The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1520409
❱ INSIDE MICHIGAN ATHLETICS 16 THE WOLVERINE ❱ JUNE/JULY 2024 NUMBERS AND QUOTES BY CLAYTON SAYFIE PHOTO BY LON HORWEDEL PHOTO COURTESY FAU ATHLETICS 1st I n O n 3 's N C A A t ra n s fe r p o r t a l team rankings is where Michigan men's basketball was listed after adding former Florida Atlantic center VLADISLAV GOLDIN April 29. Goldin is one of six new transfer additions. As of May 6, Michigan was No. 6 in the On3 portal ranking. No. 3 Overall is where Michigan junior defensive tackle MASON GRAHAM checked in on Pro Football Focus' way-too-early 2025 NFL mock draft, with the Denver Broncos taking him at that spot. "The Broncos need a true difference- maker on their defensive line," the site's Max Chad- wick wrote. "Denver's edge defenders and interior defensive linemen combined for the fifth-lowest grade in the league. Enter Graham. He was one of only two interior defensive linemen in col- lege football to finish with top-10 grades as both a pass rusher and run defender." Graham is one of four Wolverines pegged to go in the first round, joined by junior cornerback Will Johnson (No. 4 to the Tennessee Titans), junior tight end Colston Loveland (No. 18 to the Los Angeles Chargers) and junior defensive tackle Kenneth Grant (No. 20 to the Houston Texans). 4 Michigan Wolverines landed on CBS Sports' list of the top 100 college foot- ball players in the nation entering the 2024 season, led by junior defensive tackle Mason Graham at No. 3 overall. Three of the Maize and Blue's representatives appeared in the top 26, with junior cornerback Will Johnson checking in No. 11 and junior tight end Colston Loveland slotting No. 26. Junior defensive tackle Kenneth Grant rated No. 54. Michigan and Oregon each had four standouts in the top 54, behind only Ohio State's five selections. For overall top-100 players, Michi- gan ranked tied eighth among the 45 schools that had a representative. Ohio State led the way with seven, followed by Oregon with six and Alabama, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Georgia and Texas with five. LSU joined the Wolverines with four. No protocol exists for selection members to avoid rematches in the first round. This is a simple, solv- able problem. Like the NCAA basketball tournament selection, the CFP could implement a protocol requiring first- round games to feature two teams from separate conferences when possible. With such a small field (12) and conferences steadily expanding, there may be times where it is not possible. But for the most part, it is. Such a protocol is necessary because modeling shows that this format, combined with realignment moves, produces a lot of rematches. "An entire conference dissolved, the Big 12 and SEC swelled to 16 teams, and the ACC and Big Ten grew to 18. While con- sidering realignment, there would have been seven first-round, conference-vs.-conference rematches over the 10 years of the CFP — far too many." — Yahoo Sports' Ross Dellenger on a complaint about the new 12-team College Football Playoff format What a beautiful city to celebrate the future of football. Thirty-five miles from here [reside] the national champion Michigan Wolverines, and the Detroit Lions are now a team that is relevant in the NFL con- versation in terms of being dominant…" — ESPN's Pat McAfee on the NFL Draft in Detroit