Does anyone feel like this season's gonna be different?

Set a very low bar and you could be very surprised!

No

I think they'll continue to struggle on defense. I would think they should be able to get something good going on offense, but even with that I feel like I'm going against my better judgement because I'm looking at the skill position talent pool when that hasn't seemed to be the issue before. I just haven't really been impressed with Gattis's work to date.

Hope things go better than expected but this feels like a year where they get beat up on by good teams a drop a couple or few other games. I want to see them beat Michigan State and win a bowl. Both those things seem like they should be reasonably doable.

6-6 Might be optimistic

Toward this season I have an intense feeling of ennui. It's almost overwhelming.

Good things can happen.  

No I am not optimistic. Every year we hear how the team looks great coming out of camp, how individual players are going to light it up (Milton anyone?). Only to see the same or similar results every season. 

I am now in “believe it when I see it” mode. I want to believe and trust but I’ve been let down year after year. How long since UM has won Big Ten title? How long since we’ve beaten OSU? How about some consecutive wins against MSU? Wisconsin? PSU? Heck now Indiana too. 
 

Now we don’t just lose to OSU, we get beaten to a pulp and our faces smashed into the mud. Kinda like Loki getting beaten by the Hulk. 
 

Show me what ya got UM. Best Washington and Wisconsin and I might start believing again. But we return too few offensive starters, our D is lacking talent and while the coaches might be fired up they partially lack in coaching experience. So we will see what happens and hopefully things turn around. But until they do, label me pessimistic. 

No.  

After the Minnesota game last year, I was genuinely optimistic and thought that “wow, we may actually be good this year and Milton might be the guy we were hoping he’d be” and I was so fucking wrong. I am now pessimistic until proven otherwise

That's a big NOPE from me.

I think what you are feeling is called Stockholm Syndrome

I no longer believe in rational causation when it comes to CFB. This coaching staff has been putrid at all the things we had every reason to expect them to do well. Who knows? Every season is a fresh roll of the dice.

In short, show me.

This team feels different.

Nope.

was optimistic the first 6 years....but not anymore

The Narrative and the incessant negativity makes it tough to enjoy thinking about Michigan football. 

Hope I can set that aside because there are some excellent dudes and really good players on this team. It should be a lot more fun to root for them than it is.

I dont think we will be playing in the playoffs, but I refuse to believe we were really that bad last year.   

Gonna be different? Than what? Than last year's 2-4? I look at that as a total aberration marred by Covid and a truncated season. Otherwise, Michigan has won 10, 10, 8, 10, and 9 games since Harbaugh arrived. I'm expecting at least that.

No. I don’t. Michigan has been all hype and no results, all sizzle and no steak for two decades. 

I think they could beat Washington, but I expect Wisconsin to run this defense over with some other RB they’ve just plugged in who will run for at least 1200 yards this year. I expect to lose at Penn State in a game that Michigan has chances to win but they won’t capitalize on their opportunities. I expect MSU to be a toss-up where MSU comes in fearing absolutely nothing about Michigan and expecting to win. I expect Schiano has circled this game in red ink for the last year and will have Rutgers ready to play and expecting to win. 

I expect OSU to approach Michigan playing like a national title is on the line, like they do every year, and will beat Michigan like an unwanted stepchild.

Neg away if you want, but for those of you who do, I challenge you to show me something tangible and on the field that explains why I should believe otherwise. 

This team has talent, but the results on the field suggest maybe they’ll be 7-5. 6-6 is a very real possibility. OSU is a guaranteed loss. It’s very possible that Wisconsin, Washington, Penn State, MSU, IU, Rutgers, and shit even Nebraska are losses. Scott Frost will be fighting for his job, and that game is in Lincoln and will likely be a night game. 

Not this season, no. 

QB could be top-2 or top-3 in the league, but I have seen what happens to Harbaugh QBs the longer they stay in the system. The RB room is crazy good, but we have OL questions -- coach and center. Receivers -- will we use them? Will the scheme be modernized? And defense will be a work in progress this season. As I have said all along, we're looking at somewhere between 5-7 and 7-5 in 2021.

Now, next season? Hell yes, I have optimism that we will at least get to 9-3. Recruiting should improve further, the defense should be humming, QB and RB should be strengths (especially if JJ is starting), and OL might be figured out by then. So yeah, I will be pretty positive for 2022 -- at least positive enough to believe 9-3 is achievable. 

Possibly. Quarterback is pivotal. Everyone says that and it's obvious in the modern game. But I think it's really really true and also possible our quarterbacks could be fantastic. Offensive line is also pivotal this season. Our offensive line will be 2019 level imo which is huge. Hayes, steuber, zinter, barnhart, Keegan also trente Jones now being mentioned. Filiaga adds depth and Rumler also. Wrs are really better than I give them credit. Rbs could be outstanding! If cade hits ceiling could be mac Jones. McCarthy doesn't have a ceiling. All said and done I'd bet 8.5 wins for money because too many questions to predict 10.5 wins. Defense WILL be better but too many questions. Offense could really excel but absolutely must because the top end of the schedule will be too difficult to be just above average. Go blue!

I feel it and then realize I'm feeling it which makes me afraid because when I feel it I'm usually wrong so I stop feeling it. 

Sadly, no. That doesn't mean I won't try to enjoy the season or won't support the team. It doesn't mean I'll not be a fan or that I should go root for someone else. I've resigned myself to the fact that I both will always love Michigan football and will likely be rarely rewarded for that love and that's fine, honestly. There's no other team I'd rather love, but I don't think I'll be able to delude myself any more that things will "be different this year" just because. 

When I was a kid I'd watch each season with renewed interest and hope that "this would be the year" and gave myself a list of reasons why it might be. I of course knew much less about football, Michigan football, and the world at the time but it seemed plausible to me that maybe this was the year that Lloyd would breakout the trick plays early, or unleash the offense before the bowl game. And some seasons were more or less rewarded. B1G championships, wins over OSU, etc... Some seasons featured what seemed to me to be inexplicable losses but hey there was always next year. 

Sometime in the last decade or so, though, it slowly became apparent that we weren't a game changing player or better play calling or "wanting it more" away from taking that next step or catching up to the elite tier of teams. As the playing field became less fair, less even, less surmountable, the notion that we'd reach that mountaintop this year slipped further and further from my imagination. 

There are a lot of reasons why that most of us could all make our version of a list about but the net net was that this was not the college football of my youth that captured my interest. This was a different game being played a different way. And frankly that's ok. I'm not one to mourn what's lost or pine for it anew. I'll still cheer on the maize and blue and maybe somehow someway we'll get lucky one year and strike gold, or carve out a nice niche for ourselves as the best of the rest that try to do it with at least a little integrity intact. Or maybe things will shift again with conference realignments, NIL, and more and there will be a new version of the game that better suits us. But for this fan, no this year won't be different. Our increased focus on OSU won't pay dividends. We can be better, and I hope we will be but not because of snake oil or will power or anything else that's sitting in that locker room. We will win some games. We'll lose a few. The sun will rise and set. I'll be at peace whatever happens.

Meh

"An offense loaded with talent"? That could have been said about many recent years, but saying it about this year stretches the bounds of optimism to delusion. Osu is loaded with offensive talent. UM is loaded with hope. Not sure how many great college offenses are built on 2 or 3 returning starters. Also, I don't think it's an ideal situation to have your head coach working under an incentive laden contract after 6 years. That smacks more of desperation than optimism. That being said, I've never understood the point of being a sports fan without eternal optimism. The tide eventually has to turn the other way. Why not this year?

I’m very hopeful for this season and I think Michigan has a lot more talent than they are getting credit for.
 

Michigan should beat Washington as long as they get average or better play from our QB. Between McNamara, McCarthy, and Bowman, one of them should be able to perform at an average level, but hopefully significantly better than that.

Michigan also gets to play Wisconsin the weekend after their big match up with Notre Dame. Wisconsin also plays PSU in week one. There’s a chance they could already have two losses and have lost their confidence. They could also be undefeated, ranked near the top 5 and be primed for a let down. Either way, we play them at a good time.

Penn State will be tough, but again if we can get a QB to play well, that game is winnable. I think Indiana is overrated and will fall back to earth. 
 

I really think there’s at least a chance Michigan only has one loss when OSU comes to town with the division and spot in the conference title game on the line. That’s all we can hope for these days. - I can also see the offense struggling and the defense taking a while to adapt under the new staff and losing a few games, but I can’t see them finishing 6-6 or worse like some people are projecting. - Michigan will be the more talented team in at least 8 games…if they finish 7-5 or worse, then  they probably should consider asking Harbaugh to step down, but I just don’t see that happening.

The man who expects nothing is seldom disappointed 

OP, I admire your enthusiasm but also feel sorry for you. Miracles can happen, sure. But there's virtually no chance this team wins more than 8 games. They will for sure lose to OSU and Wisky. They will likely lose to PSU and Washington. Sure, M could steal one of those games (although it hasn't stolen a game in years). And there are 2-3 other lesser teams could easily steal one from Michigan. Aside from 2-3 players, the defense has mediocre talent. And we don't have a surefire QB or a reliable offensive game-plan.

Vegas has Michigan at 7.5 wins. Sounds about right. But if we come out with losses against the 2 UWs, the Harbaugh deathwatch will begin and end swiftly. Sorry.

Love how so many people here just assume Michigan will beat Washington, which will come in as favorites. How many times in recent years has Michigan beaten a Pac 12 team? Reminds me of all the times everyone thought we'd roll over Utah.

Also what is all this "new energy" you cite? There's been literally no meaningful news or information about the team in months. It's a black hole. So the energy you're feeling is 100 percent in your own mind.

When is BBall season?

Nope 7-5 and an awkward December where the fan base wants Harbaugh fired, we lose a few recruits and Warde Manuel is put in a very tough spot.

I hope so.  

The only answer is monkey rodeo.

I think if Cade has time we have more than enough playmakers to move the ball. Throw in way more flat passes to our #2 & #3 RB's and we could keep teams honest. We always run a play that works and then move away from it. Get a handful of plays we can run at a high level and sprinkle in more wrinkles as the season goes on. For the love of God get our 2nd and 3rd stringers at key positions some playing time.

I am most excited to see what Clinkscale can do with our DB's. What he was able to do at Kentucky was extremely impressive! He coached a unit a few years ago that had zero starting experience at CB and it turned out to be one of Kentucky's best seasons in forever. He has had some very good secondary play with a third of the talent we have if you go simply off of player composites.

I am also excited to see what Aidan can do when he gets a running start at the other teams OL. If we constantly move Aidan around and just let him go HAM I think he will cause a lot of issues for opposing teams. If the grad transfer from Oregon State comes in with his weight down and he is healthy he does have some talent. He was highly thought of upon his arrival at Oregon State, but weight issues slowed him down and then after his injuries he wasn't really heard from again. We will essentially have 5 DL on the field if the depth chart stays the way it seems it is now. 

I am 100% bought in with Clinkscale bcuz of what he was able to do at Kentucky. That dude can flatout coach! Our lowest rated player on our roster as of right now was about the same as their highest rated player when Kentucky's defense really took off a few years ago. We have the talent, but we have been severely lacking in execution and in my mind coaching. When my ass sitting at home knows what we're running on offense and defense you know damn well the other teams do too.

Please bring back the train formation!!!! I thought it was so cool when we ran that formation. Mix in some trick plays. According to everyone else we will be hammered dogshit this year, so what do we have to lose? Let the kids have fun and show up fundamentally sound and ready to play. I also think Mike Hart is going to be a big help for our rivalry games this year.

If Kentucky can win in the SEC with the talent they have then we can win in the B1G. People act like we have a roster full of 1* and walk-ons. We're one good QB away from competing in every game we play. Alabama supposedly wanted Cade a few years ago. Gattis said that Cade was their #1 guy I believe. If that's true then there has to be a reason why.

No. Not really.

Michigan appears to be a seven to eight win team for 2021.

Also Michigan has lost 5 straight games in Madison. Last win 20 years ago in 2001.

https://www.vegasinsider.com/college-football/season-predictions/michig…

We are playing Purdue at home, that’s different