Into the wood-chipper we go - Michigan's 2018 schedule vs OSU, MSU & PSU
Yesterday Brian, Seth and the guys looked at whether we were "on track" and if we should be optimistic for 2018. The general consensus of the group was yes we were and that the team should be quite a bit better next year. What was not discussed, however, was our 2018 schedule and just how insanely brutal it really is. And when you compare it to our chief rivals (sorry Rutgers & Illinois you didnt make the cut) you see that while we might be much, much better as a team we also might not have a much better record than we do right now.
Take a look at what we've got next year vs the other teams on our side of the conference (as of this week's rankings)
| Michigan | OSU | PSU | MSU |
| @ #9 Notre Dame | @ #10 TCU | # 8 OSU | # 23 Northwestern |
| @ #23 Northwestern | @ #12 PSU | # 5 Wisconsin | #8 OSU |
| #5 Wisconsin | @#21 MSU | #21 MSU | @ #12 PSU |
| @ #21 MSU | |||
| #12 PSU | |||
| @ #8 OSU |
I said it when it was announced and I'll say it again now, scheduling Notre Dame as an away game in 2018 was insane. We play (as of now) six ranked teams and four of them on the road. Compare that to PSU & MSU who only play two three ranked teams and get both of them at home.
Yikes.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^
Say we lose to ND and PSU, but win the east with a strong finish and the win the big ten. We’d certainly have a case depending on what happens in other conferences.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^
This is most definitely NOT "good for us". It this type of Bataan death march schedule was good you'd see everybody doing it and you don't.
And unless you believe our problems this year had to do with motivation and not QB & OL play then all the offseason motivation in the world isnt going to help.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:34 AM ^
fucking hate logic- so inconvenient
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
I never knew my wife posted here.
/s
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:42 AM ^
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. Next year is the year for us to prove that. I say Peters lights up at ND in his return to Indiana to get us off to a blazing start.
November 22nd, 2017 at 1:42 PM ^
Yes, to be the best you do have to beat the best. But you don't necessarily have to beat the best over and over again in hostile road environments.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:26 AM ^
As noted above, TCU is neutral. Played at Jerryworld.
November 22nd, 2017 at 1:26 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:24 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:23 PM ^
was probably Harbaugh looking at the schedule and saying why in the fuck aren't we playing Notre Dame?! Get them back on the schedule asap Warde. I don't care if we have to play them in a Meijer parking lot!
The rest of the schedule is brutal, but at some point we're going to have to start winning big games on the road.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:25 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
Yup. There are six games on the 2018 that we should definitely win. Six games against decent to good teams (by 2017 standards, who knows what they'll be in 2018). UM needs to improve from beating no teams with a pulse to beating three just to get to 9 wins. I indeed hope we are on the right track because a big step forward is needed just to improve by one game.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:31 AM ^
MSU
they have to go to Arizona State next year - not top 25, but not easy either
their bye week is 9/15 - pretty early to not offer much help
OSU
TCU - neutral field
at MSU, PSU, home to us
PSU
easiest schedule of the 4 contending B1G East teams, but they do have to host Wisconsin as a crossover
at Pitt only decent non-conference game
we may have the toughest overall schedule, but we probably lose the least of all the good teams on the schedule that we play as well
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:35 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:32 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:36 AM ^
but JH's UM teams DON'T win anywhere
November 22nd, 2017 at 1:02 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:33 AM ^
Survive and Advance
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:35 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
who need no jock whatsoever.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:36 AM ^
Next year's team will probably be better but it might not be reflected in the record. In hindsight the schedule this year is charmin soft. 8 teams that are pretty much crap and 4 decent to good teams with two of those at home.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:37 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:52 AM ^
this is not disinformation?
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:39 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:49 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:53 AM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:43 AM ^
Wish we left Arkansas on the schedule
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:50 AM ^
The above approach is looking at each team as they sit now and doesnt't really take into account where they will be next year.
Looking at next year'schedule, the only game that seems daunting (as it is most years) is the OSU game. The rest of the teams will all have their own challenges to overcome, and most will have more questions to answer in the off season than Michigan will.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
squads. Those nasty little mistakes on the defensive side will go away, so imagine how much tougher it will be to score on one of the nastiest defenses of today that will be even better next season. Contrary to the lamentations of the board as to the OL, many of the young ones really pushed those that won out this year and it was the experience factor that kept them on the second unit. That will be much improved as well. Black came in ready and DPJ alone would make it a hell of a one,two punch for the receiving unit. However, add in Gentry and McKeon and we're fucking golden man. So looking forward to '18 and being ready to take on those teams on equal footing. And it'll stay that way for the foreseeable future. Bless all. Happy Thanksgiving.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:55 AM ^
Meh.
It's time for our program to not care who we're playing or where we're playing them. 2018 needs to be the year we break through.
And I guarantee Michigan will be a ranked team on OSU, MSU, and PSU's schedules.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:02 PM ^
Michigan will probably open the season ranked anywhere from 15-25, largely based on the amount of starters coming back.
November 22nd, 2017 at 11:56 AM ^
I know it's interesitng to look ahead, but last year Michigan figured they'd face a top-10 MSU team on the road. Turned out that wasn't the case, and instead faced a 3-9 unit. And nobody last year figured Colorado would be a division winner, and yet they were.
So much changes year-to-year in college football, I'm not sure if you can assume Notre Dame will be the same team we saw this year or the usual 8-4 outfit they've been under Kelly. It's a tough road game, but you have to play teams sometime, and I'm more confident in this team being solid early next year than ND, which replaces basically the whole offensive line.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:03 PM ^
I think at least one of the big three (PSU, OSU, MSU) will have a drop off next year vs. expectations.
PSU loses Barkley - even if he hasn't torn up teams in every game, the threat is hard to replace. McSorley will still make them a big threat.
OSU finally loses JT. They've had Pryor - Miller - JT for almost all of their games since 2008. They are due for a bumpy QB transition someday.
MSU is the most likely team to drop off. In their 3 biggest and closest wins (UM, PSU, Iowa) they were +9 in TO margin (10 vs. 1). Not likely to repeat that.
I never thought we'd have such uninspiring performance from our WRs and that the OL would have two QBs sent to the hospital. If Drevno can't fix the OL, then time for Jedd or someone else to get a chance. I do think DPJ and Black could breakout next year at WR. That with a decent OL could help win 2 games we lost this year.
And NW is usually half UM fans - lots of alum in Chicago. Like a neutral site game.
November 22nd, 2017 at 1:24 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:16 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 2:35 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 6:10 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:26 PM ^
....having more opportunities for impressive wins seems to be a better formula to reach the CFP than a breazy schedule.
Assuming the chaos becomes standard for now, UofM will probably have more chances on these tough schedule years.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:28 PM ^
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:36 PM ^
Upside of the brutal schedule: we'll look great to the selection committee with SOS.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:43 PM ^
That's assuming we don't already have 2-3 losses by the time we get to November.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:40 PM ^
I was doing this excercise the other day a bit at FBschedules. I don't think it is that far off from the other rivals, especially when you factor in the spot (who they played and home/away the week before).
This may be OT, but OSU '19 schedule. They cross over with @Nebraska (yes they are bad now, but baring who they hire and @ home could be dangerous), @NW, and Wisconsin. Even more interesting, in that same year their non-conference games are garbage, FAU, Cincy, Miami (NTM). Don't tell me these teams don't balance conference and non-conference for a given year.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:48 PM ^
Great teams find ways to win tough road games. Yes next year is a tough schedule, but that's the one we get whether we like it or not.
Harbaugh needs to find a way to produce whether we're facing a slew of creampuffs like Wisconsin has this year, or a murderer's row like what we have next year.
November 22nd, 2017 at 12:51 PM ^
It's been a minute and I'm not inclined to look back through the original 2353 threads, but wasn't us playing at Notre Dame more or less Harbaugh saying 'Hey let's get Notre Dame back on the schedule", people realizing that it'd have to be at their place in 2018 and Harbaugh saying "That's fine let's do it"?
I dislike three rivalry games *all* on the road as well, but let's not pretend that Warde Manuel's first three jobs are anything other than keeping Harbaugh happy all all costs.