Time to Guess What our 2020 Football Record Will Be

7-2 (hoping all games get played) because whenever we put a new starting QB on the field, that seems to result in at least 2 losses where QB inexperience/inconsistency kills us.  Speight in 2016 had injuries as contributing factors.

Total season: 8 - 2

Lose at MN

Lose at OSU

Win the rest of the games, including a bowl game.

This season will be a test of whether or not the Harbaugh-can't-motivate-which-is-why-he-struggles-on-the-road theory is true. If true, we're going 5-4, if false, we're going 7-2, which is basically the 74% winning percentage we have every year.

Lose to OSU by 17 then win 2 of 3 between Minnesota, Wisconsin, and PSU is the ceiling.  Defense is going to get torched by high-end offenses.

Can't wait for the Lost in Space offense and Frank Pentangeli's defense to get lit up by anyone with a pulse.  3-7 best case scenario.

Losses to Minn, IU, Wisc, PSU, OSU (by 50+), the crossover vs NW, and whatever bowl game the team mails it in for. Hurray. 

5-3, losses to Minnesota, PSU, and OSU. Crossover opponent is Iowa, who we beat. 6-3

I would like the option to revise my guess after this saturday but ill take 7-2. With losses to OSU and who ever we play as the 2 seed in the cross over matchup from the West.

Worst Case: 4-4. Beat the scrubs on the schedule, scrape by Indiana because we are to them what OSU is to us. A huge mental hurdle that they can't get past. "Salvage the season" by beating MSU, but lose to the teams with a pulse. Get crushed by OSU, Milton clearly isn't the guy, he gets benched for McNamara by the Wisconsin game, go into another offseason with far more questions than answers. 

Best Case: 7-1, and that's if Michigan catches some breaks. Milton has to be better than expected and the corners have to find someone who can step up and be the next guy. If Milton turns into a game-changer, Michigan can and arguably should beat everyone on its schedule not named OSU. Enter The Game 7-0, lose a game that is not necessarily a nail-biter, but far more competitive than the past two years. Milton makes some great plays and shows you he's the guy going forward. Final score something like 51-41. Michigan beats whoever their final cross-over opponent is, and goes to an NY6 looking like they made a great choice to bring Gattis in. 

I'll take the middle path and guess 6-2. Michigan loses this weekend because Milton is still getting his bearings, plays a bad game and causes a few bad turnovers. He slowly rebounds over the next six weeks and starts looking better, the secondary's problems are masked by the fact that Michigan doesn't play against a lethal passing attack until the last game of the season, then they get their yearly OSU reality check and lose badly. They could also go 5-3, but I bet they claim at least one game between Minnesota, Wisconsin and Penn State. 

Milton overall looks okay, but he goes into the offseason far from having the job locked down, and this blog tries making its case for 8-9 months why McCarthy or McNamara should have the job. 

I'm glad there are so many predictions with 1 or 2 losses, shows there is hope out there. However I have the BPONE and am going with 4-4. Wins against Sparty, Indiana, Rutgers & the Terps. Losses to Minnesota, Badgers, PSU (this one I'm conflicted on) and OSU. Start proving me wrong this weekend please!

7-1 with our loss to OSU. I think we're going to have a good year. Was going to go 6-2 with the other loss to Minnesota but I have a good feeling about this week for some reason.  

Start with Minnesota. Win that game. If we lose to Minnesota then we should cancel the osu game. We can use the coronavirus as an excuse 

Their record will be the Beatles' Sergeant Peppers?

I think you guys are in for a hell of a opener.  This game on Saturday I believe directly impacts your record much more than people may think.  Win and 7-1 and 2nd in the East is a real possibility.  Confidence grows going on the road week one against a competent team, and honestly it doesn't matter if it's a 2019 Army performance, or 2019 ND performance.  If the win is there, it sets you up well.

However, lose on Saturday and you are in a situation where Milton could get down on himself, the secondary could suffer the same fate if they give up yards and points and you can't pull out a win.  Fans claim the Milton hype was nonsense, and the secondary is a Safety and a bunch of random dudes.  

I can't believe I'm saying this, but as a OSU fan I'm pulling for you guys on Saturday.  In an abbreviated season where the conference is behind the 8 ball, if OSU were to win the conference and hope for a playoff spot, a 7-0 or 6-1 Michigan the last week of the regular season and a conference championship the next weekend goes a long way toward awarding the conference with a spot in the playoff.

So when you go to sleep at night, just ignore the nightmares of OSU fans actually rooting for your team.

I am not worried about MN, I think they are good but not great. They just dont have the depth (have you heard that before?) we do. 

My mind tells me one loss, my heart says this is the year Harbaugh and team stun OSU. 

Undefeated - and UM will struggle against IU 

Good QB play...6-1 or 6-2.  OK QB play 6-2 or 5-3.  Poor QB play 4-4.  I'd guess 5.5-2.5 as OSU is a loss and PSU/Wiscy/Minnesota are push games.  I think UM should win two of those and go 6-2, but that's hard to assume so 5-3 is just as likely.  Everyone else I like a win.

@Minnesota - W, but a nail biter. 

MSU - W

@IU - W. Their passing game might make this really annoying.

Wisconsin - L. I'm not confident our DL can hold up against their OL. I really hope I'm wrong.

@Rutgers - W. Please leave the Big 10. 

PSU - W

Maryland - W

@OSU -  L and it's not even close again.

Crossover Iowa - W

7-1, Loss to Minnesota this weekend while the team gets their feet under them.

We will be going into the Horseshoe without a crowd. It isn't going to be rocking as usual when we play there. Their players won't be able to feed off that noise. At that point, Milton will be settled, the O-Line will have gelled, and any secondary issues will have been resolved.

We replay Wisconsin in the B1G championship game, win, get left out of the playoffs because a 4-1 Georgia team apparently means more.

5-3: Win over Minny Saturday, but not enough this year to get past Wiskey, P-State, or You Know Who. Wait'll next year!

6-2 losses to Penn State and Ohio State.  Can't pick the last game until we know who it is against.

My prediction comes in three scenarios and then a "likely" conclusion:

1. Joe Milton is the next Cam Newton ... 10-1, B1G champs, CFP runner-up (to 'Bama)
2. Joe Milton is Shea Patterson ... 6-4 (5-4 in B1G, with easy bowl win)
3. Joe Milton is high school Joe Milton ... 4-5 (no bowl game)

I think Joe will take a couple games to develop team chemistry at game speed but ultimately becomes better than Shea (both run and pass).  However, expecting Joe to be the next Cam Newton is ridiculous hype.  The following is my most likely scenario:

• @ Minn ... defense comes to the rescue  U-M 24 Minn 21 (OT)
• vs. MSU ... RBs run wild  U-M 42  MSU 17
• @ IU ... Joe comes alive in a shootout  U-M 45 IU 38
• vs. Wisc ... Joe leads a complete game  U-M 38  Wisc 24
• @Rutgers ... yikes  U-M 63 Rutgers 3
• vs. PSU ... defensive battle in the cold/sleet  PSU 15  U-M 12
• vs. MaryL ... bounce-back  U-M 35 MaryL 10
• @ OSU ... wild shootout, but too many horses to catch  OSU 56 U-M 49 (OT)
  • U-M 6-2 regular season and #3 in the East
• vs. Iowa (#3 West) ... solid victory on both sides of the ball  U-M 28 Iowa 14
• Tough bowl match-up which we play well but lose (because we rarely win bowl games)

So there you have it ... U-M finishes season 7-3 ranked #15 nationally

I think we lose 3 may be 4 this season. I have MN as a loss and one of the two home games against WI or PSU. And of course we may get blown out in Columbus. I think we will go to one of the mid size bowls and play Iowa State or some middling team from the SEC.

If we play all scheduled games, we go 5-3 with the losses to Minny, Indy, and the last one.

4-4

Just don't see more wins than 4. New QB and that alone is gonna have growing pains. 

I have concerns about Milton in an abbreviated first season (he has to start hot), the WR's ability to go to get the ball and also the late movement to shore up the DB's.

4-4 or 3-5

If we actually play the whole season, and games aren't canceled...

Optimistic me is going to say 7-3:

• QB play actually looks marginally competent and Milton improves his accuracy enough to make the offense actually functional
• We lose to Minnesota (cause it's the first game of the season and it's on the road), Penn State, and of course the annual blowout loss to OSU
• Win over Nebraska in the cross-over game
• The team actually cares about the bowl game for once and makes an effort because idk why (since bowl games are apparently meaningless) and we manage to win one for a 7-3 season

Pessimistic me is going to say 5-5 / 4-6:

• QB play is once again extremely underwhelming and the offense goes nowhere
• We lose to Minnesota on the road, lose to Wisconsin & Penn State, and of course the annual blowout loss to OSU
• We draw Iowa in the cross-over game and they have an "up" year this year because naturally they would. We play away from Ann Arbor and so therefore naturally the team turtles and we lose...then we go to a bowl game and because every team out there apparently cares about bowl games except us, we lose that too for a 4-6 season
  
  OR
   
• We draw any other team from the western division and manage to squeak out a win but once again look really bad in the bowl game and lose that too for a 5-5 season

Here's to hoping that my prognostications are pure trash and we finally break open a high powered offense and manage to slay the giant and play for a B1G Championship.

"Few can foresee wither their road will lead them, till they come to its end."

@ Minnesota - Toss Up

vs MSU - Lean to Win (I know MSU is bad, but it's a rivalry and they will give us their best shot)

@ Indiana - Lean to Win (on the road, plus Indiana is always tough)

vs Wisconsin - Toss Up

@ Rutger - Win

vs PSU - Toss Up

vs Maryland - Win

@ OSU - Lean to Loss

That's 4 winnable games, 3 toss-ups, and 1 likely loss. Two of the toss-ups are at home (though does homefield advantage matter in a Covid season?).

If UM wins the winnable games, plus the toss-ups at home, we are looking at 6-1 heading into the OSU game. Recent history, plus OSU's stacked roster tells me UM likely loses again this year, but who knows. I think the biggest factor here is Milton's development over the course of the season - has it all been empty hype, or do we have the best QB in Harbaugh's tenure here?

My prediction: 6-2

4-4

7-2 loss to Minnesota and OSU and we rematch Minnesota in cross division game but win this time.

Minny - W

I know all about Milton and his stats and first start.....blah blah blah.  Minnesota starting right line is out and Michigan's front 7 keeps the game in control.  Tanner hits Bateman a few times but Michigan's run game (and weather) wins out in the end

MSU - W

Sparty is just not any good......  This one could get ugly

Indiana - W

40+ wins in a row and Indy has a shaky D.  Too many memories of TEAM Chaos, but this team in NOT TEAM CHAOS

Wisconsin - W

Home game takes the advantage.  I do not see Johnathan Taylor jogging out of the tunnel

Rutgers - W

Next.....

PSU - W

Again at Home.  PSU has a good D but Michigan scored on them last year.  Parsons is out and now Brown is out as well at RB.  They will be playing without their 2 best players and I do not see Speedy Eaglets sprinting out of the tunnel

Maryland - W

See Rutgers above....

OSU - L

See overall positional rankings from the other thread (OSU 10 - Michigan 25)

9th game - Iowa - W

Iowa (They finish 3rd but I looked at the other schedules and believe that Wisconsin will beat Minny thus winning the division.  Minny finishes 2nd but gets bumped for Iowa to avoid a rematch)

Bowl Game - Georgia - L

Georgia's D is too much for Milton.....this year....

Final record 8-2

Obviously COVID will throw a monkey wrench in all this, but these picks are based upon the rosters today.....

6-2, win game #9 rematch vs. MN for 7-2 overall

6-2, crossover against Iowa which we win.

6-2!!! I think people are over reacting to the Minnesota game. Think we have an advantage in that one since our offense might look different than what we had on film last year. Probably drop one to PSU or Wisky & Lose to OSU.

Double post!

5-3 if they play all the games. I think they'll pull an upset in one of the 4 games they're preseason underdogs in. I'd guess that Wisconsin is the most likely of those games to win since they're working with a new QB and new receivers too so they're least likely to shred our secondary. But winning that game also probably relies on not getting manhandled in the trenches like they did last year, so... who knows?

Provided we get all 8 games in for the "regular" season, I'm gonna go with 5-3, and then a win in the crossover game (against whatever opponent) to finish 6-3.

So, not terrible, but not terrific -- but certainly, par for the course insofar as Michigan football is concerned.

FWIW, I think we will get all of the games in with no cancellations. Now, of course, we might be short some personnel in some games, too, but every B10 team might have to deal with that. Purdue is already gonna be minus their head coach on Saturday.

It all depends on Milton.

If he competently executes the offense (baseline expectation) then I think we are 5-3 in the first 8. Losses to Minnesota, Ohio State and one of Wisconsin/PSU. Possible we're 6-2 at the baseline performance level from Milton. 

If he's executing the offense and "making plays!" then I think 7-1 is reasonable, especially since the road atmosphere will not be as much of a factor for the Minnesota game this year.  

If he struggles to execute the base offense then probably 3-5 or 4-4. 

So, yea, who knows? A lot depends on one dude. 

Anywhere from 4-4 to 6-2, although my gut tells me 4-4 is probably more likely than 6-2 honestly my expectations are pretty low this season: super weird year with COVID and a number of position/depth questions marks at some key positions. IMO this is pretty much just an asterisk season and more or less a preview of the young, up and coming talent for 2021.

11-0. 

IF they beat Minnesota then I predict 7-2. If they lose then I see 6-3/5-4.

I originally said 5-3, maybe 4-4 or 6-2. But with the new QB, turnover on the OL, persistent DL issues, and a questionable CB situation, I will downgrade just a touch. We will be running into stacked boxes again, and the defense will have its troubles.

Losses @Minnesota, Wisconsin, PSU, and @OSU. This is the year that more people start to think we are behind PSU in the Big Ten East.

So 4-4 is most likely, with 5-3 reasonable if things break our way. 

Anything less than 7-1 and harbaugh should be canned