Michigan Football, Team 137, 2016 Season.

[WingsFan]

HARBAUGH has been officially demoted to harbaugh after the Iowa debacle

Talent is mocking with this. Though the bar on his side is lowering while the bar for M is rising .

[Jeff Buchanan]

Look, Harbaugh is Harbaugh. I've never bought into HARBAUGH!!! There is absolutely no magic, no mystique about this guy.

He works hard.

I don't think urban meyer is much different. Works hard, manages his staff. Hopes to put his players in a position to win.

The Game will come down to who makes plays. Assuming one of the teams does not jump out to a three score lead that they can protect, and neither team is likely to do that, It will look a lot like what M's win v. IU looked, the winner performing like M did and closing the game out.

It is just as likely to be osu as M and the edge will go to the team that makes the big plays in the 4th. I like M to do that. JMO

[Rocky Bleier]

Why were the redshirts of Lavert Hill and David Long burned this year? Neither saw the field after Jeremy Clark went out for the season.

[Cody_Russell]

I think they played vs Rutgers in the 2nd half.

[Rocky Bleier]

Point is they played very early for no good reason, and then were not used again during any meaningful snaps.

[The Oracle]

Because Harbaugh sucks at roster management.

[THE_WIZARD_]

HARBAUGH!!!!

[Jeff Buchanan]

I actually think the red-shirt issue was important ....... in the 80s and 90s. It's not any more with the level of development and size of the top guys coming out of HS these days.

3 years and out to the NFL draft is becoming common despite the pull for a degree and that is at play at M and schools like it.

[THE_WIZARD_]

EFZ

[BlueInCostaRica]

The AP just came out with this week’s ratings. I have always thought that a team’s record against the Top Ten ought to be based on the current week, as opposed to ratings in ancient history. On that basis, below is a list of the Top Ten in the AP, along with each team’s record against the other members of the current Top Ten, at least according to my calculations.

1. Alabama (0-0)
2. Ohio State (2-1)
3. Michigan (3-0)
4. Clemson (0-0)
5. Wisconsin (0-2)
6. Washington (0-0)
7. Oklahoma (0-1)
8. Penn State (1-1)
9. Colorado (0-1)
10. Okla State (0-0)

[AlabamAlum]

I disagree. Where a team is now can be much different than where they were when the two teams played.

For example, USC is now ranked 12th, which may be a spot or two too low at present. They were ranked 20th when we played them and won 52-6 - and 20th was several spots too high for them at the time. They have made many noticeable improvements since September.

On the other side of that coin, Ole Miss was in the top 20 (19th?) when we played the Rebels - it was a legit ranking at the time, imo. Lose your starting QB, WR, and four linemen and you're unranked and struggling to make a bowl. They have dropped precipitously.

[AlabamAlum]

Or, perhaps, consider both. But not considering where teams were ranked when they met misses the boat.

[BlueInCostaRica]

Maybe. That's the usual argument. However, earlier season polls necessarily have less information about ranked teams than the current poll. To do otherwise, teams get credit for having played a ranked Michigan State or Notre Dame. One can always say, "Well, they were good when we played them."

No, they just weren't.

[Kstat]

There should be no polls until week 3 at least. It isn't right to give teams an early advantage based on how they look on paper

[AlabamAlum]

Maybe. That's the usual argument. However, earlier season polls necessarily have less information about ranked teams than the current poll. To do otherwise, teams get credit for having played a ranked Michigan State or Notre Dame. One can always say, "Well, they were good when we played them."

No, they just weren't.

Would you say that USC was the 12th best team in the nation when we played them? I think they are a decent team now. They certainly weren't when we played them. I'm not sure they were top 40 then. I know Western Kentucky played us much tougher the following week.

Would we beat the Trojans 52-6 if we played tomorrow? I tend to think not.

Because of cohesion issues, injuries, adjustments, etc, I think teams often get better or worse as the year goes on...much like a stock price. Bama taking credit for beating 12th ranked USC is silly. They weren't anywhere close to 12th when we played them.