Kickoff Times For Minnesota And Ohio State Games Revealed + AP Poll Update

Start times for two of Michigan's most important games were released earlier today.

With the season now less than two weeks away, Michigan knows exactly when it will begin its 2020 campaign on the road at Minnesota.

🚨 GAME TIME ALERT 🚨

We'll kick off our season at Minnesota in primetime, at 7:30 ET on ABC. pic.twitter.com/1Izpe4WQz0

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) October 12, 2020

Based on that update, it looks like the Wolverines will kickoff the 2020 season in enemy territory for a game that will be in prime time, starting promptly at 7:30 p.m. Since Minnesota is in the Central Time Zone, the game will start at 6:30 p.m. over there.

This meeting will mark the third consecutive year that Michigan will begin its season with a night game after Middle Tennessee State traveled to Ann Arbor for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff last year, and the Wolverines traveled to Notre Dame for a 7:30 p.m. start time in 2018 as well. 

Not long after that news broke, Michigan Football confirmed that, as many expected, the Michigan-Ohio State contest would remain in its traditional Noon time slot. 

Also... #TheGame vs. Ohio State has been confirmed:

Noon on Fox. On December 12. pic.twitter.com/23UTcuTU9F

— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) October 12, 2020

The timing of this game should come as a surprise to no one since it falls in line with the storied tradition of the U-M and OSU rivalry, but now the time is locked in, and the telecast will be broadcasted by FOX. 

AP Poll Update

One advantage that Big Ten schools have by not starting until Oct. 24 is that many teams across the country will already have suffered at least one loss before schools like Michigan kick off. That continues to be true as U-M climbs in the weekly AP Poll rankings without so much as playing a game.

Over the weekend, the newest edition of the AP Poll has Michigan at No. 19 in the country, a one spot jump from its No. 20 position a week ago. And when Michigan starts its season on Oct. 24 against Minnesota, it will be facing a school that is ranked No. 24 right now.

Three other Big Ten teams also were ranked in this week's AP Poll with Wisconsin at No. 16, Penn State at No. 9 and Ohio State sitting at No. 5. The SEC is the only conference with more ranked teams than the Big Ten with six making the cut. 

How many Big Ten teams will be ranked by the end of the season? Where do you predict that Michigan will finish? Let us know!