The picks:
Chris Balas: Watching the 1986 Michigan - Notre Dame game recently on the Big Ten Network brought back great memories (Jamie Morris, Jim Harbaugh and the option. Being able to watch Lou Holtz squirm on the sidelines instead of having to hear him) ?
Seriously, has this game ever been so hard to predict? We've heard suggestions Notre Dame will win because it has better athletes ? we disagree. They might win because they have more experienced athletes, but ?
Michigan 24, Notre Dame 23
John Borton: We could go for the trifecta this week - Michigan knocks off Notre Dame, USC undresses The Vest in The Shoe, and Terrelle Pryor's favorite quarterback gets dragged by a Doberman on his way to the stadium. Of course, that's unnecessarily harsh on reformed dog destroyers, so we'll stick with the first two. Charlie goes back to the Chocolate Factory for solace, staring at 1-1.
Michigan 28, Notre Dame 24
Michael Spath: Pouring through the chats that I did over at IrishIllustrated.com and Pete Sampson did here on The Fort yesterday, something struck us both - Notre Dame and Michigan fans are eerily similar and hate to admit it. They both have an embattled coach, both had an impressive opening week, both have more talent than 90 percent of the opponents they face and both believe they never get beat (instead that they beat themselves).
Face it U-M fans, ND is your evil step-brother. And unfortunately, I now have two Irish step-brothers I must tolerate at holiday gatherings (I hope my mom doesn't read this or it's no more allowance for me!). It is imperative the Wolverines take care of business so my younger brother (another Michigan grad) and I have bragging rights all year.
So I hope I'm wrong about this, but ?
Notre Dame 28, Michigan 21
Matt Pargoff: I could sit here and make fun of Josh for his pick last week, but I figure that everyone else has already taken care of that. And besides, what an easy target. Instead, I'd like to point out that Balas, Borton, Spath, Jon Chait and Ace Anbender each picked Michigan to give up at least 20 points to
Western. Good call guys.
Balas should have known better than to make last week's prize a Detroit Lions back-to-back preseason champions t-shirt. Put something valuable like that on the line and you know I'll be on target.
Oh yeah, the Notre Dame game. I'll be honest - I have no idea what is going to happen in this game. Normally I think I've got a pretty good feel for these things, but yeesh, have you ever seen two fan bases getting more excited about beating a couple of pushover opponents? Hooray, we're both at least average this year! That gets to remain as the consolation prize of a close loser to this game.
Michigan 24, Notre Dame 23
Josh Helmholdt: Before you start spitting barbs my direction for this pick, remember how well it worked out for Michigan last week.
Notre Dame 27, Michigan 23
Jonathan Chait: Here's the problem with trying to predict these Michigan-Notre Dame games: you think you have a perfect handle on how the game will play out, but then the whole thing comes down to something like whether touchdowns will be awarded to quarterbacks who come within two yards of the goal line before fumbling (answer: close enough!) or to quarterbacks who appear to cross the plane with their entire upper torso (answer: no touchdown, and no, we won't review it.) Not that I'm bitter.
Anyway, Rich Rodriguez proved last year that he is a true Michigan Man by following the hallowed tradition of pushing Notre Dame up and down the field but watching his players discover ever more ridiculous ways to lose. If there was a real scandal around Michigan football, it would probably be that last year's team shaved points against Notre Dame. Lots and lots and lots of points. Not that I'm bitter.
Anyway, my lesson from last week is to ramp down the specificity and give yourself a chance. So: Michigan runs for a lot of yards but passes for relatively few. Notre Dame passes for a lot of yards but rushes for relatively few. The key to the game: Notre Dame remains coached by Charlie Weis, who regularly beats up on inferior opponents but has never beaten a team that finished in the top 20. Question: is Michigan a top 20 caliber team? I'll say... at this point in the year .... with the defense still healthy... assuming Minor and Hemingway can perform reasonably well... yes.
Michigan 31, Notre Dame 28
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