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Michigan Football: Athlon Sports Takes Picks At Wolverines’ 2017 Record

By Tyler Fenwick

MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Wilton Speight #3 of the Michigan Wolverines reacts in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles during the Capitol One Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
MIAMI GARDENS, FL - DECEMBER 30: Wilton Speight #3 of the Michigan Wolverines reacts in the first half against the Florida State Seminoles during the Capitol One Orange Bowl at Sun Life Stadium on December 30, 2016 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images) /
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The good folks over at Athlon Sports have made their predictions for Michigan football’s 2017 record. Most of it is good; some of it is bad.

What if I told you to predict Michigan football‘s record, knowing that the Wolverines would beat Ohio State? You’d probably say something like 10-2 or 11-1, maybe even 12-0. This is what makes Athlon Sports’ aggregation of predictions such an interesting thing.

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Because J.P. Scott, a staff writer for SB Nation’s Iowa Hawkeyes site, thinks Michigan will in fact beat the Buckeyes this season, but it’ll only be for win No. 8.

(Another discussion for another time: Would you be happy if Michigan’s eight-win season included a win over Ohio State?)

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Scott, along with four others, took a crack at predicting each game of the 2017 season for the Wolverines. The average win total between the five of them: 9.4. For what it’s worth, that’s half a win more than Bill Connelly’s S&P+ model is projecting.

All but one (Scott) have Michigan beating Florida in the season opener on Sept. 2 in Arlington, Texas, and then it’s unanimous in the Wolverines’ favor through for the next four games against Cincinnati, Air Force, Purdue and Michigan State. This is where Scott once again shakes things up and says the Wolverines will fall on the road to an improving Indiana.

The next week is the most disheartening, with all predicting a Michigan loss to Penn State. As I’ve said before, that will easily be the most anticipated game of the season to that point (once you remove the hype surrounding the beginning of the season for Michigan-Florida).

It’s back to a sweep for Michigan then against Rutgers, Minnesota and Maryland. After that, Scott and Kevin McGuire say Wisconsin will beat the Wolverines.

Then, yeah, everyone but Scott, who’s 8-4 prediction is the lowest of the group, sees Ohio State beating Michigan for the 85th time in a row.

Game-by-game predictions are really kind of ridiculous when you take a second to think about all the variables that are taken for granted in the process, but I suppose that can be said for any of the things we crazed college football fans do in the offseason. (Heisman watch lists are up, right?)

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But no matter how firmly you or I stand on principle against these sorts of things, we do have to acknowledge the fact that each one of these predictions (not just here but elsewhere) is painting a picture of what the expectations look like for Michigan this season. So far, it’s looking mildly optimistic, though definitely a bit drawn back compared to last year.

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