Chop Chat’s 2016 Preseason College Football Top 10: No. 4
By Jason Parker
Here’s a look at the next team in Chop Chat’s 2016 Preseason College Football Top 10 Rankings.
As we are in the final month without college football (thank God that nightmare is almost over), teams from across the country will be hitting the practice fields getting ready for the 2016 season. For 25 of those teams, the season will start being ranked in the first polls for the 2016 campaign.
From Tallahassee to Tuscaloosa and Norman to South Bend, everyone from the traditional powers to the upstart programs will look to find their name with a number beside it for (at least) the opening weekend of the 2016 season.
Here at Chop Chat, we aren’t different from anyone else…we have the teams we think will start off the year ranked way too high and those who aren’t getting enough respect. So, here is our list of the top ten teams entering the 2016 season.
Before we get hate mail from fans of schools who are mad we didn’t rank their team high enough (or didn’t rank them at all), know that this is just a preseason list entering week one. In no way are we saying that this list is the way things will end up on January 10, 2017 after the national championship team. After all, with (spoiler alert) a lot of our top 10 teams playing each other this season, there will be plenty of changes before the month of September is even done.
No. 4 – Michigan Wolverines
For over a year now, Jim Harbaugh has been the main focus in the world of college football thanks to everything going on both on and off the field for the Wolverines. While people are taking sides about everything from satellite camps to recruiting strategies, Harbaugh built a 10 win team that could easily be hoisting a national title trophy in Tampa this January.
On offense, Harbaugh returns nine starters, although one of those is not at the quarterback position. For most teams, that would be a problem. For Michigan, that just means that skill players like running back De’Veon Smith, wide receiver Amara Darboh and All-American tight end Jake Butt will be responsible for shouldering more of the load until whoever is named starting quarterback is comfortable.
On defense, the Wolverines will be returning six starters from last year’s team that finished the year by holding the Florida Gators to seven points in the Citrus Bowl. Perhaps no two players are more important to have back than the cornerback combo of All-American Jourdan Lewis and All-Conference member Jabrill Peppers. If they can play even better than they did in 2015, Michigan’s defense could be impossible to score on.
Game of the Year
November 26th at Ohio State – We talked about it last week when previewing the Buckeyes, but it is certainly worth repeating. You can pretty much bet that this game will not just be for the Big Ten championship, but for one of the four spots in the College Football Playoff.
Biggest Chance for an Upset
November 12th at Iowa – The showdown with the Hawkeyes comes at the perfect spot in the schedule for an upset: two games after facing in-state foe Michigan State and two days before the game against the Buckeyes.