What jumps out right away to me is the 8 homes games and only 4 away games, Harbaugh has a 38-5 record at home (93%). With almost everybody returning on offense, and a hopeful QB change between McNamara and JJ, this team will be able to put up some points next season. The defense will be the only question mark but with a highly talked about DB class coming in, a few linebacker’s and linemen jumping into their roles, I wouldn’t sweat it too much. Going back to the schedule look, I see 4 games that will be a tough battle. Iowa, Penn State, MSU, and OSU will be the thought about games. Nebraska and Indiana always will be a close war but they aren’t a team that should be knocking out Michigan. I do think Michigan will knock off the first 3 tough teams and be undefeated heading into OSU which will result in a brutal loss and then a circling debate will be happening whether Michigan deserves a spot in the playoffs or not. The reason I say they beat Iowa, PSU, and MSU is because Iowa early in the year should not be too hard to take down, unless they make it a night game. Which a night game at Kinnick stadium is one of the toughest places to play at. Then PSU and MSU are both home, if they were away then I would say they would split and go 1-1 down that stretch, but with those games being home that adds a huge factor into play. Michigan and MSU will both have a bye week heading into each other’s matchup on Halloween weekend, so it will be a blood bath inside the Big House. Ohio State is going to be a very tough matchup for the Wolverines for multiple reasons. They have a top 5 recruiting class coming in, they are coming for revenge after what happened in 2021, it will most likely be for a big ten championship berth, and it will be hosted at the Horseshoe.
Ohio State starts the year off against Notre Dame, and also will play Iowa along with the big teams from the East. So their schedule will be tough as well. Michigan State on the other hand does have a fairly easier schedule and will possibly have a very legitimate chance of winning the B1G East if they conquer Michigan on Halloween weekend. They don’t have to worry about B1G West champ Iowa, their non conference schedule is a bunch of cupcakes, and Mel Tucker will be leading the charge all year. If I am an MSU fan, I love the chances of winning the East. You can see below the schedule for all B1G teams:
