Steady Iowa is No. 30 in 2018 preseason college football rankings
- Thread starter HawkeyeHypnosis
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Motigerhawk
Well-Known Member
They did a good job. Although, under strengths, if those are our only strengths, we may be in for a long season.
DMLadyhawk
Well-Known Member
This seems about right for the Hawks right now.He sure doesn't think much of Illinois or Indiana
WinOneThisCentury
Well-Known Member
It kind of makes you grab your nut sack when you think you are returning three starters on the OL, but it's still a group that could go Sophomore (Wirfs), Redshirt Freshman (Banwart), Senior (Render), Senior (Reynolds), Sophomore (Jackson). You would think starting two sophs and a redshirt freshman would be scary...but I have a feeling these guys are ready for some payback already. IMO, Jackson and Wirfs have the potential to be dominating and Banwart must be really freaking good because he didn't just jump a bunch of stiffs.
Boy, it sure seemed like we gave up more than 25 sacks last year though...a ton of hits on the QB though.
Boy, it sure seemed like we gave up more than 25 sacks last year though...a ton of hits on the QB though.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
I don't see this defensive line gassed late in games like the 2010 line. There are a possible 8 or 9 guys in the rotation.
guffus
Well-Known Member
Some of the other rankings of interest so far
2018 Orlando Sentinel College Football Preseason Rankings:
No. 30 Iowa
No. 34 Iowa State
No. 35 Nebraska
No. 60 Northern Illinois
No. 61 Missouri
No. 65 Maryland
No. 67 Purdue
No. 74 Minnesota
No. 90 Rutgers
No. 92 Indiana
No. 107 Illinois
That means the remaining Big Ten teams yet to be ranked, and therefore must be ranked higher than Iowa must be NW, Mich, MSU, PSU, OSU, and Wisc. The only surprise is that they ranked NW higher than Iowa.
2018 Orlando Sentinel College Football Preseason Rankings:
No. 30 Iowa
No. 34 Iowa State
No. 35 Nebraska
No. 60 Northern Illinois
No. 61 Missouri
No. 65 Maryland
No. 67 Purdue
No. 74 Minnesota
No. 90 Rutgers
No. 92 Indiana
No. 107 Illinois
That means the remaining Big Ten teams yet to be ranked, and therefore must be ranked higher than Iowa must be NW, Mich, MSU, PSU, OSU, and Wisc. The only surprise is that they ranked NW higher than Iowa.
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earlkoppelman
Well-Known Member
Questions Marks to be answered.A few breaks like minimum injuries. Then Hawk Players stepping up.They are great at that.Players tough.Game plan progressive "NECESSARY" Go Hawks!
Fryowa
Administrator
What really sucks with this one is that we’re ranked essentially indistinguishable from Nebraska and Iowa State (its impossible to seperate 30th best from 34th best). This may be one of the most honest rankings I’ve seen yet.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
Pre-season S & P+ rankings for 2018
#1 Ohio State
#8 Penn State
#10 Michigan
#11 Michigan State
#12 Wisconsin
#36 Iowa
#38 Northwestern
#46 Iowa State
#54 Purdue
#58 Indiana
#60 Nebraska
#67 Minnesota
#69 Northern Illinois
#80 Maryland
#84 Rutgers
#99 Illinois
#1 Ohio State
#8 Penn State
#10 Michigan
#11 Michigan State
#12 Wisconsin
#36 Iowa
#38 Northwestern
#46 Iowa State
#54 Purdue
#58 Indiana
#60 Nebraska
#67 Minnesota
#69 Northern Illinois
#80 Maryland
#84 Rutgers
#99 Illinois
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Can the prognosticators please knock it off with the Harbaugh love until he proves he can beat OSU and MSU and not crap his pants in a bowl game? Michigan ahead of Wisconsin is preposterous. The Badgers showed a lot of moxie in their second half comeback against Turnover Chain U in what was a virtual road bowl game. And their quarterback grew up. And the have better playmakers at the skill positions than Michigan has as well as a better Offensive Line.
Stop it with the Harbaugh worship. It's disgusting!
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
You can knock the Pre-season S&P+ for a lot of things, but I don't think Harbaugh love is one of them. I believe the preseason S&P+ is based on record during the last part of the previous season, returning assets minus players who have left, five year record, five year recruiting ranking, and a few other things. It's a much better indicator of how teams are performing once the season gets about six or seven game in. Even well into the season no quantitative formula is going to tell the difference between #10 team and a #12 team. If you took a hundred matchups between such closely rated teams you would likely end up close to dead even. That's what the odds makers care about.
thedukeofearl
Well-Known Member
Northside Hawk
Well-Known Member
Not sure if Michigan plays Wisconsin in 2018 (they lost 24-10 to them last year) But I will lay odds that Michigan right now on a neutral field would be an underdog to all three of those teams.
People who's livelihood is at stake, like Vegas oddsmakers, have a pretty good finger on the pulse of who is really good in a given week.
Michigan went 8-5 and struggled in November last year, which carried into their bowl game. They may go 12-1. They have the talent on paper if things break their way. But IMO the jury is still out on Harbaugh.
They may still have not completely recovered from that fumbled punt snap against MSU in a game that they all but had in the bank.
BigD
Well-Known Member
I’m trying to stay positive although I pointed out a few months ago that losing our NFL level defensive back, three starting linebackers and your starting backfield are huge loses.
The positive is that the linebacker position is one of the easiest positions to learn as long as you have strength, speed, and quick thinking abilities.
I think our starting two running backs will be adequate but if injuries occur (and likely they will) it could ugly back there.
Stanley could be one of our best quarterback as far as throwing the ball and I hope that their assessment of our offensive line is incorrect. Not too many quarterbacks are affective when lying on their back or running for their lives, especially as lacking for speed as Stanley is.
A semi-soft schedule means seven wins easy this season. If our offensive line can exceed expectations then that could easily jump to nine to ten wins. If the offensive line falters we could be looking at one of those 6-6 seasons and we know the critics will be howling (justifiable so). Don’t worry Kirk the crowd likes to wave at the hospital after the first quarter and the pretty boy AD is no true sports enthusiast.
I know that’s a mixed review but Stanley looks to be really good and the speed on the outside gives him legit targets to throw to if he is giving the seven seconds he needs.
The key to this season rest on the offensive line and the offensive play calling. If those are bad move on to basketball season.......................................... yikes.
I think 4 P5 conferences have 12 teams and the Big 12 has 10 which is 58 teams.Throw in about 6 very good teams from non-p5 teams and independents and we have 64 teams. This puts the hawks about middle of the pack which I guess is not too bad until they prove otherwise either way. If the hawks win there first they will not be top 25 until they beat Wisky which I hope is how it plays out.
The overall history with the Clowns is that they would not be middle of the pack so maybe 34th is a little high for them, we shall see.
KCHawkeye
Well-Known Member
It also means they think Iowa and Iowa State are pretty much tossups.
Unknownbadger
Well-Known Member
If it was based on the last part of last season then Michigan should be rated in the 20's. They lost the last 3 games and weren't in any of them. 5 of the last 9. I question too all the hype over its D. And no one knows what its O, an O that ranked 105 in total O, will look like.
Wisconsin does play Michigan and at AA, some place the Badgers haven't had a lot of luck in, some say there's a Delany factor there, but I'll still take Wisconsin.
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earlkoppelman
Well-Known Member
Agree!!!! D-Line best in years?? Beyond Huge its Necessary.It can be done.Reece a HOFER...We shall see huh?I’m trying to stay positive although I pointed out a few months ago that losing our NFL level defensive back, three starting linebackers and your starting backfield are huge loses.
The positive is that the linebacker position is one of the easiest positions to learn as long as you have strength, speed, and quick thinking abilities.
I think our starting two running backs will be adequate but if injuries occur (and likely they will) it could ugly back there.
Stanley could be one of our best quarterback as far as throwing the ball and I hope that their assessment of our offensive line is incorrect. Not too many quarterbacks are affective when lying on their back or running for their lives, especially as lacking for speed as Stanley is.
A semi-soft schedule means seven wins easy this season. If our offensive line can exceed expectations then that could easily jump to nine to ten wins. If the offensive line falters we could be looking at one of those 6-6 seasons and we know the critics will be howling (justifiable so). Don’t worry Kirk the crowd likes to wave at the hospital after the first quarter and the pretty boy AD is no true sports enthusiast.
I know that’s a mixed review but Stanley looks to be really good and the speed on the outside gives him legit targets to throw to if he is giving the seven seconds he needs.
The key to this season rest on the offensive line and the offensive play calling. If those are bad move on to basketball season.......................................... yikes.
AreWeThereYet
Well-Known Member
The last two years, Michigan's offense had trouble putting points on the board against any team with a decent defense. You would think with all the quarterback talent they have in the pipeline they could get better production than they have. Last season I think it would be fair to say Michigan's offense is less than a sum of its parts. Statistical measures like S&P+ miss any sort of deep insight into why the numbers and player ratings don't add up to more production.
If I were to venture a guess at the source of Michigan's problems, I would point to the problems with running a pro style offense at the college level. Having a capable and proficient quarterback is a necessity for running a pro style offense. Getting good pro style quarterbacks at the college level, and consistently having them ready to play, has been an issue for a few decades now. I think it is a fundamental to Michigan's problems on offense. On paper Michigan's offense looks like it should turn the corner. Maybe it will, if the quarterback play is there.