Michigan v. Georgia, Orange Bowl, Miami FL, Friday, 12/31/21, 7:30pm, ESPN/ESPN Video

[lineygoblue]

And there were a couple classes before Harbaugh came along that did not completely fill the 85 allowed scholarships. Michigan's schollys were about as popular as a Covid shot in Texas.

What's evident to me is that southern schools pick and choose the guys they want to keep, and the rest are eliminated thru various methods, which are still techically allowed by the NCAA. Academics has absolutely nothing to do with it.

Anyway, ESPN/ABC/Disney gets to show a replay of the SEC Championship game. I'm sure they are proud to do so. After all, nobody does football like the SEC.

[Tom W]

RE: that picture of those kids following the game: I hope it means that they're setting the goal of "that's going to be us". But, maybe they were just checking out the chicks.

I daresay that I, and most of the rest of us, would have taken FULL advantage of the chance to check out the chicks too.

[lineygoblue]

And the Southern girls with the way they talk
They knock me out when I'm down there

[froot loops]

I'm not sure the rules of NIL are going to be very enforceable, nor should they be.

[iam416]

I'm actually almost certain the rules will be completely unenforceable and I generally agree with that. What I'd like to see is the complete elimination of said rules so everyone is playing by the same set of non-rules.

[Jeff Buchanan]

We're in the wild west of CFB recruiting right now.

[THE_WIZARD_]

shaddup

[lineygoblue]

We're in the wild west of CFB recruiting right now.

Excellent analogy. The gunslingers and horse thieves are all running the show right now.

[THE_WIZARD_]

The SWC needs to exist again. They would dominate.

[froot loops]

Michigan is not without ammunition to compete. The university and their fans talk endlessly about the brand and how much the football team makes. They should be well positioned to compete in this era. But you actually have to compete, not channel Bo and talk about the old days and complain about other teams taking advantage of the new parameters.

[Jeff Buchanan]

But you actually have to compete, not channel Bo and talk about the old days and complain about other teams taking advantage of the new parameters.

Well, I think they did compete this season despite your aversion that the team just "channeled Bo." JH'S 2021 offense, once it got going, was damn good. Not great, just good not a lot like Bo's approach. The only thing Harbaugh probably channels that could be connected to Schembechler is "The Team, The Team" thing that isn't widely understood what that means by fans outside the U of M circle.

What it means can be found in the success that Michigan football had this season winning the BIG and a spot in the CFP. Good, not great talent at every position whose collective efforts as "The Team" on game day produced 11 wins. I can name a few other teams that based on talent, underperformed and the lack of personal character and team spirit may have contributed to that.

[froot loops]

Jeff - he literally said at halftime of a game they needed to channel Bo as a key to win. That is what I was referring to, it was preposterous.

I'm talking about upping the recruiting. I think Harbaugh recruits at a replacement level Michigan coach level. I'm not sure he can recruit better because he doesn't seem to relish it and he is a prickly personality. The expectation that they can get good, not great talent at every position is what I'm talking about. That is selling the brand and the program short. If you want to win a national championship, you have try and compete at the recruiting level with the horse thieves and gunslingers that lineygoblue ignorantly derides.

[iam416]

If the M mantra nonsense is responsible for 2021, then it’s impossible to explain HARBAUGH!!!!’s first 6 seasons. This isn’t his most talented team. And yet those teams failed. Apparently HARBAUGH!!! failed then. And his 2020 team was going to be awful.

The reason M had a successful 2021, IMO, several difference-maker players at key positions, a competent defensive approach and a really easy schedule in that road trips to Madison and HV were way easier than anticipated and OSU wasn’t where they needed to be.

And I’m still very much of the opinion that no B10 team other than OSU is winning a CFP game (as constituted). I think 2021 is HARBAUGH!!!’s ceiling.

Now, in 2022 they have a stupidly easy schedule. I’d be shocked if they weren’t 11-0 going into Columbus. So they’ll almost surely be in the CFP next year and maybe they’ll draw a non-SEC team. So, I could be proven wrong in a few months.

[Hannibal]

If 2021 is Harbaugh’s ceiling, then I can live with that. I don’t expect to win another NC in my lifetime.

[iam416]

Unless and until he recruits considerably better than he has, then I'm very much of the opinion that it is his ceiling. That said, the Portal now counts as recruiting. So, we'll see. McCarthy and Edwards give their future offense a chance to be really dynamic (and it makes me sad because OSU opted for McCord over McCarthy and let Evan Pryor take Edwards' spot). But even then, I don't think it rises to the elite offenses we've seen utterly dominate in recent years.

But, I don't see much on defense. Maybe they upgrade through the portal, but we'll see. I think you can win the CFP with a hole here and there (or if you have a stupendously and historically good offense, which M will not), but I don't think you can with a total meh unit. Even LSU and UAT of the last two seasons were at least solid on defense. Like those SEC teams are never gonna be weak on the DL. Ever. It's always going to be hard to run against them.