This excellent writer posted this today as far as predictions and I will share it because I was already thinking this:
RAMZY: BEWARE THE WOLVERINES
Michigan is going to be a legitimate pain in the ass this season because it has finally been knocked far enough off of the arrogance perch that has kept its self-defeating culture weaponized for the better part of the millennium. No one is going out of their way to overrate them in 2020. COVID has humbled everyone to a degree, which only benefits the B1G program in most need of humbling, And there’s no anointed savior on the roster; just a bunch of guys accustomed to winning the least when it matters the most.
They remind me of Brian Griese’s 1997 Wolverines, minus - and it’s a sizable minus - Charles Woodson. They’ll give everyone their best shot and for the first time in forever, should lack that entitlement chip that’s predictably and consistently knocked them back to earth.
In this same vein, I have been noticing that Michigan, of late, is basically a worst-case-scenario opponent for Ohio State. In the last 20 years the Wolverines have finished between 8-5 (.615) and 10-3 (.769) 12 times. That means that in 60% of the years between 2000 and 2019 the Buckeye's final regular season opponent was a team that is good enough that even a NC contender needs to be on their toes for, but wasn't actually good enough to get any significant credit for beating them.
When you play a team better than that there is a bigger chance of losing, of course, but the trade off is that you get a LOT of credit if you do beat them.
When you play a team worse than that it hurts your SoS but the trade off is that there is very little chance of losing.
Teams in that 8-5 through 10-3 range, IMHO, are the worst case scenario because they are neither good enough to provide credit for beating them nor bad enough to be an easy win.
This is all predicated, of course, on our team being roughly top-10 but for the last 20 years or so, they generally have been. In the last 20 years Ohio State has finished:
- #1 twice, 10%
- top-2 thrice, 15%
- top-3 six times, 30%
- top-4 nine times, 45%
- top-5 13 times, 65%
- top-6 14 times, 70%
- top-9 15 times, 75%