No team benefits more from all these opt-outs than Michigan football.
It’s purely coincidental, but Michigan football is catching some big breaks with all these opt-outs.
The Michigan Wolverines’ first three games of the 2020 college football season are against conference foes who have lost their best player to the 2021 NFL Draft by way of opting out. Rondale Moore, Rashod Bateman and Micah Parsons are the three biggest names to opt out in the Big Ten. All three of their former teams play Michigan before the end of September.
Each of Michigan's first three opponents (Purdue, Minnesota, and Penn State) will be without their best player (Rondale Moore, Rashod Bateman, and Micah Parsons).
— Drew Hallett (@DrewCHallett) August 6, 2020
Michigan still has to face fellow Big Ten title contenders in the Wisconsin Badgers and the Ohio State Buckeyes in back-to-back weeks before the calendar flips to November, but the Wolverines are catching some big breaks early. These opt-outs help their chances to beat the Purdue Boilermakers, the Minnesota Golden Gophers and the Penn State Nittany Lions to start out at 3-0.
Will early-season breaks help Michigan football catch fire early in 2020?
While Michigan may feel a little cheated, as they won’t have to stop Moore, Bateman and Parsons right out of the gate, you have to take every win you can get in a college football season because they rarely come easy. Though Michigan was going to beat Purdue anyway, these opt-outs certainly help the Wolverines’ chances to go 3-0 with wins over Minnesota and Penn State.
Even though Minnesota and Penn State are well coached by P.J. Fleck and James Franklin respectively, these two teams being without Bateman and Moore forever going forward only serves Jim Harbaugh’s team this fall. With easier games following at Rutgers, vs. Michigan State and at Indiana, Michigan could be 6-0 before taking on the Buckeyes in The Horseshoe.
Michigan should be good enough to contend for a New Year’s Six bowl. While the Wolverines may not have what it takes to beat Ohio State in Columbus and Wisconsin at home in succession, they can only drop one of those games and still play for a conference title, assuming they win their eight other games. With the Minnesota and Penn State games becoming easier now, it’s possible.
Harbaugh has yet to lead his alma mater to a Big Ten Championship game in five seasons. In most years, Ohio State will be the better team over Michigan. However, the Wolverines will have to beat the Buckeyes at some point, right? Why not in the midst of a global pandemic in the strangest year of our lifetimes? With all these star players opting out, Michigan can definitely take advantage.
In an increasingly less star-studded Big Ten, look for Michigan to benefit from this situation.
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