With the retirement of Urban Meyer at Ohio State, the door is open for the Michigan Wolverines to finally reach a Big Ten title game. But will that be enough to get them into the College Football Playoff for the first time? The maize and blue have been strong under Jim Harbaugh going 10-3 last season for the third time in four years. However, UM has been unable to breakthrough partly due to their failures against their biggest rival.
Riding a 10-game winning streak into their annual showdown with the Buckeyes UM was in position for a playoff berth. That ended with a 62-39 beatdown and the Wolverines didn’t recover. A once promising season ended the way others before it had. But make no mistake, Harbaugh has done a fantastic job flipping the program and increasing the talent level. He and the team need to do more and this could be the year considering what UM has and the uncertainty in the league.
College Football Playoff Odds at BookMaker.eu
Michigan Wolverines To Make 4-team Playoff
Yes +270
No -350
This could be the year for Michigan. Harbaugh is one of the best coaches, his staff is elite and the talent on the field is in place. The Wolverines were on the verge of greatness last year before crumbling. Their three 10-win seasons in four years hasn’t happened since the late 1990s. Michigan is supposed to be great, not just good. And with all that’s happening in the Big Ten, and with his nemesis no longer coaching, UM has a chance to finally breakthrough.
2019 Michigan Wolverines Schedule
Week 1: vs. Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders
Week 2: vs. Army Black Knights
Week 3: OFF
Week 4: at Wisconsin Badgers
Week 5: vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
Week 6: vs. Iowa Hawkeyes
Week 7: at Illinois Fighting Illini
Week 8: at Penn State Nittany Lions
Week 9: vs. Notre Dame Fighting Irish
Week 10: at Maryland Terrapins
Week 11: OFF
Week 12: vs. Michigan State Spartans
Week 13: at Indiana Hoosiers
Week 14: vs. Ohio State Buckeyes
Michigan Wolverines Schedule Analysis
There is no Notre Dame to open the schedule, which is a good thing since that opening loss last season put UM behind the eight-ball. With no margin for error, the Wolverines strung 10 victories in a row before finally folding. Maybe it all caught up them or maybe they just weren’t a CFP quality team. The non-conference slate is tough with Army and the Irish visiting Ann Arbor later in the year. Opening against Middle Tennessee sets up UM for an early win.
Big Ten play opens at Wisconsin, but it comes after a bye week so the Wolverines should be ready to go. They skip Northwestern and Nebraska from the West, but still have to contend with Iowa and Illinois in cross-over games. That game against the Hawkeyes doesn’t look so bad now. Rutgers, Indiana and Maryland shouldn’t be a problem, Penn State is rebuilding, and Sparty and Ohio State visit the Big House.
Michigan Wolverines Season Preview
Just where do the Wolverines go this year? They were rolling last season behind upgraded play at quarterback and the defense was the best in the country until that debacle in Columbus. That should serve as motivation entering 2019 with Shea Patterson under center for another season and a stable of worthy, yet unproven playmakers. UM was pretty good moving the football last season, scoring an average of 25.5 points. New offensive coordinator Josh Gattis plans to take things to another level with an up-tempo, no-huddle approach.
Another year with Patterson at quarterback gives the offense stability it’s never had under Harbaugh, which is kind of ironic since the coach is a former QB. Patterson threw for 2,600 yards and 22 touchdowns last season and those numbers will spike with a new approach and behind the Big Ten’s best offensive line. There are plenty of talented pass-catchers for Patterson and we’ll see bigger numbers in the passing game following the loss of the team’s top two rushers.
Permitting 103 points in the final two games last year showed there is work to be done on defense. Despite the late season meltdown, the Wolverines still allowed less than 20 points per game, so it’s not a total makeover. There are big shoes to fill following the loss of Rashan Gary and Devin Bush Jr., but the cupboard isn’t bare in Ann Arbor. They might not be a top-20 defense this season, but the expected improvement on offense should offset some of the inconsistencies.
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