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stlnd01

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I just dont think any of the other teams you listed would be wins to hang your playoff hope on. The would all be second tier, at best, wins. Maybe Michigan figures it out or USC goes on a tear with their frosh QB, but I'm not counting on it.

No, but if Michigan were to win the Big Ten but lose to us. And USC were to win the Pac 12 but lose to us, that would be a pretty strong argument on our behalf relative to "But Notre Dame doesn't play in a conference."
But, yeah, I wouldn't count on all that either.
 

Irish#1

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I watched the Army scUM game. Army blew that game and should have won. Now those idiot fans know what's it's like to play Navy every year.
 

RDU Irish

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#1 Clemson then #2-4 of Bama, UGA, LSU

There is your playoff lineup - get use to it.

With five SEC teams in the top 10 it is hard for anyone outside the SEC to get a top 10 win. We need to capitalize on our opportunity.
 

Veritate Duce Progredi

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#1 Clemson then #2-4 of Bama, UGA, LSU

There is your playoff lineup - get use to it.

With five SEC teams in the top 10 it is hard for anyone outside the SEC to get a top 10 win. We need to capitalize on our opportunity.

I don't think there is any issue with the current top 10. All of the top 5 teams have looked very good so far. As always, we just have to let the season play out and see how we look.

If we get beat soundly be Georgia, we have no business talking about the playoffs. Now if we return to full health and look much stronger at the end of the season, we'll let the committee decide. A playoff game or big bowl game would still be in the cards.

But we have no idea how good this team can be.
 

gkIrish

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The Wisconsin game is gonna be that game where Michigan wins on some lucky fluke play or mental implosion by the opponent. They are the luckiest team in college football (second only to the Patriots in all of football).
 

Veritate Duce Progredi

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The Wisconsin game is gonna be that game where Michigan wins on some lucky fluke play or mental implosion by the opponent. They are the luckiest team in college football (second only to the Patriots in all of football).

Michigan thus far has struggled with sound, disciplined football teams. If I was going to describe Wisconsin in three words, two of them would be sound and disciplined.
 

calvegas04

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The Wisconsin game is gonna be that game where Michigan wins on some lucky fluke play or mental implosion by the opponent. They are the luckiest team in college football (second only to the Patriots in all of football).

they already got their lucky win out of the way with Army
 

Some Irish Bloke

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#1 Clemson then #2-4 of Bama, UGA, LSU

There is your playoff lineup - get use to it.

With five SEC teams in the top 10 it is hard for anyone outside the SEC to get a top 10 win. We need to capitalize on our opportunity.

I can't see any way that three SEC teams get into the playoff.

In that scenario there is zero question you have to expand the playoffs. Three conferences miss out plus potentially ND? The uproar would be turned up to 11.
 

stlnd01

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I can't see any way that three SEC teams get into the playoff.

In that scenario there is zero question you have to expand the playoffs. Three conferences miss out plus potentially ND? The uproar would be turned up to 11.

Bama goes undefeated.
Georgia runs the table and loses close to Bama in the SEC title game.
LSU loses close to Bama but otherwise goes undefeated.
Clemson goes undefeated and wins the ACC
Texas beats Oklahoma and wins the Big 12.
Big Ten and PAC 10 teams beat each other up in the usual fashion and all have two or more losses.
We lose a couple.

That’s all reasonably likely to happen. The only outcome listed above that I might not bet on today is Texas beating Oklahoma. Maybe Ohio State only loses one.
But if it does all go that way you’d have three SEC teams and Clemson in the playoff. And an eight team playoff within a couple years.
 

Wingman Ray

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Bama goes undefeated.
Georgia runs the table and loses close to Bama in the SEC title game.
LSU loses close to Bama but otherwise goes undefeated.
Clemson goes undefeated and wins the ACC
Texas beats Oklahoma and wins the Big 12.
Big Ten and PAC 10 teams beat each other up in the usual fashion and all have two or more losses.
We lose a couple.

That’s all reasonably likely to happen. The only outcome listed above that I might not bet on today is Texas beating Oklahoma. Maybe Ohio State only loses one.
But if it does all go that way you’d have three SEC teams and Clemson in the playoff. And an eight team playoff within a couple years.

What that says is the SEC sucks competition wise when each of those teams play no one except one game a year.
 

ACamp1900

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What that says is the SEC sucks competition wise when each of those teams play no one except one game a year.

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Valpodoc85

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I think Harbaugh starts turning the thumb screws on coordinators after the Army game (especial attention to offense). that works short term, hurts team play a couple games on. I suspect Michigan may be completely dysfunction by the ND game.
 

ulukinatme

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I think Harbaugh starts turning the thumb screws on coordinators after the Army game (especial attention to offense). that works short term, hurts team play a couple games on. I suspect Michigan may be completely dysfunction by the ND game.

I've got news for you, they're Michigan. They're always dysfunctional.
 

NDMIA

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4 or 5 suddenly isn't out of the question. Their schedule has gotten tougher than originally anticipated.

@ 14 Wis, 19 Iowa, @ 13 PSU, 7 ND, 21 MD, 18 MSU, @ 6 OSU.

Not all of those teams are top 25 caliber teams. Early in the season you see this kind of inflation with teams in the SEC, Big 10, and Big 12. Maryland has looked good in their two games against Howard and Syracuse but I don’t think Syracuse was a top 25 football team this season and they killed them at home. We’ll see but it’s a long season and I don’t think all of these teams are top 25 teams. Michigan could be one of those teams though especially starting @ Wisconsin!
 

Irishfanforlife23

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I think Harbaugh starts turning the thumb screws on coordinators after the Army game (especial attention to offense). that works short term, hurts team play a couple games on. I suspect Michigan may be completely dysfunction by the ND game.

I agree. They have a myriad of problems and I am not sure coaching can fix that in time. They were heaping praise on the O-Line all off-season and I just don't see what's so special about them. Their plays take a long time to develop. They don't have a game-breaker on either side of the ball. I could never figure out the preseason hype, but I think teams do a lot of lobbying for various reasons for those preseason rankings.

I never base any observation of a team solely on one game, but their first two games and the end of last season should have them concerned. Weird things happen when Notre Dame travels to play them. We'll see, but the two biggest hurdles in my eyes are USC and Virginia, after Georgia of course.
 

Some Irish Bloke

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Not all of those teams are top 25 caliber teams. Early in the season you see this kind of inflation with teams in the SEC, Big 10, and Big 12. Maryland has looked good in their two games against Howard and Syracuse but I don’t think Syracuse was a top 25 football team this season and they killed them at home. We’ll see but it’s a long season and I don’t think all of these teams are top 25 teams. Michigan could be one of those teams though especially starting @ Wisconsin!

You're correct, these teams will not all finish ranked. However, still wanted to point out that while scUM hasn't looked good, these guys have.

Main point, at this stage through two games, I think any of those teams listed will give them a fight. Which is hilarious.

Fu*k Michigan.
 

NDMIA

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You're correct, these teams will not all finish ranked. However, still wanted to point out that while scUM hasn't looked good, these guys have.

Main point, at this stage through two games, I think any of those teams listed will give them a fight. Which is hilarious.

Fu*k Michigan.

Completely agree. They’ve got @13 Penn State, 7 Notre Dame, and @19 Maryland in consecutive weeks and then right after a bye they’ve got 18 Michigan State. Miraculous for them to get out of that without a loss or two or three haha. We’ll see how they do against Wisconsin first.
 

Veritate Duce Progredi

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Michigan will still get up for the ND game. It's a virtual guarantee. It doesn't matter how poorly they play over the next 4-6 weeks. We need our guys to look better each and every week.

If Patterson hits just 2 of the passes missed last week, the game could've been different.

I don't think Michigan is a great team but with our single data point, I don't think ND is either.
 

Irish2155

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If Army's kicker just hit on more kick the game could've been different

Or if they didn't false start on 1st and goal from the 1. That one penalty cost Army the W as I think someone else noted. Zero points on that possession is what lost them the game, IMO.
 

Legacy

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SBNation has a FanPulse survey that anyone can sign up for. Fans pick their team and vote weekly.

For those who signed up as Michigan fans:
What a difference a week can make.

After a 92% confidence rating in our FanPulse poll for Week 1, nearly half the positivity has been Thanos-snapped from the #Michigan fan base.

You can sign up to be part of these surveys here: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/YK726PN

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