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Over in the preseason polls thread I noted that Michigan (at Maryland in between ND and MSU) and Northwestern (at Indiana in between Iowa and Purdue) both have potential "trap games" on Saturday, November 2.  What other potential "trap games" do you see this year?  

One for most teams, my thoughts (going generally E->W):
Rutgers:  They really aren't good enough to have a "trap game" because I'm defining that as a game that you should definitely win (they hardly have any of those) but could lose largely because a let-down is likely given the surrounding games.  

Maryland:  The Terps have Temple in between Syracuse and Penn State.  I could see that being a potential trap game.  

Penn State:  The Nittany Lions have Maryland in between Pitt and Purdue.  I could see that.  

Ohio State:  The Buckeyes have Maryaland and Rutgers in between NU&UW (before) and PSU and M (after).  I could see either of those.  

Michigan:  See above

Michigan State:  The Spartans have Illinois after a brutal three-game stretch of @tOSU, @UW, vsPSU and before @M.  I could see that.  

Indiana:  n/a (see Rutgers)

Purdue:  The Boilermakers have Maryland in between PSU and Iowa.  I could see that.  

Illinois:  n/a (see Rutgers)

Northwestern:  See above

Iowa:  The Hawkeyes have MTSU in between ISU and Michigan.  I could see that.  

Wisconsin:  The Badgers have Illinois in between MSU and tOSU.  I could see that.  

Minnesota:  The Gophers have Illinois in between Purdue and Nebraska.  I could see that.  

Nebraska:  The Cornhuskers have Maryland in between Wisconsin and Iowa.  I could see that.  

While that could end up in the "L" column it couldn't be defined as the classic trap.As most teams who could lose to UW wouldn't be seen as out of the realm if it did happen

How many times has Michigan has played in Madison since 2001? I think it's 4. Dammit Jim Delaney.

I think Michigan's biggest trap game is Indiana, just before OSU. Partly because of this placement in recent years, the Hoosiers have given Michigan more trouble than Maryland.

I basically found one and quit looking so I missed this but I agree with you.  Michigan has two big potential trap games.  At Maryland is between rivalry games against ND and MSU while at Indiana is between rivalry games against MSU and tOSU.  

The end of Michigan's schedule is interesting.  Their last five games consist of their three biggest rivalries all at home:

• vs ND on 10/16
• vs MSU on 11/16
• vs tOSU on 11/30

And then there are two road games against teams that Michigan should definitely beat:

• at UMD on 11/2
• at IU on 11/23

Those road games look like they *SHOULD* probably be easy wins but you never know when a bunch of 18-22 year old kids are going to overlook an "easy" game especially if it happens to be right between much bigger games.  

They have played 10 total games (even record at 5-5) and 4 of them have been in Madison.

This is definitely the downside of conference expansion.  Michigan and Wisconsin played every year from 1973-1990 with Michigan going 17-1 over those 18 years against mostly mediocre or worse Wisconsin teams.  

They missed each other in 1991 and 1992 which was probably good for Wisconsin as Michigan finished those two years 10-2 and 9-0-3 while Wisconsin finished 5-6 both years.  

Starting with 1993  (which is really convenient for Wisconsin) the two have played only 17 times in 26 years with Michigan holding a 10-7 advantage:

• 1993 Wisconsin won at home and finished 10-1-1, Michigan finished 8-4
• 1994 Wisconsin won on the road and finished 7-4-1, Michigan finished 8-4
• 1995 dnp
• 1996 dnp
• 1997 Michigan won on the road and finished 12-0, Wisconsin finished 8-5
• 1998 Michigan won at home and finished 10-3, Wisconsin finished 11-1
• 1999 Michigan won on the road and finished 10-2, Wisconsin finished 10-2
• 2000 Michigan won at home and finished 9-3, Wisconsin finished 9-4
• 2001 Michigan won on the road and finished 8-4, Wisconsin finished 5-7
• 2002 Michigan won at home and finished 10-3, Wisconsin finished 8-6
• 2003 dnp
• 2004 dnp
• 2005 Wisconsin won at home and finished 10-3, Michigan finished 7-5
• 2006 Michigan won at home and finished 11-2, Wisconsin finished 12-1
• 2007 Wisconsin won at home and finished 9-4, Michigan finished 9-4
• 2008 Michigan won at home and finished 3-9, Wisconsin finished 7-6
• 2009 Wisconsin won at home and finished 10-3, Michigan finished 5-7
• 2010 Wisconsin won on the road and finished 11-2, Michigan finished 5-7
• 2011 dnp
• 2012 dnp
• 2013 dnp
• 2014 dnp
• 2015 dnp
• 2016 Michigan won at home and finished 10-3, Wisconsin finished 11-3
• 2017 Wisconsin won at home and finished 13-1, Michigan finished 8-5
• 2018 Michigan won at home and finished 10-3, Wisconsin finished 8-5

The home team has won nine of the last ten meetings with the lone exception being a Wisconsin team that finished 11-2 in 2010 winning in Ann Arbor over a Michigan team that finished 5-7.  

Dating all the way back to 1993 the home team has only lost five times and in three of those five cases the winning road team had a substantially better (>3 games) final record.  

With all due respect, Michigan hasn't had a bad loss since Harbaugh has been the coach, the worst ones being the bowl game against 2017 South Carolina, @ 2016 Iowa, and @ 2015 Utah, none of which were bad teams by any definition short of just looking at top 25 teams.

Yes, there have been some close wins against lesser teams, particularly against Indiana, @ 2016 Minnesota, and arguably both wins over Sparty, and maybe they're overdue for a bad loss, but I just don't see it happening this year (if anything, Army is the one unranked team that concerns me, but I think Michigan will be prepared for them).... Otherwise, the home games against Notre Dame and Ohio State are the biggest concerns, along with Iowa and Sparty to a lesser extent.

Given Wisconsin's QB situation, I think Michigan will finally win in Madison this year barring bad weather and/or Wisconsin's defense (particularly its secondary, since Michigan should be pass-oriented this year) being dominant and forcing more turnovers than Michigan does..... Similar deal with Penn State since they have even more uncertainty in their backfield along with elsewhere in their offense.

As the cliche goes, that's why they play the games, though....

Given Wisconsin's QB situation, I think Michigan will finally win in Madison this year ...

Since the Madison streak against Michigan spans 4 total games across 2 decades, I don't think this is a streak that needs a new narrative in order for "a corner to be turned." But if it did, I think that'd have less to do with UW's QB than with Michigan's OL. That cache of Lloyd wins over Barry came largely by winning upfront.

Michigan hasn't had a bad loss since Harbaugh has been the coach

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maybe they're overdue for a bad loss, but I just don't see it happening this year (if anything, Army is the one unranked team that concerns me

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Those are both fair points. I especially hate having a service academy on the schedule ... ever, really.