1. Michigan

Plenty of programs have something positive to look forward to in 2015. None with the history of Michigan replaced an incredibly unpopular athletic director, fired an unsuccessful coach, and brought in one of the best coaches in the NFL, who just happens to be an alumnus who played for the program’s most legendary figure. Oh, and he built Stanford into a legitimate national power. We TOTALLY get why Michigan fans are ecstatic about the Jim Harbaugh era, and they should be. Harbaugh is both a safe bet to be a very good coach—he’s been that at every stop during his career—and he understands what it takes to succeed at Michigan. He is the very definition of a “Michigan Man.”

Michigan fans should be thrilled about everything that went down this off-season, and high long term expectations are very reasonable.

Just don’t jump ship when Ohio State waxes the Wolverines by 32.

Jim Harbaugh is a great coach, but he is not Merlin. Michigan’s roster has serious holes all over the place, especially at quarterback. The spot where UM is experienced, offensive line, is also where the Wolverines have been very bad in recent seasons. The 2014 defense was pretty good, but has to replace a few important starters like middle linebacker Jake Ryan. Michigan’s schedule is also not exactly set up for success. The Wolverines open up at Utah, a very good Pac-12 team, and host Oregon State and a tough BYU squad out of conference. Ohio State and Michigan State are brutal games in the Big Ten, and Maryland, Minnesota, Penn State, and Rutgers are all peer programs at the moment.

Under Harbaugh, Michigan very well may return to being “leaders and best” on the football field. Just don’t expect it to be 2015. The climb back to the top isn’t an easy one, even with a great coach.

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