Following Robyn over at Ain’t Too Proud To Blog (who is a Oklahoma Sooner fanatic), I had to check out the Sports Illustrated preview for Michigan Wolverines. And let me say that I completely agree with their analysis of Michigan’s chances this year. More importantly, Sports Illustrated is correct when they write: “anything less than a trip to a Bowl Championship Series venue will be regarded as a failure.” But hey, are you really surprised?

Michigan’s offense got bogged down [last year] against the three best defenses it faced — Notre Dame’s, Iowa’s and Ohio State’s. That cannot happen this year, because the defense will have to fill holes with underclassmen. Navarre has to display continued progress after a strong junior year. New passing threats to replace Joppru and fullback B.J. Askew and another running option to complement Perry must emerge.
Defensively, a steady playmaker must be unearthed to replace Hobson, and a banged-up linebacker corps has to get healthy by opening day. A favorable schedule, with Penn State and Wisconsin replaced by Northwestern and Indiana, sets the Wolverines up to challenge Ohio State for Big Ten supremacy. If they can survive early tests against Notre Dame and Oregon, the Wolverines could be Sugar Bowl-bound.

Oh yeah! GO BLUE!!