DB

Tue, Oct 11, 2011 : 11:10 p.m.

Sitting at 6 and 0, my Michigan Wolverines have a whole lot going for them. But none as big as the HATE that they're recieving from the critics of the football world. Ranked 10th(coaches) and 11th(AP) in the country, you couldn't measure the doubters on the richter scale! They just continue to errupt out of nowhere. Yes, my Wolverines ran off 5 straight just a year ago... this i know. Afterwards, loss 5 of the next 7, and a horrible loss to Miss St.... I'm aware of this as well. But guess what, that was an all Denard all the time Mich team. A Mich team that was coached by a coordinator who couldn't spell defense! We're among the nation's best in red zone, as well as second half teams... especially 4th quarter. And as I recall, that's by far the most important. Don't believe me... just recap this past weekend's games. Now I am by now means caught up in anybodys hype... I'm not blind - we're not LSU; we're not that team in which state I reside; we're not even Wisconsin defensively. But we're definitely not 2010's Michigan team. (Same players) Different team. You can not only see it, but u can feel it. And I feel a Mich 38 Mich St 14 game this Saturday. LETS GET IT! GO BLUE!!!

Edward R Murrow's Ghost

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 6:30 p.m.

Miss Lorraine wrote: "Cudos to RR and staff for assemling a great group of kids. Hoke & co. need to win three more to finish where RR, would have been, this year. Just sayin'........" And the chief fictioneer of the MCC is heard from with her all-too-predictable drumbeat. Three years with the last crew with two different DC's and the kids couldn't play defense to save their lives. Less than one year with the new crew with a new defensive scheme (which is the MCC's excuse for the 2008 collapse--from 24th to 68th with 8 returning starters because they didn't have time to learn the scheme) and the defense is among the national leaders (9th in scoring; 39th in total yards) largely with the same players who were 108th and 110th, respectively, last year. Yeah. We have the last coaching staff to thank for this--we need to thank them for packing their bags so quickly and not letting the screen door hitting 'em in the butt on the way out. Good Night and Goood Luck

Lorain Steelmen

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 5:26 p.m.

After the game, the big ten crew asked both Robinson and Van Bergen, how this team was 'different' than last year's team. Both said, it was experience, and the team growing together, as a unit. Time makes big improvments possible. Cudos to RR and staff for assemling a great group of kids. Hoke & co. need to win three more to finish where RR, would have been, this year. Just sayin'........ We all know that the Spartans will be a 'physical' challenge this week, and again, both kids declined to say anything about msu on saturday night. Smart decision by both kids. We all know that msu will attempt to knock DRob out of the game, if not, end his season, saturday. Fortunately for UM, the league will no longer allow Spartan Bob, to be the time keeper. Now, let's hope the league sends a us an officiating crew, that has the guts to standup to the home team, regarding holding calls and personal fouls, etc. The crew we had in Evanston was blind, in the first half, to NW's offensive holding. (Note, to John Falk...rememeber to bring lots of extra jerseys saturday...we'll need 'em.) Prediction, Ricky Barnum will be declared 'healthy', Coutess will play, early and often. (Lets' hope he can stand up the the onslaught.) Robinson must realize that he doesn't need to throw a home run, to beat the Spartans, he only needs to make sure his feet are set, and stay reasonably accurate. The rest of the squad will make up the difference, IF, they decide to block for each other, on each play.. Prediction, if DRob finishes the game in one piece, UM 35 - MSU 17. If DRob doesn't finish the game, MSU 28 - UM 14. Final thought...msu is NOT a particualrly 'great' team...they're good, but not great. UM , if they play solid consistent ball, should win this one. Then UM gets a week off, to prepare for the final stretch. Good luck guys, take another step toward title number 43!

XTR

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 3:36 p.m.

LSU, Oklahoma and Alabama are a cut above the rest, their offense and defense and personnel were uniformly sound. But the rest are not clearly above everyone else with Wisco, Stanford and Oregon are probably after those three top teams. After 6 games, the ranking Michigan has is just slightly overrated or just right. The teams in the division are not sure losses meaning all of them could be won in the field, it all depends on the gameplan, executions and the breaks of the game. An undefeated division championship team or a 2 loss team will not be surprising to this team. This team is different from the last 3 years because Rich Rod and his staff is no longer coaching this team.

Rufus

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 2:32 p.m.

After having watched OSU, Nebraska, Iowa, Penn State, and MSU play-Michigan may be the 10th best team in the nation this year. Michigan has a great opportunity- with so many down teams in the Big Ten. With Mattison's remarkably improved Defense, I think any game Denard plays well (doesn't throw interceptions) Michigan can and maybe even should win.

Doug

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 1:22 p.m.

When Brady Hoke is interviewed about the team's success he rightfully credits the players and their efforts. He doesn't take credit for his coaching ability or give credit to the top notch coaches he has gathered to develop these players and to make adjustments during the games. This is the class of the man!

ChelseaBob

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 1 p.m.

I keep seeing comments that we won't play anyone higher ranked than us the rest of the season. What about the big ten championship game in Indy? We will probably play the cheese heads, and if they keep winning they will be #2 or 3 at that point. This team could go undefeated and win a national championship, or it could lose 3 games, it really depends on focus and the breaks. In any event, it's an awful lot of fun, and I am proud of the program on and OFF the field again. Go Blue

craigjjs

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 12:16 p.m.

After a game week or two the rankings are not much of a reflection of a team's quality as much as a measure of what the top teams are doing week to week. If top teams lose or under perform, lower ranked teams move up. At this point, the Michigan rankings are optimistic at best. This week's game will be a real measure of the team.

81wolverine

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 2:18 a.m.

I'm excited about our great start, but I'll believe our ranking when we beat MSU. Right now we have too many question marks to justify that ranking.

Dr. Vag

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 1:40 a.m.

Michigan v. State: This is a Good Chip <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cMcXFAEdrU" rel='nofollow'>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cMcXFAEdrU</a>

azwolverine

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 1:19 a.m.

The rankings really don't mean much at this point. I don't expect UM to go undefeated, so they are sure to drop a bit at some point. The only rankings that truly matter are the ones that come out after the bowl games. If UM is still top 10 at that point...heck, even top 15, that will be quite an accomplishment, imo. MSU will be quite a test this weekend, but certainly not the first this season. ND and Norhtwestern were both pretty solid tests and Michigan passed both of them...although not easily. MSU will be the toughest yet.

chapmaja

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 12:53 a.m.

I am a Michigan fan, always have been a Michigan fan and always will be a Michigan fan. With that said, the best word I can use to describe Michigan's ranking is OVERRATED. Michigan is not the 10th best team in the country. Are they a top 20 team? I think so, but they are not top 10 on the field right now. Things are definately moving in the right direction. We are seeing a lot of very good things from the players and the coaches this season we did not see in the past. The team is making adjustments to what opponents are doing and generally is doing the little things like wrapping up tackles much better than they did the last three years. I actually have a huge concern about this team though. I think they could be getting rated to highly and it could come back to bite them badly once the season ends. I had Michigan projected to be a 10-2 team in the Spring, winning 10 in a row to open the season before losing the final 2 games. If that happens they likely get to a Florida New Years non-BCS game which would be a good test against an SEC foe getting them ready for next season which talent wise should be the season to watch for Michigan (and is brutal schedule wise). Right now, when you consider the fact they don't play a team ranked higher than them in the rankings left on the schedule I could see them better than 10-2. I think it is possible they go 11-1 or 12-0 this season since I think they can beat MSU, Illinois and Nebraska and I'm not worried about OSU because I think they have too many issues to be really good. A 10-2 season had an outside shot at getting them into the BCS at best. If Michigan somehow goes 11-1 they will likely make the Big Ten title game which I think would be an ugly loss to Wisconsin. They then might still get a BCS bid which would likely be another rough result. I don't want Michigan to get to the point they think they really are this good then get humbled and have a carry over into the opener next season.

Buster W.

Mon, Oct 10, 2011 : 12:36 a.m.

Lot of fools gold so far, but we should know a lot more after Saturday. Please, please let's get off to a solid start for once...getting tired of playing catch up.

1st Down

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 11:55 p.m.

This team does not quit, and gets stronger as the game goes on. That speaks for the leadership of the players, the coaching, and the strength and conditioning program which is now up to BT standards and above. 10-0 is very doable and sparty is the next victim.

BlueGator

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 11:26 p.m.

For what it's worth, the opening betting line in Vegas is MSU by 3, which is essentially the value they usually place on home field advantage. GO BLUE!!!

Kafkaland

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 11:21 p.m.

For what it's worth, even the Wall Street Journal (not a big fan of anything Ann Arbor to begin with) is taking note. They just wrote: &quot;If things couldn't get any stranger, University of Michigan football, a rudderless wreck in recent years, is 6-0.&quot;

Macabre Sunset

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 10:25 p.m.

They've earned this ranking. But ranking is more a function of schedule, and I doubt Michigan is ready for the three teams that seem to be creating some distance from the pack (LSU, Oklahoma and Alabama). I like what I've seen from this team, though. Halftime adjustments that make sense. Starting to develop that &quot;attitude&quot; on defense. A win Saturday in East Lansing, and this season will already mark tremendous improvement from the last three seasons. The defense only has to hold opponents to 54 points per game the rest of the year to beat last season's record for defensive futility.

MRunner73

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 9:48 p.m.

While I am very hesitant about a Top 10 or 11 ranking, the Maize and Blue did earn a hard faught come from behind road win against Northwestern. The Wolverine fans who are most skeptical are waiting for one more test; our next game on the road against Sparty. Other tests will come thereafter with match ups against currently ranked B1G teams of NE and IL in November. It will be a much tougher last 6 games vs the first 6. I was thinking Michigan would have 4 wins and 2 losses at this point in late August. Given the above expectations thus far, a win against Sparty is attainable. I won't venture past next weekend because this is a &quot;game clock&quot; event so the Wolverines should be and will be very focused. I would rather walk the walk than talk the talk on this one. This game will certainly prove which team is better, which will settle one agruement. We know Brady Hoke is very serious about this match up, so will the entire coaching staff and thus, the players. Yep, eliminate the turnovers and we should be on the winning end. GO BLUE!!!

Mick

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 9:48 p.m.

@Tim, you keep waiting for the bubble to burst because you got used to watching the WCIMFH on the sidelines in the previous 3 years, everyone just needs to shake that felling off, things are different now. We have the best coaching staff in the nation, feels so good to be able to say that. As great of a coach Bo and staff were, I feel like this staff is more forward thinking, Bo was a bit conservative after all. We deserve this ranking and I feel good about the rest of the games, MSU and Illinois will be tough to beat but winnable, Iowa won't be able to score enough, Purdue is meh, Neb and TSIO don't have the cache to beat us in AA this year. Northwesterns' Offense will be one of the best we will have faced this year IMO and we shut them down in the 2nd half. It's great to be a Michigan Wolverine!!! Go Blue!!!

tim

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 9:22 p.m.

I believe we are improving each week, and each week I'm waiting to see our bubble burst. It's just not happening so all I can say is go blue!

Hebner

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 9:11 p.m.

Feels good! but, much work to be done. It was a good game to have a week before the MSU game because we know there are aspects of the game to improve upon. Go blue! Our team stayed positive and showed character in finishing the game the right way.

heartbreakM

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 8:53 p.m.

Always good to see high rankings, but I think at the end of the season, we will know better where to rank them. Only bummer is that we will not play any higher ranked teams because the B10 is not exactly gangbusters nationally, and our pre-b10 schedule was too much MAC and too little ranked. But if we keep winning,that'll take care of itself. Does anybody know our record vs. MSU when we are top 10 and they are lower in the rankings? It seems lately that they always win those games. I hope that's not true this year!!

D21

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 6:54 p.m.

Psst Mick, Rem they are still our little brothers. GO BLUE!

Mick52

Sun, Oct 9, 2011 : 6:43 p.m.

Glad its the coaches poll. They should know better than anyone. I read a lot of comments that Michigan is not worthy, but it makes sense so far. Win next week and that should answer all the questions. End the turnovers and Michigan should win. MSU has some great defensive players but their offense is sputnik. And why does MSU get all the breaks? Last year they didn't have to play osu and this year they get to play them while the four starters are still on suspension. Those suspensions should have been four games to make the competition fair across the Big Ten.