Michigan Football: 3 reasons to want the Wolverines in Outback Bowl

South Carolina would be a quality win

The weirdest thing about the Michigan football season, is that while we know the Wolverines are a solid team, we still don’t have a ton of evidence to prove it.

Michigan ranks high in nearly every defensive category and its rushing numbers look great too. So does the 8-4 record. But amazingly, not one of those eight wins came over a team that finished with a winning record. 6-win Purdue is basically Michigan’s best win of 2017.

You aren’t alone in thinking that’s pathetic. So when considering a bowl game for Michigan, the best thing for the Wolverines, is playing a quality opponent. That could have come in the Holiday Bowl or even the Gator Bowl, but an 8-win SEC team will have to do.

After all, the Gamecocks were recently ranked in the playoff rankings, so beating them would definitely count as a good win. It would also likely get the Wolverines into the final AP poll, which is probably only something nerds like me care about. But still.

Between Bo Schembechler, Gary Moeller and Carr, Michigan football finished in the AP Top 25, 35 times in 38 years, including a streak of 20 years in a row from 1985-2004. Since Carr’s retirement, Michigan has finished in the poll just four times in nine years and never in three consecutive seasons.

Jim Harbaugh and company could change with a win over South Carolina.