You shouldn't have to play anyone in OOC when you play in the B1G East division and then also have to play an extra game in the B1G title game.

Michigan's schedule next year is probably the toughest schedule of all time. Not only is scheduling Texas beyond stupid, even putting Fresno State on there--a team that clearly has a heart beat and can beat you if you play your B minus game--is inexcusable. Somebody should be fired. Seriously.

If JJ doesn't come back all the Michigan haters are gonna have a lovely time next year. 7-5/8-4 is the most realistic projection. If JJ does come back there's still no way michigan is running the table vs that gauntlet. 9-3/10-2 is the most likely endpoint. And if there's ever a time to let a 9-3 team in the playoffs it should be michigan next year.

I agree which is why during the course of the season I gave various peeps the back of my hand when they cried about the schedule

Michigan gave themselves no room for error, but they were flawless and earned it

Calm down, you just won it all…and definitely some teams in P2 will end up with 2 or 3 losses and in playoffs

not recognizing the equity in quality losses

It isn't the hardest schedule of all time, but it is LDO much, much more difficult than this year. Penn State no longer being an every year thing helps. So does Oregon, Washington, USC and Ohio State all losing their quarterbacks. They'll reload, but it'll be a step down.

Even if JJ doesn't come back -- and my worthless opinion is that he should for several reasons -- I don't think 4 or 5 losses is the most realistic projection. Barring massive portal departures, there is going to be an old, moderately experienced OL that's been in the same system for years now, good RB options, decent WRs and, more importantly, a lot of production on defense. I'd put 9-3 at the middle of the bell curve. If JJ comes back, add a win. Of course that's today, who knows what it'll look like come Labor Day.

The wild card (again an LDO) is whether Harbaugh leaves.

some of UM fans don't think Harbs is gone?
remember that time in high school a bro let you know your girl was cheating?
hurt like a kick in the dick when you heard it but started the healing
this is like that

I'd say it's 80/20 he's gone. But it's definitely not 100%.

They're going to offer him a boatload of money to stay. This isn't going to be one of those deals where a guy goes to the league to triple his income. He knows he's in a good place with the program he's built - the cupboard is going to be well stocked and another run is possible if JJ and some other guys come back. Family stuff could keep him in Ann Arbor.

If he leaves, it's because (a) he's Harbaugh, competition is in his DNA, he can check off national championship, time to get that Superb Owl win, (b) he's sick of the NCAA bullshit, (c) he thinks the NFL lifestyle is better, or some combination of those.

jim will never be better than his older brother until he wins a super bowl
simple as that

Harbaugh has to get out of town.

He already served two separate suspensions this year. What is next year going to look like when it all comes out?

The only way he preserves his legacy as a Michigan hero is to get the hell out now.

And red eyes is correct. Until he bags a Super Bowl, he’ll always be little jimmy.

Nah, further NCAA witchhunting will only cement his standing with the base.

tick marks recorded on the pantry door of mother harbs measure season win totals

What does that have to do with Michigan posters saying drivel like the SEC is a fraud because they finally didn't win the title, Georgia is a "loser team," etc? Just lol.

FYI, I'm the one who picked Michigan to beat Bama (almost the perfect score), then to gut Washington, and stand as the legit champion. I detailed the Michigan rise like no one else on here. You already know this but your ego is butt hurt over that reality so you need to misrepresent. And I'll stand by if the opposition was LSU, Georgia, Florida, Bama, Tennessee, Mizzou, Auburn, A&M, Ole Miss ... they don't go anywhere near undefeated in conference.

I agree with that. He's more title prominent than Bo ever was, unfortunately (loved the guy), even though Harbaugh has a way's to go to catch Bo in several respects. I agree Harbaugh GOAT Meechigan Man coach.

A little known fact about Bo, to give him his full due. As AD, he fired Bill Frieder in his famed "I'm leaving after the tournament" signing ... then he, Schembechler, coached the perennially underachieving men's hoops team to the title, with Fisher of course titularly at the helm. In his autobiography, Bo recounted his visits to the practices and locker room, and said something along the lines that the Frieder soft prima donnas nearly shyt their pants when they got a load of Bo. They responded with the title. I love that story. I played college ball. I know The Man when I see it and when I don't, just like those dudes in the Michigan locker room did. So Bo got his title, in my book.

Just going to throw out that there may be some recency bias here. With minimal research going off my memory of them ready to let him walk.

He was hired in 2015 and from 2015-2020, he was 6-12 vs OH St., Mich St., and Penn St. Including going 0-5 vs OH St. and 0-9 vs top 15 teams on the road. Michigan was ready to let him walk, but said if you want to stay we'll cut your salary in half. From like 8 million to 4 million. He swallowed his pride and stayed. Good on him. Since then he's like 33-3 with a national championship.

I don't see him sticking around. He got his Alma Mater a natty. Next logical step is to take the Bears job, have his pick of who he wants at QB, and bring a Superb Owl to the franchise he couldn't when he was their QB. Now that would be an accomplishment and upstage his brother.

They don’t go anywhere undefeated but beats the team that was able to go undefeated… I know you picked them over Bama and Washington but you talked **** about them all year too. It’s similar nonsense like saying the sec is a fraud.

Season's end conclusions:

PAC12 still sucks. Should be banned from the playoffs.

Michigan clearly the second best team in the country.

I wouldn't be confident one way or the other. Harbaugh is not a normal human being. Trying to project what this guy's gonna do using normal logic doesn't work.

sigh. Nice hand ILP.

I believe in "vacated wins" as much as a 'transgender man.' I won't even make an exception for Michigan.

Welcome home. and +1.
I can't see it. Teams like BYU and ASU won or shared a title pre-playoff, which includes the two team playoff. Once that happened no one won it that surprised you with their helmet. I think the past two years showed what happens when small offensive linemen have to get beat up by bigger players, and then come back and do it again next week.

More than anything, the playoffs show that online/dline runs college football. When is the last time the best QB in the four team playoff won the thing?

I talked no shyt about them. I told you their exact history and exactly who they are now. And I guess you can't handle the truth of that. In fact, I heartily respected their journey from OSU whipping boy, to Big 10 bully surpassing OSU but still fodder for the top dogs, to now a serious contender for the title. That's exactly what I did.

It's recency bias what he did with the Michigan program, the San Diego program, the Stanford program, and the 49ers?? Nice try. That's a fail.

He is indeed a very odd duck. It's very hard to get a handle on him personality-wise. He's definitely hyper competitive but yet it doesn't come across in the same way that it does of so many others of that ilk. There's some kind of factor with him akin to the way Belichick presents himself, everything is camouflaged. Perhaps we are going to learn from posts on here that he actually isn't great at building programs -- we seem to be getting hints in that direction, lol -- but I'm gonna go with the record. You do what he did in four places ... it's Rick Pitino. And that's not recency bias, it's the career record.

The Finebaum tears is an underrated aspect of Michigan’s natty.

https://www.freep.com/story/sports/c...n/72162887007/

Saban retiring. Whoa.