Michigan Wolverines Football Projected in 2016 AP Preseason Top Ten

The first AP poll for the 2016 college football season is several months away, but Phil Steele has projected the Michigan Wolverines as an AP top 10 team.

Michigan football enjoyed a ten-win season in the first year of Jim Harbaugh’s tenure as head coach but it is another use of the number ten that they will aim for next season. The Wolverines finished 12th in the final AP college football poll last season but figure to be a top ten team when the next season begins.

College football writer Phil Steele has annually predicted the results of the preseason AP top ten, boasting a success rate of 66 of the 70 top ten teams in the last seven preseason AP polls.

For the 2016 season, Steele includes the Michigan Wolverines in his predicted AP top ten, ranking them seventh.

Steele says the following along with the ranking prediction:

"The cupboard was not left bare by former head coach Brady Hoke, and Jim Harbaugh came in and got the most out of the talent on hand. While Michigan was blown out by Ohio State, it rebounded to leave a strong impression in voters’ minds with a 41-7 thrashing of SEC East champ Florida in the Citrus Bowl. The only other losses last season were due to a fumbled punt snap versus eventual Big Ten champ Michigan State, and a seven-point loss to Utah on the road in their season opener. The Wolverines return 13 starters and are expected to be strong on both sides of the ball. Also, Michigan will be improved at most positions and second-year head coaches generally make strides."

It is important to note that Steele isn’t necessarily ranking the Wolverines seventh based on his opinion. Rather, he is predicting the results of the preseason top ten poll. Consider it a “prediction of the prediction”, so to speak.

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In addition to the points Steele makes, there is more reason to believe the Wolverines will be strongly on the radar of AP voters.

Shortly after the conclusion of the 2015 college football season they were specifically named in the AP’s “what to watch for in 2016” article. There, Ralph Russo had the following to say:

"Year one of the Jim Harbaugh era at Michigan was a raging success. The Wolverines went 10-3 under Twitter’s favorite football coach. The rebuild that seemed like it might take a couple of years is way ahead of schedule. Michigan has no ceiling and it seems perfectly reasonable to think the Wolverines could be playing for a national title in Harbaugh’s second season. Especially considering the massive talent drain at Ohio State. Don’t underestimate Urban Meyer’s Buckeyes. Where they go from here will be fascinating, too. But Harbaugh’s team is the most interesting in the Big Ten."

Ultimately there is only one poll that matters and that is the one at the end of the season. And even then it really only matters who won the College Football Playoff rather than the outcome of a poll. However, expectations will be high for the Wolverines this fall and that is sure to be reflected in early-season polls.

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The official AP preseason poll will be released in August, shortly before the start of the 2016 college football season.