College Football Rankings: Way-too-early Top 25 projections for 2018

There will be no boost up the polls from a bowl win for Michigan in the 2018 preseason AP Top 25. Jim Harbaugh’s crew went down to the Outback Bowl and took a 9-3 into the locker room at halftime against South Carolina. Then the Gamecocks came out from the intermission and adjusted effectively to pull off a runaway 26-17 comeback.

The Wolverines will get a bump up the rankings anyway from the pollsters, after fielding one of the youngest teams in the country in 2017. Despite their inexperience, Michigan held its own in the Big Ten East. Eight wins was respectable for a team that was clearly in rebuilding mode.

But that rebuild will be expected to pay dividends in 2018. There is always some team that is irrationally boosted up the AP Top 25 every preseason. This year it will most likely be Michigan, even after they suffered three straight losses to close out the regular season.

Pollsters will look at the return of so much talent and expect great things from the Wolverines. Either the Wolverines will justify their lofty preseason ranking, or they will be exposed right out of the gate. The rivalry against Notre Dame resumes in the season opener when Michigan heads down to South Bend.