Michigan Football Might Finally Be Looking At Lower Expectations

Michigan football received some really lofty expectations last season, and they weren’t met late. This year looks different, and that’s good.

If we go back to Jim Harbaugh’s first offseason with Michigan football in 2015, the predictions rolling in were not very optimistic.

Here’s a little rundown of what people saw coming from the Wolverines.

Bleacher Report: 8-4 at best, and don’t rule out 6-6.

MLive: 7-5 (4-4)

Athlon Sports: 7-5 (4-4)

This isn’t to try to point out incompetency or anything like that; everyone seemed equally surprised when the Wolverines actually went 10-3 and beat down Florida in the Citrus Bowl. But the fact remains that expectations were pretty low, and it was a simpler time.

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Last offseason was practically the opposite of that. Propelled by a 10-win season and having a senior-laden team (especially on defense), the bar for Michigan was raised significantly, in some cases to the height of the College Football Playoff. That didn’t work out.

Now that we seem to be reverting back to the simpler times of people expecting less-than-great things from the Wolverines, maybe we can all be pleasantly surprised again by the end of the season.

Land of 10 says Penn State—not Michigan—represents the biggest threat to Ohio State this season in the Big Ten East.

"With 11 players picked in the NFL draft in April, the Wolverines return just five starters from last season’s team — the fewest in college football. Although Harbaugh has recruited well, his best classes are still young, with proven playmakers found few and far between on the Michigan roster."

One of Bleacher Report’s five predictions for the Big Ten this season is that the Wolverines will lose four games.

"Michigan will take a step back in 2017.That’s not an indictment or doomsday prediction for the program as a whole, but with what the Wolverines lose from their stellar 2016 squad, it’s going to be hard for Jim Harbaugh to reach double-digit wins for the third consecutive season."

And even where people are still sticking on board with Michigan, national writers have been quick to put on the brakes.

Mat Miller of Bleacher Report has flatly said the Wolverines are being overrated heading into this season. Sirius XM college football writer Barrett Sallee ranks Michigan as the No. 2 most overrated team in the country, behind LSU.

It’s definitely reasonable to say this 2017 Michigan team is not going to feel nearly the same weight that last year’s team did. Although I’ve argued that this isn’t a team in “transition,” as some want to say, there’s no doubt the expectations have been lowered.

Next: Top 10 running backs in Michigan history

Maybe the Wolverines will repeat their 2015 season—except, you know, with a couple more wins.

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