3. MICHIGAN
There’s no reason why Michigan should finish lower than third in the Big Ten year to year, particularly with top-10 recruiting classes, and yet here are the Wolverines pushing the line again.
Job No. 1 for Michigan is to improve the defense that allowed nearly 35 points per game under since-fired coordinator Don Brown. The second job is to modernize the offense under Jim Harbaugh, which is probably not going to happen, even with Josh Gattis as the offensive coordinator. Either way, Harbaugh has quite a bit of talent returning on offense. It appears sophomore Cade McNamara will start at quarterback, but one must wonder if 5-star freshman J.J. McCarthy will somehow play this fall. McNamara completed only 60.6% of his passes in 2020, but impressed in a victory against Rutgers and did not throw an interception in four games.
Ronnie Bell is a strong receiver near the hashmarks down the field, and the strength of the roster appears to be at running back, where sophomore Hassan Haskins leads the way after rushing for 375 yards and six scores in six games last season.
Everything needs to improve for Harbaugh to jump off the hot seat, but the defense has the biggest hill to climb after allowing nearly 35 points per game in 2020. Still, Michigan gets the slight edge over Indiana here in the standings but that might not be enough for Harbaugh to remain a Michigan Man in 2022.
Projected record: 7-5
Confidence in projection: 9