2008 Michigan Football Prediction

With all the anticipation surrounding this years Michigan football squad. Everybody is asking how many wins will Michigan get in 2008? Well I don't feel anyone can answer that including Coach Rich Rodriguez. One thing I can say is the games they need to win, should win, could win, or won't win throughout the season. I will take you through each week of the season and give you my prediction on how things will turn out.

The first game starts in about 3 hours against Utah. The University of Utah brings a lot of experienced players into the Big House today. Utah is ranked 28th in the USA Today Poll, the same poll Michigan is ranked 24th in. I feel Michigan will get the victory today. It's the home opener for the Coach Rodriguez regime and all the young freshman. I feel they will come out with a lot of energy and feed off the crowd for a close victory over the Utes of Utah. As of early this morning a report from WZAM Nick Sheridan will start today.

Second week brings the Miami(Ohio) to town, Michigan should have no problem taking out a mediocre MAC team especially being at home. So with the win Michigan moves to 2-0 in my mind. Next up Michigan travels to South Bend, Indiana to take on the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. This will be a big test for the young and inexperienced Michigan squad. I feel they lose this one in a tight game coming down the stretch to pick up their first loss of the season.

Game #4 brings Wisconsin to Ann Arbor. Wisconsin is a top 25 team and I feel they are the second best team in the Big Ten Conference this season. Michigan will lose this game by 10+ points and drop to .500 at 2-2 on the season.

The next game Michigan will come out with a lot of passion and they will need it against Heisman Trophy Candidate Juice Williams of Illinois. The Fighting Illini are a very good team. Although, I feel after two losses Michigan will have just enough firepower to pull out a close victory in a barn burner of a game.

With Michigan now at 3-2 Toledo comes to town just from down the road. I don't think anyone will be betting on this game, as Michigan has too many athletes for Toledo to handle for four quarters. Michigan improves to 4-2 and now they travel to Happy Valley to take on the Penn St. Nittany Lions. Penn St. has a very good team and should remain in the Top 25 throughout the season. Penn St. should take this one by two touchdowns to drop Michigan to 4-3.

At 4-3, Michigan now has Michigan St. coming into town for the big rivalry game on October 25th. This should be a great game, I give the nod to Michigan because it's in Ann Arbor and I just feel Michigan has more athletes/speed than Michigan St. Now at 5-3, Michigan will play a veteran-laden team in Purdue in West Lafayette. Purdue should come up with the victory in a close game. As you can tell I expect their will be a lot of close games in 2008 for the Wolverines, but with a new coach and new team for the most part they will be some disappointing finishes for Michigan fans.

Now at 5-4 Michigan's heads to Minnesota, they will have no problem beating the Gophers who I believe are the worst team in the Big Ten in 2008. So at 6-4 Michigan heads back home to play the Northwestern Wildcats. Michigan will enjoy beating the Wildcats by two touchdowns and improve to 7-4 on the season.

Next up is the Big Showdown between Ohio St. and Michigan. This game is down in Columbus and it won't be pretty for Michigan fans. I expect Ohio St. to beat Michigan by 17+ points in this November 22nd game. Don't worry though I feel Michigan will be a Big Ten contender in year 2 and a BCS contender in year 3 of the Coach Rodriguez era.

So the 2008 season will be very exciting with a lot of ups and downs. In my mind Michigan will end up 7-5 on the season. I feel if Michigan wins more than 8 games in 2008 it will be a spectacular year for the team and Coach Rod. If Michigan wins less than 6 games in the 2008 season I feel it will be a disappointing year for everyone at Michigan. Remember it is a transition year, you must take a step back before you move forward. So expect 6-8 wins in 2008, my prediction is 7-5, we shall see where that holds up before we play in our bowl game come December.