Michigan football bowl projections: The Bryce Underwood bowl is in play
The Michigan Wolverines are sitting at 5-4 on the season with bowl eligibility still up in the air, which is a spot few expected them to be in heading into the first season under head coach Sherrone Moore.
What lies ahead for Michigan is a trip to No. 8 Indiana this weekend before a second bye week on Nov. 16. The regular season ends with a home date against Northwestern on Nov. 23 and a trip to No. 4 Ohio State to end the year on Nov. 30.
To get to bowl eligibility, the Wolverines will need to win one of their final three games. Of course, Michigan fans would prefer more wins and better bowl trips than the current projected spots.
Heading into the Week 11 slate of games, here is where a few prominent outlets have the Wolverines projected to go.
Action Network: Music City Bowl vs. LSU (Dec. 30, Nashville, Tennessee)
Michigan fans will notice a theme this week with a trip to Nissan Stadium in Nashville currently pegged as its most likely destination. Action Network’s scenario pits them against the LSU Tigers in what would be the first matchup ever between the two programs. It would also be notable given the push from the Wolverine staff to flip five-star quarterback and No. 1 overall recruit Bryce Underwood, who has been committed to LSU since January. Signing day is set for Dec. 4, so we will have to wait and see how each program is seen at that point. There would be storylines galore in a game where Action Network has LSU as a hypothetical 9-point favorite.
College Football News: Music City Bowl vs. South Carolina (Dec. 30, Nashville, Tennessee)
The Gamecocks currently sit at 5-3 on the season under head coach Shane Beamer. Michigan is 1-3 against South Carolina all-time with its most recent defeat coming in the Outback Bowl in 2017, losing 26-19.
USA Today: Music City Bowl vs. South Carolina (Dec. 30, Nashville, Tennessee)
Mark the folks over at USA Today down as another who sees a Nashville showdown with the Gamecocks as a possibility. One of the most annoying things about this potential matchup would be having to watch the clip of Jadaveon Clowney’s big hit on Vincent Smith in 2012 several times over on the broadcast and social media.
Top 10
- 1Hot
Ben Herbstreit
Kirk Herbstreit asks for prayers
- 2
USC makes QB change
Trojans to start Jayden Maiava
- 3Trending
Dabo denied vote
'They done voted me out of the state'
- 4
Dana Holgorsen is back
Former Houston, WVU coach joins Nebraska staff
- 5
Couching Carousel
Intel on potential head coaching moves
Mark Schlabach, ESPN: Music City Bowl vs. Missouri (Dec. 30, Nashville, Tennessee)
The Missouri program has been copying a lot of Michigan traits of late, right down to beating Ohio State on the field last postseason. The two could settle somewhat of a score in Nashville, and renew a series that has not been played on the field since 1975. Michigan is 2-2 against Missouri all-time.
Kyle Bonagura, ESPN: Duke’s Mayo Bowl vs. Duke (Jan. 3, Charlotte, North Carolina)
Michigan is 6-0 against Duke all-time in football with all of the games in the series played between 1960-78. Playing against Duke in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl would be quite the storyline. The headlining aspect of this game is the winning head coach taking a mayo bath out of a water cooler.
CBS Sports: Rate Bowl vs. West Virginia (Dec. 26, Phoenix, Arizona)
A showdown with the West Virginia Mountaineers would be a renewal of a series that has not been played since 1904 where Michigan won 130-0 (that’s not a typo) in Ann Arbor. Those were different times, indeed.
Athlon Sports: Bad Boy Mowers Pinstripe Bowl vs. Duke (Dec. 28, Bronx, New York)
Another Michigan-Duke projection comes in this week, but at Yankee Stadium a few days after Christmas compared to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl from a few headings above.
