Michigan Football: 5 reasons Wolverines will struggle in 2018

4. Tough schedule

If you were trying to design a schedule to keep a good team out of playoff contention, it’d look a lot like this. For the second straight year, Michigan has one of the toughest schedules in America. Being in the Big Ten East is a challenge for every member, with four top-20 caliber teams every year, but this year could be harder than ever for Michigan.

The season begins with a road trip to Notre Dame. Under the lights, against a team that’ll likely be ranked in the top 10. The Fighting Irish are a legitimate title contender this year, as they return 15 starters, including quarterback Brandon Wimbush and almost their entire defense. This isn’t a must-win game to remain in playoff contention, but a loss here would really hurt.

Five-straight winnable games, four of which are at home will be a nice break before the next rough stretch. In a four-week span, Michigan will host Wisconsin, travel to Michigan State, and host Penn State, with a bye separating the final two. That’s three teams that will likely be in the top 15 at that point.

Rutgers and Indiana will serve as another break, before Michigan finishes off the season in Columbus, against Ohio State. That makes for five matchups against teams that could all be near or in the top 10 by the end of the year. Three of them are on the road. That’s an absolutely brutal schedule, especially when you look at what all those teams excel at.

Every one of the top teams Michigan has to play is expected to have a fantastic defense. For a team that struggled so greatly offensively last year, five elite defenses (and two sneaky good defenses at Northwestern and Indiana) is a nightmare. To make the playoff, Michigan can’t afford to lose more than two of those games. To make the Big Ten championship, they can probably afford just one conference loss. That’s an extremely small margin for error.