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Michigan continues to be a prohibitive underdog in the eyes of many with the 2020 Big Ten football season just over three weeks away, with those making predictions anticipating that the Wolverines will be worse in its nine-game schedule than Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin.
Every other year, Michigan handles them both, and seemingly every year — save for last season, when the maize and blue were preseason favorites to win the conference — prognosticators anticipate that the Wolverines won’t be the better of any of the aforementioned conference foes.
The same applies this year, as Erick Smith from USA TODAY Sports put together his predictions for bowl appearances, and when it comes to both the College Football Playoff and the New Year’s Six bowl games. Smith has Ohio State making the playoff and advancing to face Alabama, Penn State heading to the Cotton Bowl to take on Oklahoma State as an at-large, and Wisconsin vs. Oregon in the Fiesta Bowl as another at-large bid.
If you’re a fan of Disney — as we were a year ago — then Smith’s selection might not be that much of a disappointment for Michigan fans, as he has the Wolverines traveling back to Orlando to face-off against the SEC’s most emergent team in Tennessee.
Naturally, Michigan has higher aspirations than a return trip to the VRBO Citrus Bowl, but it’ll have to defeat several top teams in order to achieve beyond the prediction — such as taking down Minnesota on the road in the season opener as well as its two home games against the Badgers and Nittany Lions.
We certainly think that the Wolverines will fare better than anticipated, but with a new starting quarterback, mostly new offensive line and an inexperienced duo in the defensive backfield, a lot of things will have to go right for the maize and blue to make it to Pasadena, New Orleans, Dallas or Glendale as it hopes.
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