2018 Michigan Football Season Prediction

9-3 and a bowl win

Outback Bowl Prediction based on family near the Outback

My wife and I followed M to the Orange Bowl last season was joined by my sister and her husband

Unfortunately we weren't able to cheer M onto victory. Even with my dad there in spirit.

For various reasons we're not headed to Tampa to see M in the Outback Bowl. But my sister did travel to Australia this year - if not the Outback, per se...

 I trust that will lead to better success for M this bowl season.

M 28
SC 13

South Carolina Prediction

University of South Carolina Pedestrian Bridge

Robert Redden Footbridge, Rome, GA (birthplace of Will Muschamp, head coach of South Carolina)

Michigan 28

South Carolina 17

Pitt takes the trophy from Miami

Sorry for the delay in getting this out.

Last Friday, Pittsburgh, for the second year in a row, knocked off the #2 team in the country. This year's win included a bigger prize - The jiMpossible-sarcasMike Trophy!

Miami moves on to the ACC Championship game and a chance to make the playoff, Pitt is likely done for the season with a 5-7 finish. I believe there are already enough 6 win teams that unless there is a rash of schools turning down bowl bids, the Panthers will be home for the holidays.

This is only the 2nd time the Panthers have held the trophy. Their other holding began with win over Navy in November of 1934. The followed with wins over Carnegie Tech, Waynesburg, Washington & Jefferson and West Virginia before falling to Notre Dame in October of 1935.

They have 9 other losses against trophy holders:

Syracuse in 1924
Washington & Jefferson 1927
USC 1933
UCLA 1972
Notre Dame 1973
Penn State 1986
Miami (FL) 2000, 2001, 2002

The trophy itself hasn't missed bowl season since Arizona did not get a bowl bid after finishing the 1995 season 6-5.

Pittsburgh's schedule is not completely set for 2018. The opponents are known - but the dates of conference games are still TBD.

Here's what their website lists for 2018

Sept. 1: Albany
Sept. 8: Penn State
Sept. 29: at UCF
Oct. 13: at Notre Dame
ACC Home: Duke, Georgia Tech, Virginia Tech, Syracuse
ACC Away:  Miami, North Carolina, Virginia, Wake Forest

A Penn State win on September 8 would get the trophy back to the B1G. Michigan hosts PSU November 3. The in-between games are Georgia State, at Iowa, Indiana and at Northwestern. There is a decent chance M will be playing for the jiMpossbile-sarcasMike trophy in 2018!

M-OSU prediction based on historical data

Michigan is 210-61-1 in all games I have attended (all data is based on games I have attended unless otherwise stated)

M is 175-45-1 in Michigan Stadium

M is 36-21 when unranked

M is 183-47-1 when unranked playing a ranked opponent

M is 5-3 vs. the 8^th ranked team in the country

M is 20-16 vs. teams ranked in the top 10

M is 136-45-1 in conference games
M is 9-8 vs. Minnesota
M is 11-12 vs. schools with non-Human and non-animal based nicknames

M is 75-17 vs. schools with mascots deemed lighter than a Wolverine
M is 32-7 when Jim Harbaugh plays a leading role for the team
M is 82-21-1 in noon kickoffs

M is 18-8 in the 7th game I have attended in a season
M is 2-0 on November 25

M is 25-14 vs. teams with head coach shares the first name of a Pope

M has played 3 teams 100 times OSU, MSU and Minnesota. In the first 100 games vs. these schools, M had an overall record of 197-89-14. In the games vs. these teams since their 100ths games, M is 5-20. They have however won one-in-a-row.

It's easy when you look at the numbers:

M 13

OSU 27

Ohio State Prediction

Pedestrian Bridge, Ohio State University

Veterans Glass City Skyway Bridge, Toledo, Ohio (birthplace of Urban Meyer)

Michigan 20

Ohio State 36

Wisconsin Prediction

Pedestrian Bridge, University of Wisconsin

Lake Wingra Bridge, Madison, WI (birthplace of Wisconsin head coach Paul Chryst)

Michigan 15

Wisconsin 30