Why Michigan Might Be Too Good, Too Soon for the Big Ten
Following his team's 31-0 victory against No. 22 BYU—his first signature win as Michigan's head coach—Jim Harbaugh knew the headlines that were coming.
So as one would expect a quarterback-turned-head-coach like Harbaugh to do, he took the offensive in an attempt to warn his Wolverines of the pitfalls that can come with reading one's own press clippings.
"It’s a little early to start patting ourselves on the back too much," Harbaugh said after the game.
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That very well may be the case, but Harbaugh can rest assured that whether he wants it or not, the positive press is coming. While Michigan may not be reading it, the rest of the Big Ten is, as the Wolverines look like one of the league's more pleasant surprises through the first month of the 2015 season.
After all, it's never a bad thing for a conference to add another ranked team to its resume, with Michigan ranking 22nd in the latest Associated Press Top 25 poll following its shutout of the Cougars.
Considering that Michigan hasn't been relevant when it's come to poll discussions for the better part of the past eight seasons, it's a safe bet that the Big Ten is more than happy to have one of its blue-blood programs seemingly back on track.
But when it comes to the other teams in the conference and not the league itself, the Wolverines' resurgence might be coming a bit too soon—especially at the top of the Big Ten, which happens to be the home of the country's top two teams in both major polls in No. 1 Ohio State and No. 2. Michigan State.
The Buckeyes and Spartans also happen to reside in the Big Ten East and have dates with Harbaugh and Michigan already circled on their respective schedules.
And while both teams have long considered the Wolverines to be their chief rivals, Ohio State and Michigan State's annual meetings with Michigan now each appear to possess a higher degree of difficulty than they have for the better part of the past decade.
That could prove especially troubling for the Spartans, who have won six of their past seven matchups with the Wolverines and will head to Ann Arbor on Oct. 17 for their next one.
Despite its status as the nation's second-ranked team, Michigan State already finds itself being counted out by some in its upcoming battle for the Paul Bunyan Trophy. According to ESPN's Joe Schad, the ESPN Football Power Index now favors the Wolverines to win their next seven games—including their showdown with the Spartans.
A loss to Michigan would undoubtedly put a dent in Michigan State's goal of crashing the College Football Playoff, especially with a matchup with the defending national champion Buckeyes looming about a month later.
"We can’t think that just because we beat a ranked team that we’re one of the best teams in the Big Ten yet. We still have to work at it," Wolverines defensive lineman Ryan Glasgow said, per ESPN.com's Brian Bennett. "But you can’t think you've made it, because we haven’t."
Maybe not. But with the way it's playing at the moment, Michigan could very well be on its way to playing the role of spoiler to the Spartans' season.
The same could also eventually be said in Columbus, where despite all of the talk of Ohio State's seemingly subpar schedule, the Buckeyes suddenly find themselves facing a hellacious three-week stretch to close the 2015 season.
After going through what could be 10 consecutive games without a game against a ranked opponent, Ohio State may need to beat three in as many weeks to make the College Football Playoff for the second straight year.
On Nov. 21, the Buckeyes will host the currently second-ranked Spartans, before heading to Ann Arbor to take on the now-No. 22 Wolverines.
Assuming it survives its Great Lakes State two-step, Ohio State would then play in the Big Ten Championship Game against the league's representative from the West Division, which currently contains two ranked teams in No. 16 Northwestern and No. 19 Wisconsin.
Even though the Buckeyes would likely possess a significant talent advantage against either team, three consecutive games against ranked opponents could ultimately take their toll on Ohio State.
And as the Buckeyes have looked sluggish through the first month of the season while the Spartans and Wolverines have shined—Michigan's lone loss came by seven points to a now-10th-ranked Utah team that just throttled Oregon—making it back to Indianapolis for the third straight season suddenly looks easier said than done.
Ohio State is still favored to repeat as national champions, with Bodog (h/t Odds Shark) currently giving the Buckeyes 7-4 odds to capture college football's crown, but there's still a lot of football left to be played between now and December.
That line of thinking, however, could work both ways, as there's no telling what Michigan will look like in two weeks against Michigan State, let alone two months from now against Ohio State.
The play of Wolverines quarterback Jake Rudock has been inconsistent through the first four weeks of the season, and Harbaugh isn't yet ready to crown a defense that currently ranks second overall nationally.
"We’re not getting out in front of our headlights and all patting ourselves on the back yet," Harbaugh said of his defense. "It’s been good."
Perhaps a little too good for the rest of the Big Ten's liking.
In previous years, both the Buckeyes and Spartans would have welcomed the opportunity to take on another quality opponent in order to boost their respective resumes when it comes to postseason considerations.
But this year, Ohio State and Michigan State have each other, in a game in the second-last week of the regular season that at one time appeared to be the culmination of a collision course between the country's top-ranked teams.
With the Wolverines' sudden emergence, that may no longer be the case. Besides each other, there's now another legitimate threat to knock off one or both of the Big Ten's top-ranked teams this season.
Although if that proves to be the case, the conference may not find itself with one fewer playoff contender—perhaps just one that it didn't expect to be a part of the conversation in Michigan.
Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of cfbstats.com. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.
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