Michigan football 2-peat predictions: Will Sherrone Moore's Wolverines clinch the 2024 College Football Playoff?
The Michigan Wolverines are the defending national champions after going undefeated throughout the regular season and college football playoffs. However, since lifting the trophy, the program has seen a lot of turnover, with many key players leaving and head coach Jim Harbaugh accepting a coaching post with the Los Angeles Chargers in the NFL.
With the bullseye on their back, can the Michigan Wolverines be the first team to win back-to-back national championships since the Alabama Crimson Tide did it prior to the College Football Playoff from 2011–12?
Can the Michigan Wolverines make the College Football Playoff?
The Michigan Wolverines are looking to secure one of the 12 spots in the College Football Playoff. Michigan is +115 to make the playoffs, according to the DraftKings Sportsbook.
The team still has some of its top players from last season, like running back Donovan Edwards and cornerback Will Johnson, to name a few. While competing for the Big Ten Conference Championship may not be on the cards as there are better rosters in the conference, they should be competing for one of the final CFP spots.
Can the Michigan Wolverines win the national championship?
The Michigan Wolverines are currently 10th, according to DraftKings Sportsbook, to win the national championship (+2500), tied with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish and Florida State Seminoles.
It is hard to put this team in the conversation for the national championship right now, as they are arguably the third or fourth team in the Big Ten.
It is difficult not to look at the rosters and put the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Iowa Hawkeyes with a healthy quarterback and the Utah Utes ahead of them before the season starts. The betting odds also have the Penn State Nittany Lions with slightly better odds to win the natty (+2200).
To say an absolute no to the question is wrong but it would have to take a lot of things to bounce Michigan's way to win a national championship and that is extremely unlikely. This should be a good building block season for coach Sherrone Moore but a national championship seems like too much of an ask.