Michigan

Stock: plummeting

 

For every reason the Badgers are seeing their stock go up, the Michigan Wolverines are on the complete opposite side and are seeing their stock drop fast.

Two of their three biggest games are at home and now will be played without a home field advantage.

Dylan McCaffrey is starting at quarterback after spending much of his time backing up Shae Patterson last season. During a normal season Jim Harbaugh would’ve had time to groom McCaffrey and get him ready for the season. Now? The signal caller will be forced to go straight from the bench to the field during pivotal conference competition, not what the team needs when they still share a division with Justin Fields and Ohio State.

Finally, the elimination of out-of-conference competition sees them miss the opportunity to play Washington to begin the season. Why is that important? Because when you share a division with Ohio State it’s unlikely you will get a shot at a conference title. Then, in order to separate from other schools at the top you would need a big out-of-conference win or two and that’s what the Washington game was for Harbaugh and his team.

The schedule change had a significant hit on several teams around the conference. In my opinion the biggest hit was given to the postseason chances of the Michigan Wolverines.

 

Next…the conference’s best shot at sending a team to the playoff