Michigan Football: Predicting a perfect record for Wolverines in 2019
The expectations are high for Michigan football in 2019. Just how many games will the Wolverines win? Here is our look with game-by-game predictions.
The season opener for Michigan football is less than two months away and the anticipation for that opening game against Middle Tennessee State continues to grow.
Long-time college football expert Phil Steele added to it Sunday when he released his preseason top 25 for the 2019 season and included the Wolverines at No. 3, three spots ahead of Ohio State, which came in at No. 6.
Steele has been projecting Michigan football to make the College Football Playoff for the first time, after coming close in 2016 and 2018. In each of those seasons, had the Wolverines been able to win in Columbus and then Indianapolis, they would have made the four-team playoff.
6️⃣0️⃣ days until we kick off the season at The Big House!
— Michigan Football (@UMichFootball) July 2, 2019
Will YOU be there!? #GoBlue 〽️🏈 pic.twitter.com/3pIrFCBGZF
Yet, we all know what happened against the Buckeyes last season. At the same time though, Urban Meyer is gone. Not only that, but Ohio State has a new starting quarterback in Justin Fields, compared to Michigan, which has both head coach Jim Harbaugh and quarterback Shea Patterson returning.
Like last season, the schedule is going to be a challenge, however, key games against Notre Dame, Michigan State, Iowa and Ohio State are all at home. The key road tests come against Wisconsin and Penn State, although Indiana has given UM troubles over the years, especially in Bloomington.
Army and Middle Tennessee State could provide competitive opponents but the most challenging part of the schedule will be the nine-game Big Ten slate, as well as Notre Dame on Oct. 26. Yet, there is a strong reason to like Michigan in each matchup, so how many can they win?