By Beck Silver
On Monday the Week 1 AP Top 25 College Football Poll was released. Leading the pack were the Georgia Bulldogs, followed by the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Oregon Ducks, the Texas Longhorns, and the Alabama Crimson Tide. All the way down at the ninth spot is where the defending National Champions can be found – the Michigan Wolverines.
The top five are completely reasonable. Georgia looks as strong as ever, short of some slight questions on the receiving core. Ohio State has spent millions of dollars to build their roster, however their quarterback position is still a question mark. The Oregon Ducks have almost no questions, although it’s yet to be seen how Dillon Gabriel will fit into this offensive scheme. The Texas Longhorns will be strong this year and the Alabama Crimson Tide, although they lose production, bring in an excellent head coach in Kalen DeBoer. The real question comes with Michigan’s ninth-place ranking. Is this too low, too high or just right?
At first glance, this ranking seems totally reasonable. The Michigan Wolverines are going through a rebuild year, it happens to all programs. While it’s absolutely possible for the Wolverines to still have a great year, and even make a run at the title, they did lose a lot of production. The Wolverines have a brand new head coach in Sherrone Moore, are in the midst of a quarterback battle, and have questions in their wide receiver room. That being said, they do have some continuity within the program. Key offensive players such as Colston Loveland and Donovan Edwards will be making plays at tight end and on the ground respectively, and the Wolverines defense will once again be elite. There is no question about it – this is a top ten team.
The questions actually come about with the sixth, seventh and eighth spots. The sixth spot is taken by the Ole Miss Rebels. Although the Rebels went 11-2 overall in the 2023 season, their performance throughout the year left something to be desired. Led by returning head coach Lane Kiffin, the Rebels snuck away from several games last year including a three-point win against Texas A&M and a seven-point win against a wildly inconsistent team in the Auburn Tigers. Additionally, Ole Miss lost in an embarrassing fashion to the Georgia Bulldogs last year and lost by two scores to the Alabama Crimson Tide. Is it reasonable for the Ole Miss Rebels to rank above the Michigan Wolverines? It is. Ole Miss had ups and downs last year, but they’re coming back stronger without the number of questions the Michigan Wolverines had. The Rebels attacked the transfer portal this year and frankly have less to prove talent-wise than the Michigan Wolverines.
More Sports News
At the seventh spot is the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The Fighting Irish bring in Duke transfer quarterback Riley Leonard and are looking good at the skill positions with key performers such as Jordan Faison. Marcus Freeman is entering his third season as the head coach in South Bend and fans are hoping this is the year he’ll put it all together. Is it reasonable for Notre Dame to rank above the Michigan Wolverines? Probably not. The Fighting Irish, especially under Marcus Freeman, have yet to truly prove themselves on the national stage.
A big concern is the reliance they’re putting on their new quarterback. While Leonard is capable and mobile, we saw the same expectations be placed upon Sam Hartman last year who, some would argue, crashed and burned throughout the season. Another glaring issue for the Fighting Irish is their trench play. The Fighting Irish lost two offensive linemen (and five defensive players) to the NFL draft this year, and just lost starting left tackle Charles Jagusah to a season-ending injury.
Finally, the Irish failed to demonstrate the consistency of a veteran-led football team last year. They competed closely with elite teams like the Ohio State Buckeyes but failed to win any big games. They lost to Louisville and Clemson, both by almost two scores. Their biggest win was against a USC team without a defense who finished unranked by the College Football Playoff Committee. I don’t think Notre Dame has enough this year to decisively be ranked two spots above Michigan. Both teams have questions, but Michigan has key returning pieces who have seen success and played in playoff games. Notre Dame does not.
Ranked one spot above Michigan is the Penn State Nittany Lions. The Nittany Lions are consistently solid within the Big Ten, however in recent years, they’ve greatly struggled to overcome Michigan and Ohio State. Penn State will be led by James Franklin, bringing in Andy Kotelnicki from Kansas as OC and former Indiana HC Tom Allen as DC. This is the year Penn State fans have been waiting for. Much of their roster will be made up of juniors, including QB1 Drew Allar.
Is it reasonable for Penn State to rank above the Michigan Wolverines? Yes for now, but probably not long-term. Michigan will likely prevail as a stronger team than Penn State (potentially as early as week one if Penn State gets upset by a hungry WVU). However, at this point Penn State has a definite quarterback, Michigan does not. That being said, it may not take long for Penn State to drop in these rankings. PSU lost their leading receiver KeAndre Lambert-Smith to the Auburn Tigers this year in the portal, and didn’t necessarily have any big acquisitions.
This Penn State program plays USC, Wisconsin, and Ohio State. While this schedule isn’t as difficult as the Michigan Wolverines, there is also a very non-zero chance the Nittany Lions get upset in Week 1. The Nittany Lions will most likely lose to OSU and they’ll have to play their best against a sneaky USC team and up-and-coming Wisconsin team led by Luke Fickell.
Overall, like the Fighting Irish, the Nittany Lions have failed to prove they have what it takes over the past several years. Last season they hammered the weak programs, but just couldn’t get over the hump of Michigan or Ohio State once again. Penn State has a solid quarterback, a pretty veteran team, and a relatively easy schedule. So, at the moment there’s an argument for them to rank above the Michigan Wolverines.
Michigan Wolverines ranked ninth in the first AP Top 25 – is it correct or crooked? Very slightly crooked. I think the Wolverines have a real argument to at least fall in the seventh spot (or the sixth spot if you’re talking to someone especially high on the Wolverines). If nothing else, this team should be ranked eighth above the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. The good news for the Wolverines is they have a fantastic opportunity to prove themselves in a week two showdown against the Texas Longhorns. If they beat the Longhorns it may be the best win of any team up to that point in the season, would that be a strong enough reason to push them into the top five? We’ll have to wait and see.
