Colin Cowherd does not believe in the Michigan Wolverines. At least not with their preseason status in the AP Top 25.
The first preseason poll of the year went out earlier this week. Georgia ranks at the top to start the year, with Ohio State and Oregon following. Michigan, the reigning National Champions, open at No. 9 to start the season after their richly successful 2023 campaign.
But Cowherd doesn’t think that’s quite where they should be. He joined ESPN’s Greg McElroy on Always College Football this week to discuss the first AP Top 25 rankings.
“I think Michigan is the most overrated in the Top 25,” Cowherd said. “They lost not only depth, they lost leaders. Locker room leaders. Fifth-year seniors. They also lost the best quarterback [Jim] Harbaugh’s had,” he added, praising J.J. McCarthy, who lost his rookie season to injury earlier this week.
“It’s very difficult to lose not only quality starters but veteran quality starters who were clubhouse leaders. I think Michigan will not be a Top 20 team,” he said.
Michigan might still have talent, with Will Johnson and Mason Graham leading the charge on defense. But Cowherd is right in that it’s hard to replace leaders and people with the presence that some on the team had the past few seasons.
All in all, we’ll see where the chips land for the Wolverines this year.
