Michigan Football: 3 Takeaways from Wolverines new 2020 schedule

Michigan football released its new 2020 football schedule Wednesday and it features a mid-season game against Ohio State.

If there is a 2020 Michigan football season, it will start in less than a month, as the Wolverines are scheduled to open at home against Purdue on September 5.

That’s according to the newly released schedule by Michigan football and the entire Big Ten Conference, which put out its conference only10-game schedule.

The Wolverines had nine Big Ten games before, which meant adding an opponent from Big Ten West and that opponent ended up being Northwestern. That game will be the final game of the season and will be a road game for U-M.

You might have guessed that the Ohio State game was going to get moved up and it did, although not as early as some had predicted. It will be played on Oct. 24.

The schedule has multiple bye weeks built into it, which is something that was done for the purpose of flexibility. Also, that last game against Northwestern, might not have an impact on the division race and if that game is in question, it could make it easier to cancel.

Ultimately, a pair of back-to-backs could decide the season for the Wolverines. The first is a Week 2 trip to Minnesota followed by a home game against Penn State.

Then, one week after traveling to Columbus, Michigan football will return home to square off against Wisconsin.

The key games are all still there but there are some big differences and here are three takeaways from the new 2020 Michigan schedule.

Michigan vs Ohio State will still be the same

When it comes to Michigan and Ohio State, it doesn’t matter when or where the game is played. The rivalry is going to be the same and I still think that matchup decides the Big Ten East in 2020.

Obviously, Ohio State will be the heavy favorite to beat Michigan and everyone else in the Big Ten this season. They are the dominant team in the league and until the Wolverines actually beat them, it’s hard to believe it will actually happen.

This will be the first time since 1998 that Michigan isn’t playing its final regular-season game against the Buckeyes. U-M made a trip over to Hawaii to play a 12th game that year.

Other than that, it hasn’t happened this century. So it’s going to be interesting. But when October 24th rolls around, no one will care that it’s not the final game of the season.

Hell, it wouldn’t matter if that was the only game of the season in 2020. When it’s Michigan and Ohio State, the only thing that matters is winning — not when the game is played.

Michigan will host Michigan State again

Michigan State fans probably won’t be too happy when they see the 2020 schedule and that’s because instead of hosting the Wolverines, the Spartans will play in Ann Arbor once again.

Now, before the Spartans and their fans totally lose their minds, let’s not forget this same thing happened in reverse back in 2013 and 2014.

After beating Michigan State in 2012 on a last-second field goal, Michigan had to travel to East Lansing in both 2013 and 2014 because of the change in Big Ten Divisions.

In terms of 2020, it does seem strange that this change was made, although the Wolverines now have to play at Indiana the week before Ohio State, so it’s still an even schedule.

It was likely the result of moving things around and as I said, Michigan State can’t really cry foul because a similar quirk favored them not long ago. And, at any rate, the Wolverines still have a tough road game at Indiana instead.

But I doubt anyone from Michigan will miss making the trip to East Lansing this fall.

The new schedule is slightly more favorable

There are some key differences between the original Big Ten schedule for Michigan and the one released Wednesday. But most of these changes seem to favor U-M, even in a slight way.

For one, if the schedule had stayed the same, the Wolverines would have opened with back-to-back home games against Wisconsin and Penn State. Now, Purdue will come to Ann Arbor before U-M travels to Minnesota.

Neither of those games is easy, especially the road game at Minnesota. But at the very least, Michigan will have a chance to try out its new starting quarterback against a team not considered a conference elite.

If Michigan wants to have a shot at winning the Big Ten East, winning divisional games at home against Penn State and Michigan State, as well as the crossover game against Wisconsin, is vital.

Yet, outside of Ohio State, the road schedule of Minnesota, Rutgers, Indiana and Northwestern isn’t too daunting and the home slate is winnable as in all five games.

Playing Wisconsin one week after Ohio State is tough. If the Wolverines pull an upset in Columbus, that will be a tough game to focus on the next week. However, if Michigan suffers another loss at Ohio State, maybe the quick chance at some redemption the next week will help.

All I know is that we have a schedule and hopefully, we will get football.