It’s August 3rd, which means there will be college football played at the end of this month, and Michigan started its fall camp on Wednesday.
There will be plenty of college football content being put out over the next several weeks before football officially begins, and outlets will be putting out their preseason rankings — like CBS Sports did on Wednesday. CBS Sports released their exclusive top 131 rankings. The outlet ranked all 131 teams in college football, but where did they see Michigan coming in?
The Wolverines finished 2021 on a high note, even with a loss to Georgia in the College Football Playoff, the maize and blue defeated Ohio State and won the Big Ten Championship against Iowa — in a dominating fashion. The Wolverines ended up finishing No. 3 in the final AP poll.
While CBS Sports has Michigan inside the top 10, the outlet may not be as high on the Wolverines as some may be. CBS Sports ranks the maize and blue No. 8 in the preseason poll. Here’s what was said about Michigan.
The preseason stock price on Michigan this fall is much higher than it was at this time a year ago following the program’s first College Football Playoff appearance and Big Ten Championship under Jim Harbaugh, but there’s still room to buy if you’re a believer in a revamped coaching staff and several new faces on defense. The quarterback dynamic between Cade McNamara and J.J. McCarthy is also a fascinating competition over the next few weeks in fall camp with the incumbent McNamara having the obvious edge. Jim Harbaugh mentioned at Big Ten Media Days that his program got a taste of the elites after beating Ohio State and Iowa to end the 2021 season and the plan is to get back to the promised land.
Michigan has a very favorable schedule to start the season, and it also has both Michigan State and Penn State at home. The biggest challenges facing the Wolverines are away games against Iowa and of course, Ohio State. But the Wolverines will have plenty of time to figure out their quarterback situation, and they have time to get the ‘new look’ defense ready to go against Big Ten competition.
Here is the CBS Sports preseason top 25:
| PRESEASON RANK | TEAM | 2021 RECORD | FINAL 2021 RANK |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alabama | 13-2 | 2 |
| 2 | Ohio State | 11-2 | 5 |
| 3 | Georgia | 14-1 | 1 |
| 4 | Utah | 10-4 | 11 |
| 5 | Clemson | 10-3 | 16 |
| 6 | Notre Dame | 11-2 | 8 |
| 7 | Oklahoma | 11-2 | 10 |
| 8 | Michigan | 12-2 | 3 |
| 9 | Texas A&M | 8-4 | 28 |
| 10 | Baylor | 12-2 | 6 |
| 11 | NC State | 9-3 | 18 |
| 12 | USC | 4-8 | 85 |
| 13 | Oklahoma State | 12-2 | 7 |
| 14 | Oregon | 10-4 | 21 |
| 15 | Wisconsin | 9-4 | 23 |
| 16 | Arkansas | 9-4 | 20 |
| 17 | Cincinnati | 13-1 | 4 |
| 18 | Penn State | 7-6 | 31 |
| 19 | Miami (FL) | 7-5 | 47 |
| 20 | Michigan State | 11-2 | 9 |
| 21 | Wake Forest | 11-3 | 15 |
| 22 | Houston | 12-2 | 14 |
| 23 | Kentucky | 10-3 | 19 |
| 24 | Tennessee | 7-6 | 44 |
| 25 | Pittsburgh | 11-3 | 13 |
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