Michigan Football: 3 reasons UM can fulfill AP playoff prediction

The AP predicted Michigan football to be one of the four teams to make the College Football Playoff. Here are three reasons why that could come true.

With the college football jlseason just days away, this is the week for preseason polls, All-American teams and playoff predictions. The Associated Press released all of that this week and Wednesday, it released its playoff predictions, which included Michigan football as the No. 2 seed.

This might come as a surprise to some but the AP story put out by Ralph Russo makes sense. With newly announced starting quarterback Shea Patterson, Michigan football is going to be a different team, one that wins big games and hopefully the Big Ten championship.

That is what Russo is counting on. He has the Wolverines beating Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game. Then, UM would face ACC champion Clemson. The other semifinal features Alabama versus Washington, in a rematch of the Peach Bowl two years ago.

While it begs the question why are the Wolverines ranked 14th in the AP poll if they are predicted to make the playoff? Well, these predictions are different than a poll. Obviously, no one would say Michigan football is a top-5 team right now. It has way too much to prove.

But the signs of greatness are there. The talent is there and the schedule provides more than enough opportunity. Russo is betting that Michigan and Jim Harbaugh finally start winning big games and here are three reasons why it could actually find itself in college football’s Final Four.