2018 Michigan Wolverines Season Win Total Picks and Predictions for NCAA Football

2017 Record: 8-5

2018 Las Vegas Season Win Total: 9.0

2018 Season Win Total Picks NCAA Football: 'Over'

It's easy to hate Jim Harbaugh. There's the hyper-intensity. The self-importance. The smack-talking. And the khakis. But count me among the minority of people that think it is absolutely ridiculous to question whether or not Harbaugh is the right guy to get things going at Michigan.

I still think that Michigan should've been in the four-team playoff in 2016 and that they could've won a national title that year. They finished with three losses - at Iowa, at No. 2 Ohio State and essentially at No. 10 Florida State in the Orange Bowl - by a combined five points. Five points! Last year Michigan had just five returning starters. Five! And despite inexperience and a bunch of injuries, Harbaugh still coaxed eight wins out of the Wolverines.

"But Urban Meyer won a national title in his first year!" Meyer was taking over for Jim Tressel. Harbaugh was taking over a program gutted by Rich Rodriguez and Brady Hoke! This rebuild in Ann Arbor was always going to take time.

I'm all-in on Michigan this year. I saw what he did at Stanford. I saw what he did at San Francisco. And with 17 starters and finally - finally! - a solid quarterback, the Wolverines could turn out to be the team to beat in an incredible Big Ten East.

Shea Patterson being declared eligible was massive news for the Maize and Blue. The Ole Miss transfer put up some big-time numbers when he was healthy. He is by far the best quarterback that Harbaugh has had to work with.

The Wolverines have four of their top five rushers back, including all-Big Ten third teamer Karan Higdon. They also have their top seven receivers back, with tight end Zach Gentry a potential pro prospect. Top it all off with three returning starting offensive linemen, and Michigan should find itself somewhere between the group that averaged 25.3 points per game last year and the one that rung up 40.3 per game in 2016.

On defense, Michigan has nine starters back from an absolutely dominating unit last year. Michigan was No. 1 in the country against the pass, No. 3 in total defense, and in the Top 18 in both scoring defense and rushing defense.

And everyone's back. I mean everyone. Fourteen of their top 16 tacklers return, including All-American Devin Bush and four other guys that were honored as either first- or second-team all-Big Ten players. The Wolverines are stacked on this side of the ball. And with just three senior starters, they could be outstanding for some years to come.

There is one major obstacle to Michigan's national title dreams: they have the toughest schedule in the country.

Not one of the toughest. They have THE toughest schedule of any team in the nation.

Michigan has to face five - FIVE! - of the preseason top 12 teams in the country. Three of those five games are on the road, including the season opener at Notre Dame and the season finale at Ohio State. They also have to play rival Michigan State on the road as well as a potentially tough game at Northwestern (with the Wildcats off a bye). Throw in home games against Wisconsin and Penn State, and it simply doesn't get any more difficult than that.

But I don't care. If Michigan beats Notre Dame then they are going to be in the driver's seat. I think they are better than both Wisconsin and Penn State, two of the Top 10 teams that they get at home. The road team has won three straight in the Michigan State series, and depending on how the Urban Meyer situation shakes out Ohio State may not be unbeatable.

I think that Patterson is the real deal. I think the Michigan defense can dominate. I think that Harbaugh is extremely motivated. And if this team has any of the luck that it didn't have in 2016 then they could play their way into the College Football Playoff. Hell, if they finish the regular season with two losses they should still garner some playoff consideration.

That's what I see for Michigan. I think they will trip up twice. But not more than that. For this pick to be a loser they would have to lose almost all of their five big games. That's not going to happen to a Harbaugh-coached team. I will gladly take the 'over' here.

Robert Ferringo has been the top football handicapper in the country the past seven years, earning nearly $28,000 in total football profit. He has also posted seven of nine winning seasons (including back-to-back winning years) and produced 26 of 41 winning football months and an amazing 45 of 70 winning football months over the past decade. Robert has eight of 10 winning NFL preseasons and he is at nearly 60 percent winners over his last 900 totals picks. Also, Robert's proprietary KING College Football Betting System has posted three of five winning seasons. Robert is looking for a third straight winning football year and wants more profit this fall. SIGN UP HERE TODAY AND TAKE ADVANTAGE OF OUR 3-FOR-1 FOOTBALL SPECIALS!

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