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Michigan Football: Can Lofty Expectations Be Handled?

By Tyler Fenwick

Oct 10, 2015; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines cornerback Jourdan Lewis (26) celebrates with teammates after he scores a touchdown on an interception in the second quarter against the Northwestern Wildcats at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 10, 2015; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines cornerback Jourdan Lewis (26) celebrates with teammates after he scores a touchdown on an interception in the second quarter against the Northwestern Wildcats at Michigan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /
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There’s going to be a lot of pressure on Michigan football to produce a winning season this year. Can the Wolverines handle the heat?

After finishing the 2015 season with an impressive 10-3 season, including a bowl win over the Florida Gators, Michigan football is going to enter the 2016 season with incredibly high expectations from the outside.

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All you have to do is look at the way-too-early preseason rankings being rolled out to understand where the Wolverines stand right now.

Just to run down some of the list, Michigan is ranked No. 3 by ESPN, Yahoo! Sports and USA TODAY; No. 5 by SB Nation, FOX Sports and Athlon; and No. 7 by Sports Illustrated and Phil Steele.

I can’t find a preseason poll that doesn’t show Michigan inside the top 10. I’ve already conceded that the Wolverines are in fact a top 10 team; that doesn’t seem disputable to me. The question is whether this is a good or bad thing for a team like Michigan.

A “team like Michigan” is a team that’s expected to do well, but you don’t know how much of your expectations are being drawn from current reality and how much are being drawn from the name itself. Michigan, until last season, spent a long time in the ditch on the side of college football’s Main St. To jump back into the lead pack would be wonderful, but we can’t take these things at face value.

When Michigan was ranked No. 5 in 2007, the Wolverines lost their first two games of the season to Appalachian State and Oregon. Then in 2012, ranked No. 8, Michigan got stomped by Alabama. (The Wolverines had one first-place vote in that preseason poll.)

The 2007 season eventually hit a pleasant rebound, which, although Michigan lost its final two games of the regular season, resulted in a win over Florida in Lloyd Carr’s final game. That 2012 season was a disaster—though we quickly excused it at the time—as the Wolverines lost to every ranked team they met.

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The question of whether having such high expectations is a good thing isn’t just for the team itself; I actually think we overhype the dynamic between expectations and performance. This question is probably better applicable (and more practical) for fans to answer.

If the expectations being built this offseason were only moderate (say Michigan was being ranked No. 15 in these polls rather than No. 5), a couple losses could be handled. But if the initial preseason polls represent what we’re seeing from ESPN, Yahoo!, SB Nation, etc., a couple losses means we’re looking back and saying, “Man! They didn’t live up to the hype.”

That’s a dangerous game to play. In this case it’s not like it would cost a coach a job, but you can see how repeated offenses could lead down a destructive path.

My advice to you, as fellow fans of the Wolverines, is to set your expectations however you want to: set them high and risk disappointment, or set them lower and increase your chances of them being surpassed. I’m not really in the business of telling you how to think.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

All I’ll say is you better be careful.

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