Where Michigan football is ranked by ESPN post-spring
The 2024 Michigan football season is still a few months away. We are getting closer though and spring football is always a key part of the process.
For Michigan football, much of the focus this spring was centered on the quarterback battle and who would replace first-round pick J.J. McCarthy.
McCarthy is the greatest quarterback Michigan football has ever seen, at least in the college game. So he's going to be hard to replace. It doesn't help that 10 of Michigan's 11 offensive starters are gone.
However, Donovan Edwards, a cover guy for EA Sports College Football 25, is returning. So is Colston Loveland who most experts agree is the best tight end in college football, plus a future first-round pick.
There are three to four first-round picks on defense too. Will Johnson, Mason Graham, and Kenneth Grant are the names most people know, but Derrick Moore has first-round potential too. So did Rod Moore before what's likely to be a season-ending injury.
The point is that there are plenty of reasons for optimism. Yes, Michigan football returns just 36 percent of its starting production last season, but after adding some key depth this spring in the transfer portal, Michigan football should be a contender in the Big Ten and for the College Football Playoff.
ESPN agrees and in the post-spring power rankings released by ESPN, Michigan football checks in at No. 10. That's third among Big Ten teams with Oregon and Ohio State ranking higher. Penn State checked in at No. 12. USC was No. 25.
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Michigan football plays all those teams this season outside of Penn State. The schedule also includes a road trip to Washington in a national championship game rematch.