Does Michigan go to a bowl game this year?

[OH HSKR FAN]

Sell. I think the maize and blue are in trouble this year. Hard to change the culture. Trust me on that one.

[OCBucksFan]

Well... considering the talent level of a lot of the big 10, they could feasibly make it into a lower tier bowl game. I do agree though, if they have a losing season it's going to be hard for the fans and alum to swallow.

[ChisAto]

Buy. All we gotta do is go 6-6.

[BrutusBobcat]

I hate agreeing with our oddly colored guests, but going 6-6 in this conference isn't a very high bar. Without some major upsets or a complete collapse, I am having trouble seeing seven losses. Notre Dame is still dreadful, and Minny and Northwestern aren't far behind. The rest of the non-conference slate is super-soft, and given an upset they would pick up two more wins. Even that leaves them needing just one win against the rest of the conference.

Three of the better opponents are at home (MSU, UW, Illinois), and two of the weaker opponents are on the road (NU, Purdue). Rack up games at Penn State and tOSU as near-certain losses, and you have a probable 4-6 loss season. If I had to pick a number, I'd call it 7-5.

If you're lucky, you'll get the Alamo. If not, it's a short trip to Motor City, baby!

[3074326]

If they become bowl eligible (they will), then they'll get in based on who they are.

[BB73]

Originally Posted by ChisAto

Buy. All we gotta do is go 6-6.

And not be shut out by other teams with 7 wins grabbing all of the available slots if the Motor City Bowl selects somebody else, due to the rule of 7-win teams taking precedence for bowls selecting outside of conference tie-ins. But with 34 bowls this year that's now rather unlikey.

[TheIronColonel]

The question is whether or not they go to a bowl game, not whether they have a good enough season to deserve to go to a bowl game. Unfortunately, with the massive overpopulation of bowls these days, everybody and their friend and their friend toothless cousin who lives in M*ch*gan can get into a bowl game.

I'm buying. 6-6 isn't that hard to achieve, especially with two MAC teams on the schedule and State Penn looking out of sorts lately. Also, Notre Dame. They suck too.

[NJ-Buckeye]

Of course they do...

Akron Zips (MAC #6) vs scUM Wimperines (BigTen #9) @ Motor City Bowl

Zips win !!!!!

[rocketman]

They can go 7-5. Northwestern, Purdue, Minnesota, Toledo, Notre Dame, Miami, and Utah are all very winnable games. PSU and MSU are toss-ups.

Rich Rod may be an asshole, but he's not incompetent.

[Taosman]

Utah is gonna be a tough game for them and I think they lose that one outright.
At an improving Northwestern won't be easy either.
Can the skunkbears score enough? They don't have a QB and that defense is very shaky.
Anyone they play with a decent offense will give them fits.

[Gatorubet]

Well, they just added those two new bowl games. I wonder if you still have to have the same number of wins as before to qualify, or if you can now get in with a 6-6?

[Jaxbuck]

Lets look at it like this:
OOC
Utah
Miami
@ND
Toledo

Hard to see anything worse than 2-2 here. Could just as easily go 3-1 or 4-0.

B10
Wisky
Illinois
@PSU
MSU
@Purdue
@Minny
NU
@OSU

Again, hard to see anything worse than 4-4 here. Wisky, Illinois, PSU and OSU should be favored. scUM should be favored over MSU, PU, Minny and NU. Even allowing for them to upset one they shouldn't beat and lose to one they should beat, its tough to see anything worse than 4-4.

I think they are 6-6 at worst, more likely 7-5.

Now, all that said they do have a dangerous recipie for a horrific year brewing imo.

On offense you have declared to everyone you are going to be a running team based on your new scheme but you have a very suspect OL and big time questions at QB. No threat of a passing game to take the pressure off when teams stack the box against the run AND a porous OL is not good. I don't give a [censored] what the S&C coach does.

On defense they are counting on having the '85 Bears based on something they saw from their D last year. I have no idea how anyone could convince themselves that the D will be anything more than good but lets just assume for a second it will be well above average but not great. How much worse will it be when its constantly on the field because of the [censored]ty offense? I think the answer is "a lot."

They do have a very good punter and I have no idea about the PK(he better be damn good).

They sound a lot like the '99 Buckeyes to me and we still managed to go 6-6 with Cooper as the coach.

[Taosman]

Just look at this schedule and tell me where they will win 7?
They don't have a QB.
Their O-line is weak.
Their passing game will be weak.
Their defense will be under tremendous pressure to hold teams to a reasonable point total.
The defense wasn't that good last year.
The timing of the schedule makes it even tougher with ND, Wiscy and Illinois early. All losses I think.
2 0 0 8 [/center]
DateOpponent
Aug. 30Utah
Sept. 6Miami (OH.)
Sept. 13at Notre Dame
Sept. 27Wisconsin*
Oct. 4Illinois*
Oct. 11Toledo
Oct. 18at Penn State* (HC)
Oct. 25Michigan State
Nov. 1at Purdue*
Nov. 8at Minnesota*
Nov. 15Northwestern*
Nov. 22at Ohio State*

[BUCKYLE]

Originally Posted by Taosman

Just look at this schedule and teel me where they will win 7?
2 0 0 8
DateOpponent
Aug. 30Utah
Sept. 6Miami (OH.)
Sept. 13at Notre Dame
Sept. 27Wisconsin*
Oct. 4Illinois*
Oct. 11Toledo
Oct. 18at Penn State* (HC)
Oct. 25Michigan State
Nov. 1at Purdue*
Nov. 8at Minnesota*
Nov. 15Northwestern*
Nov. 22at Ohio State*

Utah
Miami
ND
Toledo
Purdue
Minny
NW

[Oh8ch]

Michigan wins no less than 8 games this year.