College Football: 10 Teams who could dethrone Clemson and Alabama
7. Michigan
Michigan received a boost by Shea Patterson‘s decision to return to Ann Arbor for his senior season instead of declaring for the draft. Patterson helped lead the Wolverines to 10 straight wins in the regular season after a season opening defeat to Notre Dame, putting them in position to win the Big Ten for the first time under Jim Harbaugh as well as making their first playoff.
The loss to Notre Dame to open the season brought some heat to Harbaugh, but the 10 wins in a row that followed quelled any negativity surrounding his tenure in Ann Arbor.
That was until the Wolverines were blasted by Ohio State in Columbus to end the regular season, and then similarly blown out by Florida in the Peach Bowl. With those two losses brought back the chatter of disappointment in his tenure at his alma mater.
2019 is a massive season for Harbaugh as he needs to get Michigan over the hump in year five. Urban Meyer’s retirement only made it all the more important for him to finally defeat Ohio State in his fifth try, and take home a Big Ten title.
Patterson headlines a lot of returning talent on offense, and the Wolverines’ running game should be fine in the hands of rising senior Chris Evans and others after losing 1000 yard rusher Karan Higdon to early entree in the draft.
The big question marks for Michigan are on the defensive side of the ball. One of the FBS’ top defenses will be forced to replace several key contributors. Replacing the production of Devin Bush, Rashan Gary, and Chase Winovich won’t be easy, but Harbaugh could turn to the Big Ten’s top recruiting class to aid in those efforts.
Michigan’s schedule sets up well with their two toughest opponents, Notre Dame and Ohio State, both visiting the Big House. They also get Michigan State at home and a tough out of conference matchup with Army in Ann Arbor.
They have two tricky road games — at Wisconsin and at Penn State — but both of those teams could be in the middle of rebuilds.
The schedule is manageable enough, the talent great enough, that there won’t be any excuses for Harbaugh to latch on to if the Wolverines come up short once again.