Michigan Football: Wolverines drop in AP Poll doesn’t make sense

Michigan football didn’t play this week and still, the Wolverines were dropped in the AP poll even though Utah only beat Idaho State. That’s idiocy.

It will be interesting to see how the Michigan football team responds this week against Wisconsin but on Sunday, with the release of the AP Poll, it got another sign of disrespect.

It’s stupid to care about polls and certainly, Jim Harbaugh and crew could probably care less about falling from No. 10 to No. 11 in the AP Poll. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s perplexing.

The Wolverines opened the season at No. 7 and stayed there after a 40-21 win over Middle Tennessee State. Yes, Michigan could have been more impressive in that game but the Blue Raiders are regular bowl participants and have a solid program.

Then, UM ended the nation’s second-longest winning streak with an overtime win over Army, one that was marred with mistakes, such as the three turnovers and missed fourth-down conversion late in the game.

Still, the drop from seven to 10 was justified with some of the other impressive early-season wins. However, the idea that Michigan is struggling like teams such as UCLA or Tennessee is misguided. The Wolverines are 2-0 after all and have a win over a team that’s easily among the top 30.

That being said, Michigan football dropped another spot despite being off this week and Utah, the team that jumped the Wolverines, did so after beating Idaho State 38-0.

That’s what doesn’t make sense. How in the world does that qualify the Utes to jump a spot? The Vandals have been and are one of the worst teams in the FBS and you can bet that Michigan would have beaten them just as easily.

It seems that pundits are buying into the narrative that Michigan is overrated and it’s possible that will prove to be true. Honestly, through two games, we have no idea if the Wolverines are better than they were last season or if they are destined for another nine or 10 win season.

But there is no logical reason for the Wolverines to fall from 10 to 11 in the AP Poll this week.

Yet, with Wisconsin on the schedule this week and the chance to make a statement, it doesn’t matter. Maybe Michigan will find some motivation in the fact that a bunch of analysts think it is headed in the wrong direction.

Next Saturday Michigan can prove them all wrong. If they do, the Wolverines won’t be out of the top 10 any longer.