Ranking Michigan's 2012 Schedule Game-by-Game
By: Greg Hargrove
We're just a week away until the beginning of Michigan's 133rd football season, and the schedule ahead of them is a taxing one. Here's how I rank the importance of each game on the Wolverines' 2012 regular season slate.
#12 - Sep. 15th, Massachusetts: Just don't give up 439 yards and 37 points like in the 2010 meeting.
#11 - Sep. 8th, Air Force: It's all about Michigan's mentality in this garden-variety tune-up game. I actually find this game more intriguing if they start the season 1-0 (and you know what that means) than if they're coming off a loss in the opener.
#10 - Sep. 22nd, @Notre Dame: Brady Hoke and his charges have always said it's all about winning the Big Ten Championship, and a loss here would not affect that goal one bit. Michigan owns the Irish, having won 5 of the past 6 meetings, and there are far bigger fish for the Wolverines to fry in 2012.
#9 - Nov. 3rd, @Minnesota: Minnesota is a Big Ten bottom-feeder after consecutive 3-9 seasons and has had just one winning season since 2005. Take care of business in the Big Ten, because one slip up can cost them a shot at the title.
#8 - Oct. 13th, Illinois: A middle of the pack Big Ten team, nothing special. The main concern would be Michigan looking ahead to the following week. Get a Homecoming W, and get ready for Michigan State.
#7 - Oct. 6th, @Purdue: Purdue is a bit of a quirky program. At a glance, they seem terrible, but yet have enough to scratch together a .500 record, and Michigan is not far removed from having trouble with the Boilermakers (granted, that was the RichRod era).
#6 - Nov. 10th, Northwestern: The Wildcats always seem to be the shiek Big Ten "sleeper" team that has scared and even outright beaten some quality teams the last several seasons. In 2009, they upset a top-5 Iowa team on the road. In 2010, they had MSU down big and the Spartans needed a mouse trap to win that game. Last year, Michigan came from 10 points behind to win in Evanston, and don't forget Northwestern went into Lincoln and beat Nebraska.
#5 - Sep. 1st, Alabama (in Dallas): This is Michigan's most anticipated non-conference game since the mid-90's. A win against Alabama gives Brady Hoke's program instant national credibility and would immediately vault the Wolverines into the national title discussion. The best thing about this game, is that Hoke's crew is playing with the house's money - everybody expects them to lose by three touchdowns.
#4 - Nov. 17th, Iowa: Believe it or not, Michigan's longest winning drought against any Big Ten team (in terms of years) is against Iowa, whom the Wolverines haven't defeated since 2006. Don't you think Michigan will have redemption on their minds after their goal-line failures a year ago? Redemption, a critical game in the Big Ten standings, and Senior Day makes this a huge game for Team 133.
#3 - Nov. 24th, Ohio State: With Ohio State ineligible to win the Big Ten, it would make the Buckeyes' season if they were to beat Michigan. Urban Meyer and Brady Hoke are set to be at their respective schools for the next decade-plus, making it highly important for the Wolverines to get the upper hand in the Hoke-Meyer era first.
#2 - Oct. 27th, @Nebraska: Nebraska will be one of the teams battling U-M for the Legends Division title. If Michigan loses to Nebraska, they would also lose the critical tie-breaker against the Huskers and would need Nebraska to lose TWICE to get to Indy, and that's only if Michigan doesn't lose again in conference. This will be a tough environment: a primetime start in front of a frenzied Nebraska crowd looking for revenge after the Wolverines' 45-17 pasting of the Huskers a season ago.
#1 - Oct. 20th, Michigan State: This game has all of the ingredients for a critical game for the Wolverines: Big Ten standings, ending a long losing streak, and a bitter rivalry. Ever since stepping foot on campus, Brady Hoke has let it be known that Michigan's main objective is to win the Big Ten Championship, and their contest against the defending Legends Division champions is their biggest hurdle in accomplishing that goal.
