CBS Sports evaluates Michigan football's chances to win a national title in near future

In the old days of college football, a talented roster with depth, an elite coach and favorable schedule put blue blood programs directly in line to compete for a national title. That formula hasn't necessarily changed all that much, but in the new era of the sport with revenue sharing and NIL at play, there are more factors in the formula of competing on the national stage.

Recently, CBS Sports compiled a list of which programs are set up to compete for future national titles over the next decade. Five factors were used in determining a cumulative score for the nation's "featured jobs." The factors included: Recruiting, resources, talent pool, administrative edge and executable expectations. Each of the categories was assigned a subjective number grade for each program from 1-5, with '1' being the lowest classification and '5' being elite.

Programs were then placed into three tiers, with the "diamond tier" being at the top of college football, followed by the "elite tier" and "silver tier." The Wolverines were placed in the elite tier from sportswriter Brad Crawford and explained why in the article.

"No argument here if someone wants to put Michigan in the diamond tier of college football jobs. But the verdict is still pending in the sign-stealing investigation, and the potential ramifications for Sherrone Moore and his staff over the coming years could be significant. Jim Harbaugh's national championship run in 2023 -- the program's first title in 26 years -- set sky-high expectations for Moore, much like the almost unreachable bar Alabama fans have set for Kalen DeBoer after Nick Saban's retirement," Crwaford wrote.

With the way Moore and his staff have recruited the past two cycles, using speculative sign stealing ramifications as a reason to hold the Wolverines back from the diamond tier of college football seems like a stretch as the program has continued to build forward momentum despite noise from critics.

That being said, the Wolverines were still placed in a tier of a very strong group of programs, including Notre Dame, Oregon, USC, Florida, Oklahoma, Penn State and Texas A&M. The diamond tier of college football, according to the article, are Ohio State, Texas, LSU, Georgia and Alabama.

Clemson, Tennessee, Miami (FL), Florida State and Auburn were placed in the silver tier.

Jan 19, 2025; Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Michigan Wolverines head football coach Sherrone Moore fires up the crowd in overtime of the basketball game against the Northwestern Wildcats at Crisler Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images | Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images

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