Opinion Roundtable: How Will Michigan Do With Its New Nine-Game Schedule?
With the Big Ten announcing that its teams will play a conference-only schedule in 2020, slates for each team are down to just nine games. If Michigan plays just those nine games, how would they do?
We discuss...
Brandon Brown
We don't know yet if Michigan and other Big Ten teams will shift things around a bit with their schedules, but right now, U-M's slate of games looks like this:
Sept. 26 - Wisconsin
Oct. 3 - Penn State
Oct. 10 - @ Michigan State
Oct. 17 - @ Minnesota
Oct. 24 - Purdue
Nov. 7 - Maryland
Nov. 14 - @ Rutgers
Nov. 21 - Indiana
Nov. 28 - @ Ohio State
As is the case with Michigan every year, it's really only a three- or four-game schedule. Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland, Rutgers and Indiana are basically gimmes. Jim Harbaugh has done a good job while at U-M of beating teams he should beat. That's really why his record is as good as it is.
To me, Wisconsin, Penn State and Minnesota are all coin-flip games. With Jonathan Taylor off to the NFL, I think Wisconsin takes a big step back. I'd call that a win.
Penn State's defense is going to be absolutely nasty, and they have a returning starter in Sean Clifford at quarterback. The game is in Ann Arbor, but I think that one could be a loss since it's early in the season and Michigan will still be figuring things out at quarterback and on the offensive line.
The Minnesota game is really tricky. They'll be the home team and their offense is explosive with Big Ten Player of the Year candidates Tanner Morgan at quarterback and Rashod Bateman at wide receiver. Still, it's Minnesota. I know they won 11 games last year, but I just can't see U-M losing to them. Not yet. Chalk it up as a W.
Finally, there's the automatic loss to Ohio State. The Buckeyes are just on another level right now and might have the best player in the entire country in Justin Fields. Throw in the fact that the game is in Columbus and it could get out of hand early.
That puts Michigan at 7-2, which is pretty much what we've all grown used to. Michigan wins about 3/4 of its games and seems to fall short in the ones that matter most. Jim Harbaugh has won 72% of his games at Michigan, and a 7-2 record is a 77% clip. Until something else happens, I'll go with what always happens.
Kailen McKay
My prediction for the season is 7-2. I think Michigan loses to Wisconsin first. If the Wolverines do in fact end up playing Wisconsin right out of the gate, then I think they'll just be too much. Key departures for them include Johnathon Taylor & Quintez Cephus, but they return their starting quarterback, Jack Coan, along with numerous other players. Unfortunately, as has been the case for much of my life, I believe Michigan's second loss will be to Ohio State.
Justin Roh
With only a nine-game schedule, Jim Harbaugh won’t have to worry about the critics when he doesn’t win ten games this season. Even with Washington no longer on the schedule, Harbaugh and the Wolverines will still have to go through a gauntlet of Big Ten games to start the season. As of right now, Michigan will host Wisconsin and Penn State, then travel to Michigan State and Minnesota. Three out of those four games could be top-ten match-ups, with the exception being on the road against a rival in East Lansing. The Wolverines then have an easier stretch for the next four weeks until they head to Columbus, where they haven’t won in two decades. A large issue with jumping right into the Big Ten schedule for Michigan will be the quarterback position. They won’t have any “cupcake” games at the beginning of the season to get inexperienced quarterbacks Dylan McCaffrey and Joe Milton game repetitions before the the conference season starts. I see the Wolverines losing one of the first four games as well as at Ohio State to end the season.
My prediction: 7-2
Eric Rutter
Under the expectation that Michigan's season will not change, I'm going to lodge a record of 7-2 for the Wolverines this season. For the games that may trip Michigan up, game No. 2 against Penn State at home is a clear trap game. While the home team has usually prevailed in this matchup, 2020 offers different circumstances, and Michigan will be replacing four NFL-drafted offensive linemen. Penn State boasts a stout front seven with Micah Parsons, Shaka Toney, Jayson Oweh and Brandon Smith. That is a bad combination for a Michigan blocking group that will be in the early stages of developing continuity. Since that youthful Michigan O-Line will also be protecting a QB in his first year of starting duty, I think all of those factors lead to an early season loss for U-M. After that, I think Michigan will pull out victories in each game until the end-of-year contest against Ohio State. The talent level is too far away and I don't see a win for Michigan this year unless some strange circumstances unfold.
Jack Scheel
Typically you will see the Wolverines play a couple of "cupcake" games to get the team ready and sort out who will be the signal caller going into conference play. This year Michigan won't have that luxury. Are you Team Milton or Team McCaffrey? Everybody, whether they like to admit it or not, has a preference. I am a firm believer that whoever starts will get the job done, but Joe just grabs my excitement a tad more than Dylan does. That being said, with Milton getting the nod as the week one starter, I believe the offense will be a major problem for opponents to deal with in offensive coordinator Josh Gattis' second year.
Let's take a look at the schedule. We know who the tough teams are going to be, Wisconsin, Penn State, Minnesota, and that damn team in Ohio. Three of those four games look like they will be played in a four game stretch with a trip to East Lansing sandwiched in the middle. Michigan will play Wisconsin and Penn State at home, which has played out in U-M's favor recently, and I will count those two games as wins.
Minnesota is the tough one for me. Obviously, we saw how talented they were last year, and they are returning starting quarterback Tanner Morgan, who looks to be a preseason Heisman contender, star receiver Rashod Batemen, and of course PJ Fleck as Head Coach. I am not confident yet that Michigan will win this game away from home, assuming Minnesota may be a top-10 team at that point in the season. Michigan hasn't been able to beat a top-10 team on the road since September 16, 2006 at Notre Dame which was a 47-21 U-M victory. This will be the Wolverines' first loss. I do have confidence in Michigan's ability to handle the remainder of their games before they head to Columbus, which brings me back to the previous point made — the same old song. Michigan can't win big games on the road. With Ryan Day having proved himself last season and seemingly unstoppable Justin Fields coming back for his presumed last season with the Buckeyes, another loss.
Michigan will finish with a record of 7-2.
Michael Spath
Much remains to be worked out but if Michigan does in fact play all nine games currently on its schedule I would pick them to win five games on the relatively easy side: at Michigan State, Purdue, at Rutgers, Maryland and Indiana. Michigan is immensely more talented than those teams and the one thing Jim Harbaugh has proven in five years is he doesn't lose to the teams U-M has no business losing to. The outcome of the 2020 season was always to be decided by matchups against Wisconsin and Penn State at home, and Minnesota and Ohio State on the road. I expect the Wolverines to get revenge on the Nittany Lions and if the Michigan defensive line is more stout in the middle than in 2019, U-M should take down Wisconsin too. I hate to admit it because I'm not a fan of PJ Fleck, but traveling to Minneapolis where the Gophers would make the Michigan game their red-letter contest of the season - and with Michigan's consistent struggles to beat good teams on the road - I think that's a 50-50 bet. I have no confidence U-M wins in Columbus. As it stands today, I would pick the Maize and Blue to go 7-2.
