Hail to the Victors!

Oops, though I was logged in. I wrote this.

I think they'll lose at least two, one to Ohio State and at least one to Iowa or Michigan State. But that may be my Ohio State bias. :-)

Ohio State is the better team. But 10-1 and a BCS Bowl will still be a successful year for the Maize and Blue.

after reviewing the following stats and schedules, home and away games, injuries and other key stats, I have come to an objective ....and precise prediction as to the #1 team in the nation at the end of the regular season (excluding the outcome of the 2007 BCS National Championship Game. Here is my evidence:

PASSING OFFENSE: Ohio State,13th / Michigan,* / Michigan St.,30th RUSHING OFFENSE: Ohio State,* / Michigan,18th / Michigan St.,5th SCORING OFFENSE: Ohio State,30th / Michigan,9th / Michigan St.,7th TOTAL OFFENSE: Ohio State,18th / Michigan,48th / Michigan St.,3rd PASSING DEFENSE: Ohio State,* / Michigan,* / Michigan St,* RUSHING DEFENSE: Ohio State,49th / Michigan,1st / Michigan St,22nd SCORING DEFENSE: Ohio State,10th / Michigan,33rd / Michigan St,50th TOTAL DEFENSE: Ohio State,43rd / Michigan,9th / Michigan St,49th

Michigan will beat Ohio State, Michigan State will prob. beat Michigan and therefore win the Big Ten if they pull off wins against Michigan and Penn State. If Michigan wins the in-state rivalry, which is doubtful, they will prob win the Big Ten. I don't expect M. State to beat Ohio State, but Michigan WILL DEFEAT Ohio State, therefore Ohio State will not win the Big Ten and will fall from their #1 position in the AP. Now, that leaves Auburn. They just defeated the highest overall statistically ranked team in the SEC. LSU, who without a doubt plays at one of the highest levels achievable. Some of the offensive stats are misleading, as they most always are, because of the great defenses in the SEC. Auburn is healthy and young, with a powerful offense, and a fierce and fast defense 4th in the nation in scoring. Florida and Georgia are the only teams of concern, and they are coming to Auburn. Auburn goes undefeated, Ohio State looses to Michigan and who knows about USC. They seem to be getting a lot of media attention after the Arkansas rout. Otherwise, they haven't looked all that spectacular, certainly not like previous years. Still, there seems to be a....shall we say, public opinion push towards AP pollers. The press has an intrinsic need to please fans, and USC has a lot of them, but they (USC) do not deserve to be "pushed" ahead of another undefeated team ranked higher than they were in the preseason(I know...preseason polls are altogether another issue, but they did help USC a few years ago..remember?). Also USC only outscored Nebraska by 18 points, and Nebraska has the 48th ranked defense in the nation. Not that impressive. Don't get me wrong, I would love to see Ohio State beat Michigan....and Ohio State play Auburn for the national championship, but that's not going to happen. I'm not really an auburn fan, but I would like to see them get the respect and recognition that they deserve. Again, Auburn, at the end of the season, #1 in the nation, period.

JB

I posted the above reply, I don't guess I signed in and I don't see a way to edit comments. Anhou, I'm Bias aside.

Michigan St beat Michigan in the Big House? Thats a stretch man...your stats mean nothing when it comes down to game day. Tell me who MSU has played so far this season that is respectable...Pitt? Come on. In no way will the Wolverines lose to the Spartans.

Before we Wolverine fans go jumping off the deep end, let's calm down for just one second. Yes our team just laid a whipping on Notre Dame in South Bend, but there are 9 games left. It is nearly impossible to navigate a conference schedule unbeaten for any team. For the Wolverines to do so, one game will make or break this season... @Penn State. Let's consider the other games. People think Michigan might suffer a let down this weekend. While there may be some, I really doubt it will be all that much. This is a revenge game for last season and they will be up. Plus, the Big House might actually be an advantage this coming weekend as the fans will most likely be in 'praise' mode.

The following weekend is at Minnesota, and after the little 'flag-planting' incident, this will also be a revenge game. This one won't be close either.

Michigan State is somewhat worrisome, but if the defense is as good as I think they are, it should be a victory over little brother, especially at home.

Iowa looks like a team that could be easily handled with a sound defense, which, as it happens, Michigan has.

Northwestern, Ball State, and Indiana don't pose any threat whatsoever. They're all awful.

The game at Ohio State will be epic and will require no extra motivation as this is a revenge game as well. Whether or not Michigan wins will be decided on the field and nowhere else, as two very equally matched teams hit the gridiron for what should be a classic.

So that leaves us with Penn State on the road. They're looking for the same kind of revenge against the Wolverines that Michigan is seeking against four teams on their own schedule. The game is at night, in Beaver Stadium, which makes an already difficult place to play that much worse. In addition, and there is no real reason for this one, they're due. They haven't beat Michigan since 1996, a decade ago. In addition, after having to 'get up' for so many games in a row, Michigan might just come out as flat against Penn State as Notre Dame did against the Wolverines.

Is a 12-0 season possible? Absolutely, and no one should tell you otherwise. However, a 10-2 season is probably just as likely, as a certain amount of luck is always involved in at least a couple of games every year for every team. Here's hoping the ball bounces for the Maize and Blue and not against.

Nice stuff there Juan. However, I could see that Penn State turning out like it did in our '97 Championship year. I beleive that game was at night, at Beaver Stadium in a cold setting.