Question: Michigan Football Season Predictions

[lineygoblue]

I thought I'd go ahead and start this thread after reading the Free Press site this morning. Its nice to see that they are firmly entrenched in the Wolverines camp again this year. Drew Sharp is even more idiotic than usual.

http://www.freep.com/article/2011082...-Big-Ten-champ

I'll post my predictions early this week.

[Hannibal]

People continue to overrate Iowa.

[lineygoblue]

... And Michigan State.

[WM Wolverine]

8 wins in the regular season then an Outback Bowl against a tough SEC squad; 8-5...

Agree on Iowa (#4 in legends), they don't have the talent they usually do thanks to Wisky & ND pulling out the talent from Chicago/Illinois much better than them. They generally out perform my expectations but my expectations for them are really low.

[WM Wolverine]

I like MSU's talent, they just play a brutal schedule. Just like M's other rival in the legends, Nebraska. M could lose 3 B10 games and win the legends; likely via tiebreaker.

[hodgkal]

There has been a fair amount of optimism about the first few games on the schedule before we enter the tough part of the season.. If we get by ND the consensus seems to be we could start off at 5-0, or at the very least 4-1. A word of caution here. I watched a replay of the SDSU-Air Force game from last year and was really impressed with the talent on the SDSU team. They had a freshman RB who looks like Denard Robinson and they showed a ton of offensive capability. At first I was not focused on the coaching staff til I noticed a familiar face pacing the SD sideline, Brady Hoke.


It will be an interesting match-up in our 4th game of the season. I just hope we will be ready for a real challenge for our D in that game. I know, now that we have a coach who knows that team inside and out we should have an advantage. I just hope we don't take any of these early games lightly. And I'm not going to be relaxed watching the WMU game until we are safely ahead.

[hack]

9-3.

[Optimus Prime]

ND will not rollover. If we win, it will be a third consecutive win, something that has not happened in 111 years. Kelly impressed the hell out of me. His first season should of crumbled, but didn't, they actually got better as Rodriguez melted -down. He will give Hoke a serious fight.

[Chuck Mallory]

I'm thinking nd will be hard to beat.

[WM Wolverine]

They have good talent at a lot of places mixed in with mediocre talent. They look like a top 10-15 team to me and will be very difficult to beat...

Defensively towards the end of last season they were a team that just didn't make mistakes and forced you to sustain long drives to score. Looks like one of their best defensive squads in a long time.

[lineygoblue]

Seniors Mike Martin, Kevin Koger and David Molk were voted in as Captains for the 2011 season on Saturday.

Good choices all.

[Hannibal]

Originally Posted by lineygoblue

... And Michigan State.

I think that MSU will be really good. Cousins, especially, is a great QB.

[Chuck Mallory]

Going with 8-5. Losses: ND, MSU, Iowa, Nebraska, OSU.

[jack_crancer]

I'm going to say 8-4 regular season. Losses to MSU, Neb, SDSU (yeah, you read that), and OSU.

[lineygoblue]

Well, here's my fearless prediction for the 2011 season. I'm a Michigan slappy, so I already know its overly optimistic.

I think that Michigan still has a talent gap with some of the other teams in the conference. Depth is a concern and will be a factor before the season is out. Injuries will probably hold the team back from accomplishing anything lofty. They're probably going to go 7-5 again, but I'm going to predict 8-4. Again, I'm predicting with my heart, not my head.

Game 1: Western Michigan: The Broncos return a solid QB and some decent talent on both sides of the ball, but they'll be no match for a pumped up Michigan team that will be itching to hit the field with Brady Hoke as HC. The Broncos will put up some points, but Michigan has too much talent and should score as many points as they need to win. Prediction: Michigan 44-17.

Game 2: Notre Dame: The first night game in Michigan Stadium will probably be an instant classic. I see both teams at the same point in their reconstruction. Both have young talented ballplayers, and new coaches who have brought in new systems. In 3-4 years, this will become an early season Top Ten matchup. The "X" factor in this game is Denard Robinson. ND was burned by DR big time last year, and they will commit everything to stop him. This is where other people on offense are going to have to step up. I'll go with Michigan only by the typical home field advantage points. Michigan 27, ND 24.

Game 3: Eastern Michigan: Eastern Michigan has no chance. Period. The only reason Mike Hart will be smiling that day, is because his heart and mind will be filled with the memories of playing in front of this crowd. Michigan 56 EMU 14* (*all EMU points scored in 4th qtr)

Game 4: San Diego State: This is one that I am struggling a bit with, because it is absolutely a land mine for Michigan. Brady Hoke couldn't wait to leave San Diego when the Michigan job was offered to him. He even offered to "walk" to Michigan to become the new HC. This hasn't fallen on deaf ears at San Diego. They're going to want to beat Hoke and the Wolverines, and will use this as motivation. Unfortunately, I see the Aztecs winning this one, and it won't really be a huge upset. SDSU 34 Michigan 27.

Game 5: Minnesota: After a few years hiatus, the "Little Brown Jug" game returns to Michigan's schedule. Minnesota is another young team, with a new head coach, and would probably like to return to Minnesota with the Jug in tow. But, Michigan is traditionally tough in Big Ten openers, and Hoke will have the guys ready to play to keep the Jug, and get off to a good start in the Big Ten. Minnesota won't be able to contain DR. Michigan 38 Minnesota 20.

Game 6: At Northwestern: This will be the first time that Michigan ventures out on the road, and the last few trips to Evanston have been good to the Wolverines. But, that was when they had guys named Henne, Hart, Navarre, Foote, Manningham, et al playing for them. Those guys are gone, and now its a whole new cast. Northwestern is now starting to play defense, and they have arguably one of the best QB's in the Big Ten running their spread offense. If Robinson is still healthy, Michigan will have a fighting chance in this one. If he's not, this is a NW victory. I'll say DR is healthy, and pick the Wolverines. Michigan 42 NW 38

Game 7: At MSU: I really, REALLY want to pick Michigan in this game, but I think this is like playing Craps. You keep hoping that you can avoid rolling that "seven", but then you roll, and there it is, .. that crappy "seven". Michigan could be having a "lights out" season, .. only to head into East Lansing, and finally roll that "seven". I absolutely hate the idea of MSU being able to claim "four in a row", but there may be no way to avoid it. MSU has a tough defense, and one of the best QB's in the conference. The Spartan defense contained a dinged up Robinson last year. My heart wants Michigan, but I'm going to say that the roll can't continue here. MSU 33 Michigan 21

Game 8: Purdue (Homecoming) If Danny Ford did not like Rich Rodriguez, he will absolutely loathe Brady Hoke. Especially if Michigan is still smarting from a loss at East Lansing. Michigan rebounds back at the Big House in front of a friendly homecoming crowd. Michigan 40 Purdue 20.

Game 9: At Iowa: I'd like to pick a Michigan win in this one too, but I see a Hawkeye win. Iowa lost a lot of talent via graduation, but still has Ricky Stanzi running the offense. The Hawkeyes probably still have enough to beat Michigan. Michigan's offense will give Iowa a lot of trouble, but by this time, Michigan's defense is going to be beat up pretty bad, and Michigan victories at Kinnick are hard to come by, even when Michigan has had great teams. Iowa 41 Michigan 28.

Game 10: At Illinois: Last year this was a scoring fest, with both defenses absolutely sucking. Michigan now has Greg Mattison running the defense, and will have the players playing in formations and techniques that make sense. Ron Zook hasn't exactly been a Michigan killer in his career, but still has a nice team to work with. This won't be the 67-65 nonsense from last year, but it will be a fairly close ballgame. Michigan 35 Illinois 28

Game 11: Nebraska: Welcome to the Big House, Nebraska. I really, REALLY hope this becomes a friendly, but hard hitting rivalry. Nebraska has a lot of talent, a strong QB, and a stout defense. That will be enough to win their initial game at the Big House. Michigan will fight hard, but they'll probably have one eye on next week. Nebraska 44 Michigan 20.

Game 12: OLieO: There will probably be more bad blood in this game than there has been in many, many years. OLieO will be coming in still stinging from losing Saint Jim, and getting busted by the NCAA. Michigan will be doing its "neener neener" dance, knowing that Saint Jim will never torment them again. If Hoke and Mattison have ever "pointed" to a game on the schedule, they've pointed to this one. OLieO is expecting to come in and grab an easy win, as they have every year since 2005. It ain't happening. Michigan is going to pull the upset, and the only thing unfortunate about that, is that Luke Fickell will be fired in the locker room afterwards. Michigan 24 OLieO 12. (in honor of our '69 guys)

So, that gets them to 8-4.

I admit I've made these picks with homerism completely in the forefront. I am not a football expert, as I have demonstrated in the past. I reserve the right to be completely manic during the season.

[Rocky Bleier]

Not real excited about the season except that the old staff is gone. Predict 6-6 and Rich Rodriguez says, "Heck, we woulda won 9 games this year. We were turning the corner." It's a transition year. They'll look better, but still don't have the talent to beat the ranked teams.

[Jeff Buchanan]

8 wins and a FL bowl.

OOC losses to either ND or SDSU not both.

M loses 3 conference games and MSU, Iowa and Nebraska finish in a log jam of Legends Division teams all with 7-2 conference records. MSU wins the tie breaker in the Legends Division by beating both Nebraska (at EL) and Iowa on the road (in Iowa City) and goes to Indy to face Wisky who stands alone atop the Leaders Division with one loss to MSU in EL.

M's conference losses come to 3 of either MSU, Iowa, Illinois or Nebraska.

Mark it down. Hoke and company are going to beat osu and I'll give him a better than 50% chance of beating Sparty in EL on guts and will power alone. But there are going to be a couple of let downs (? Illinois) and heart breaking losses (?ND, SDSU, a close one to Neb). Prepare yourself.

[hack]

What you describe is definitely a reasonable and satisfactory outcome. Can't exact revenge on everybody this year, and there will be some problems, but not beating OSU is a major cause for concern.

[Jeff Buchanan]

......... and do I need to tell anyone this? I hate the competative balance shit.

Bring back a couple of those Schembechler runs of the 70s and 80s.

That was a whole lot more fun.

[iam416]

7-5, 4-4.