wow.
@ND
Nebraska (with Frost should be much improved)
@NW
Wisconsin
@MSU
Penn State
@OSU
Hell even mary should be much better without having to play their 5th string QB.
January 9th, 2018 at 8:33 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 8:45 PM ^
Look. I know we sucked. But I think it is hard to deny that we at least beat OSU and SC if those two plays go the other way.
[Don’t come back with a “yeah but Indiana” reference. We controlled that game for 55 minutes.]
January 9th, 2018 at 10:19 PM ^
it is a totally different season if speight doesn't get injured at purdue.
January 9th, 2018 at 11:21 PM ^
January 10th, 2018 at 11:49 AM ^
Lol if my aunt had a dick she would be my uncle
January 9th, 2018 at 8:47 PM ^
I don't see it, but what do I know. Call me surprised if MSU has a better record than UM next season. Also a little surprised Wiscy is that high. They have to play PSU next year, but not MSU or OSU. They lose a lot on defense, but seem to replace LBs pretty easily.
January 9th, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^
MSU has an easier schedule than us with 2 less difficult games and having relatively more of their tough games at home versus us. It wouldn't be hard for them to end up with a better record than us.
Our tough games:
@ND
Nebraska (with Frost should be much improved)
@NW
Wisconsin
@MSU
Penn State
@OSU
Their tough games:
NW
@PSU
Mich
OSU
@Nebraska
January 9th, 2018 at 9:49 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 9:50 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 10:21 PM ^
January 9th, 2018 at 10:24 PM ^
January 10th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
God I hope not. I'm pretty sure Nebraska didn't out hit their scout team this year. If there has been one common theme about Michigan since Harbaugh has been here is we field a big, athletic team.
January 9th, 2018 at 10:54 PM ^