The team with the most money bet on it to win the National Championship this year is the Michigan Wolverines. Jim Harbaugh did fantastic things in 2015 with Big Blue, and he's expected to legitimately challenge for the National Championship in just his second year on the job. It's a tall task for sure, but it isn't out of the question either.
Michigan Wolverines Regular Season Win Total Odds at BookMaker.eu
Michigan Over 9.5 Wins ( -165 )
Michigan Under 9.5 Wins ( +135 )
A total of 15 starters are back from last year's team for Michigan. The Wolverines are bringing back nine players from an offense which had its moments last year in averaging 395.9 yards per game. There were some dud moments as well, but the offense clearly got better as the year wore on.
The quarterback spot is a bit of a question mark, though. Wilton Speight is expected to be the heir apparent to Jake Rudock, but he didn't end up playing all that well when he was under center. There are a lot of tremendous players for him to get the ball to, though. Jake Butt is the most proven tight end commodity in the nation, and having both Jehy Chesson and Amara Darboh, the top two receivers from last year's team back should end up really helping out in the transition.
But can this defense be as good as it was last year? Harbaugh has a history of having elite defenses no matter where he goes, and last year, his crew ranked No. 4 in the nation in total defense and No. 6 in scoring defense.
This secondary is legit. Jourdan Lewis is a potential Top 10 pick in the NFL Draft next year, and sophomore Jabrill Peppers is right there with him. Throw in a total of six senior starters, and you've got the makings of a tremendous defense.
2016 Michigan Wolverines Football Schedule
September 3 – vs. Hawaii
September 10 – vs. UCF
September 17 – vs. Colorado
September 24 – vs. Penn State
October 1 – vs. Wisconsin
October 8 – at Rutgers
October 22 – vs. Illinois
October 29 – at Michigan State
November 5 – vs. Maryland
November 12 – at Iowa
November 19 – vs. Indiana
November 26 – at Ohio State
You'd like to think that Michigan is going to be favored in at least 10 of its games this year. The only exception for the games which are seemingly wins might be a road game at Iowa if the Hawkeyes end up overachieving. Games at Michigan State and Ohio State will make or break this season for sure. If both are won, it should be off to the Big Ten Championship Game with the possibility of playing for the National Championship as well.
The first five games of the year are all at home for Michigan, and that should continue to keep a budding crowd into the action for the hardest games of the five against Penn State and Wisconsin to end September and start October.
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We trust Harbaugh for sure, but this is a really tall task to live up to these expectations. There really aren't potential tripping points until October as we see it, and with just four total road games, there aren't a ton of tremendous potential problems.
Still, Michigan is just two years removed from a disaster of a season, and we aren't sure that its quarterback play is up to snuff. If that ends up being the case, this could be a nine-win team which gets upset once and loses to both OSU and Wisconsin. Most are going to be playing the Wolverines over their team total, especially knowing that they're amongst the favorites to win it all, but we're going to go with the under to go against the grain on a team which might end up underachieving just a bit.
College Football Odds: Michigan Wolverines Under 9.5 Wins
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