The Michigan Wolverines came up just short in the 2022 college football postseason after running through the year undefeated at 13-0, often in dominant fashion. Jim Harbaugh‘s squad fell 51-45 to TCU in the Fiesta Bowl in a thrilling College Football Playoff semifinal game.
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After coming up short in the postseason two years in a row, can Harbaugh finally get over the hump in 2023?
Let’s look at BetMGM Sportsbook’s latest National Championship betting insights to see what the market thinks.
BetMGM College Football Insights: Championship- Alabama +700 to +600
- Michigan +1000 to +900
- LSU +2000 to +1400
- Michigan 16.0%
- Alabama 10.7%
- Ohio State 9.9%
- Michigan 16.5%
- Georgia 13.0%
- Alabama 11.7%
- Colorado
- Michigan
- LSU
Wow, bettors really love them some Wolverines this season!
Michigan has received by far the most amount of National Championship futures tickets (16.0%), standing well above Alabama (10.7%)), which has received the second most tickets. Harbaugh’s team is also dominating in terms of the number of dollars that have been wagered, leading with 16.5% of the handle — 3.5 percentage points higher than the reigning champs, Georgia (13.0%).
Where Does Michigan Rank in the Top 5?
That’s enough to make the Wolverines the second biggest liability in the National Championship futures market over at BetMGM, and it’s been enough to drop their price from +1000 at open to +900 at current.
It’s not difficult to see where the love is coming from. The Wolverines return 15 starters overall — eight to an offense that averaged 40.4 PPG and ranked 10th in Success Rate and seven to a defense that surrendered just 16.1 PPG while ranking fourth in EPA per Play.
JJ McCarthy returns at quarterback and provides Harbaugh with an NFL prospect at the position. The running back duo of Blake Corum (1,463 rushing yards, 18 TDs) and Donovan Edwards (1,191 scrimmage yards on 7.5 yards per touch, 9 TDs) is arguably the best in the country. The offensive line has been elite and likely will be again. The biggest question mark is at wide receiver, where none of the returners topped 500 yards a year ago, but this offense should be elite yet again.
The defense returns a shutdown corner in Will Johnson, who ranked ninth in PFF’s coverage grade (88.9) last year as a true freshman. They should be solid once again in coverage (sixth in EPA per Pass) and upfront (11th in EPA per Rush).
The schedule sets up well — November 11 at Happy Valley and November 25 against Ohio State at the Big House are the two real tests. There’s no reason this team shouldn’t be right at the top of the Big Ten again this season as they improve upon last year’s encouraging results.
Finding success in the College Football Playoff is another matter entirely, but this team is in prime position to at least reach the postseason and then hope for better results from there. The odds do not seem short enough for a team that should be viewed as the top non-SEC challenger heading into the season. I’m in agreement with the line movement.
