The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/144506
U-M has not yet announced its 2017 non-conference opponents, however, the Wolverines will again see Wisconsin. They also add West foes Purdue and Minnesota, swapping out Illinois and Iowa. During the 2016 campaign, Michigan will have eight home games for the first time since 2011 (U-M will have seven home games in 2013, 2014 and 2015) thanks to three non-conference contests at The Big House and five league games in Ann Arbor. In 2017, Michigan will play five Big Ten games on the road. 2016 Schedule DateOpponent Sept. 3 Hawaii Sept. 10 Bye Sept. 17 Colorado Sept. 24 Ball State Oct. 1 Wisconsin Oct. 8 at Rutgers Oct. 15 Penn State Oct. 22 Illinois Oct. 29 at Michigan State Nov. 5 Maryland Nov. 12 at Iowa Nov. 19 Indiana Nov. 26 at Ohio State Dec. 3 Big Ten Championship Game football Notebook Fan Vote • ESPN.com allowed fans to determine the top college football game of the 2012 season, and Alabama-Georgia in the SEC Championship led with 10,844 first-place votes (as of July 12). Michigan's Outback Bowl loss to South Carolina ranked fourth in accumulated points — the games were ranked on a 1-5 scale — but actually listed third in first-place votes with 7,049, trailing only the SEC title game and a regular-season contest between Texas A&M and Alabama (7,314). Best And Worst • SI.com's Stewart Mandel ranked the 10 best and five worst coaches in college football recently, and while Michigan's Brady Hoke didn't make the cut, he was listed among those who could be one of the best within the next three years. One Big Ten coach, Ohio State's Urban Meyer, was ranked, pulling in at No. 2. Meanwhile, Illinois' Tim Beckman and Iowa's Kirk Ferentz made the list of the five worst. "I may be jumping the gun here, but Beckman — hired at Illinois following a pair of eight-win seasons at Toledo — has done little to inspire confidence either on the field (2-10 in 2012) or on the recruiting trail with the Illini," Mandel wrote, adding on Ferentz: "The 2009 Orange Bowl proved an aberration in Ferentz's otherwise unimpressive recent tenure. Take away that one 11-2 season and the Hawkeyes are 47-41 since 2005 under their $3.6 million-peryear coach."