Pundits are all over the map when it comes to assessing Michigan football in the preseason. Though expected to be ranked in the polls entering 2025, a lot are saying that the schedule is too hard (there’s only one team on it that was a College Football Playoff team last year, and Michigan beat them), or that there’s too much to fix.
But, as some who are looking at the situation more closely following the Wolverines’ 8-5 season think there’s a chance for a decent rebound.
Appearing on ESPN’s Get Up on Friday, Paul Finebaum and Harry Douglas both shared their thoughts on Sherrone Moore and the maize and blue, with Finebaum initially reacting to Moore’s Big Ten media days comments where he said, ‘don’t let a speed bump become a roadblock.’
“I like what he said there. It’s hard to find a criticism of a coach who ended the season beating your biggest rival and then beating Alabama in a bowl game with almost no starters as a double-digit (underdog),” Finebaum said. “Sherrone Moore is saying the right things. My question is, does he have the right stuff as a head coach? He did a nice job filling in for Jim Harbaugh during all of the controversy. But he didn’t show anyone much last year other than at the very end. He’s gotta be more consistent. He does only the best quarterback coming into college football this year in Bryce Underwood. How long will Bryce Underwood take to matriculate? And if he can get him going quickly, they have a chance for a CFP bid, but I don’t think they’re going to make it. I think they’ll fall just short.”
Douglas agrees with most of Finebaum’s assessment, but thinks that just by having Underwood under center, if he is named the starter as expected, that will fix a lot of ills given the problems Michigan had a year ago.
“They’re gonna be better because the speed bump in 2024 was the quarterback position,” Douglas said. “There’s three games that I have circled: it’s the Oklahoma game when they go to Oklahoma, it’s the Nebraska game, and it’s the Ohio State game. If they can go 2-1 in those games, those three games that I just mentioned, they have an opportunity to make the College Football Playoff because their schedule isn’t hard.”
Fans will get an opportunity to see the new-look Wolverines on August 30 when they host New Mexico for the 2025 season opener at The Big House.
This article originally appeared on Wolverines Wire: Paul Finebaum praises Moore’s words but doubts Michigan’s CFP bid with Underwood at QB
Reporting by Isaiah Hole, Wolverines Wire / Wolverines Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
