Five Reasons Why Michigan Must Win The National Championship In 2023

With the start of the season just 40 days away, the excitement surrounding the Michigan Football program is as high as it has ever been. Coming off of two of the most successful seasons in program history, the belief heading into 2023 is that this is Jim Harbaugh's best team since taking over as head coach back in 2015.

In fact, most folks around Ann Arbor have adopted the 'championship or bust' mentality - including the guys within Schembechler Hall.

Looking at everything that Michigan has working in its favor, along with all of the major changes that are coming to college football next year, there are a number of reasons why the Wolverines to capitalize on the 2023 season by winning it all.

1. The Roster

One of the biggest reasons why the Wolverines are an early favorite to win the national championship is that they're returning over 80 percent of their production from the 2022 season. That returning production includes the top quarterback in the conference in JJ McCarthy, the best running back duo in the country with Blake Corum and Donovan Edwards, an NFL-caliber offensive line, and a defense that is loaded with talent and experience.

In addition to the returning production, head coach Jim Harbaugh and his staff landed commitments from several big-time transfer portal targets who will likely play significant snaps this fall. Five of the nine incoming transfers served as team captains at their previous schools, including quarterback Jack Tuttle (Indiana), tight end AJ Barner (Indiana), center Drake Nugent (Stanford), offensive lineman LaDarius Henderson (Arizona State), and cornerback Josh Wallace (UMass).

Although having a roster loaded with talent and experience is certainly a massive plus for Michigan, it also creates a sense of urgency to win big while they still have it in Ann Arbor. In a previous article, I highlighted over 20 Wolverines who could declare for the NFL Draft following the 2023 season.

2. The Rivals

While Michigan returns a significant number of key contributors from the 2022 season, its three biggest threats in the Big Ten conference - Ohio State, Penn State, and Michigan State - all enter the 2023 season with some question marks at the quarterback position.

Ohio State will need to replace a two-time Heisman finalist in CJ Stroud, who was taken as the No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. For now, it appears that Stroud's successor will be junior Kyle McCord, who's played in 12 total games and made one start during his first two years at Ohio State.

Penn State is replacing veteran quarterback Sean Clifford after six years in Happy Valley. Clifford finished his colligate career at Penn State as the all-time leader in career wins as a starting quarterback (32), completion percentage (.614), completions (833), passing yards (10,661), total yards (11,734), passing touchdowns (86) and pass attempts (1,356). Clifford's replacement in 2023 will be sophomore Drew Allar - a 6-5, 240-pound quarterback who was a five-star prospect coming out of high school. While the Nittany Lions will certainly miss the veteran leadership from Clifford, most believe that the ceiling for Allar is much, much higher. As a freshman, he appeared in 10 games - completing 35-of-60 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns.

Michigan State lost veteran quarterback Peyton Thorn to the transfer portal, and now it's a two-man battle between redshirt freshman Katin Houser and redshirt junior Noah Kim. Houser played just six snaps during his freshman season in East Lansing, while Kim has appeared in just four games during his first three years as a Spartan.

Put simply, Michigan's biggest roadblocks to making it three-straight Big Ten Championships are all featuring first-year starters at the most important position on the field.

3. The Conference

This is the final year that the Big Ten Conference will feature 14 teams and two divisions. Beginning in 2024, both USC and UCLA will join the conference, and the Big Ten will no longer feature the East and West divisions.

Although getting rid of the divisions should actually work in Michigan's favor in terms of playing for a conference championship, the addition of USC and UCLA will certainly make the journey of getting there a little more difficult.

4. The College Football Playoff

Folks have been asking for an expansion to the College Football Playoff for quite sometime, and they'll finally get their wish in 2024. Since its inception in 2014, the CFP has featured the top four teams as voted on by a committee. In 2024, the field will expand to 12 teams - with the first round of the playoff set to take place at on-campus sites

While an expanded field will likely mean that the Wolverines will be in the playoffs more often than not, it also means that the pathway toward winning a national championship will be far more difficult in the years ahead. Under the new format, the Wolverines could find themselves in a first-round matchup against Texas in Austin, or Alabama in Tuscaloosa.

5. The Postseason Struggles

Jim Harbaugh and the Michigan Wolverines have spent the last two years destroying narratives about the football program in Ann Arbor. It wasn't all that long ago that Michigan was known as the third place team in its division, a team that couldn't beat Ohio State, and a team that had no shot at winning a Big Ten Championship - much less playing for one.

Over the last two seasons, the Wolverines have accomplished everything the critics said they couldn't - with the exception of one thing: winning in the postseason.

Although Harbaugh's turnaround at Michigan has been borderline magical, his postseason record of 1-6 is far from anything resembling magic. Harbaugh's lone bowl win occurred during his first year as head coach at Michigan, beating Florida in the Citrus Bowl back in 2015. Since then, the Wolverines have suffered six consecutive postseason losses, including Florida State (2016), South Carolina (2017), Florida (2018), Alabama (2019), Georgia (2021), and TCU (2022).

With just 40 days until the 2023 season kicks off, most folks believe that this is the best roster Jim Harbaugh has had during his tenure at Michigan. In fact, Harbaugh himself said as much back in April.

“As we sit here April 1st, 2023, it’s gonna be the best team - it’s the best version of a Michigan football team on April 1st, 2023 than we’ve ever had,” Harbaugh said during the spring. “A great roster of players, tremendous coaches all pulling in the same direction. That doesn’t mean we’re not going to have a letdown as the months go on, but this is the best version of football that I’ve seen since I’ve been here the last eight years.”

Given all that Michigan has working in its favor, a seventh consecutive postseason loss would certainly raise questions about whether or not Michigan can win at the highest level.