5 Things we learned from Michigan Football’s win vs Minnesota

The double standard

It has been pointed out before, but it’s worth noting the double standard that exists with regards to head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Certainly, he needs to do better against Ohio State and top-10 teams in particular. But there are plenty of programs who would love to have 11 wins over ranked opponents in the past five years and change, including a 9-2 record against teams ranked 11-25.

While Harbaugh is often deemed a failure by certain members of the media, guys like James Franklin, Fleck and Paul Chryst aren’t held to the same standard. For any of those coaches, the win Saturday would count as a defining victory.

For Harbaugh, it’ the same-old phenomenon of once Michigan beats the tar out of someone, it doesn’t count as a big game because that team wasn’t good enough. Funny how that logic never applies to anyone else.

It’s sort of like Fleck getting credit for beating Penn State at home, but Michigan not getting any for beating No. 8 Notre Dame last season, a team that won 11 games, by 28 or a team in Iowa that went on to win 10 games.

But imagine the narrative if Franklin’s Penn State team went on the road and drubbed Minnesota by 25 points, the same night that Michigan lost at Indiana?

We all know that Harbaugh would be on the hot seat, while Franklin would be celebrated. Yet, I don’t hear much hot seat talk at Penn State.

And if you want to say that Chryst wins big games and Harbaugh doesn’t, because he has won a few Big Ten West titles, then you are admitting you know nothing about Big Ten football, because if Michigan played in that division, it would be in Indy every other year.