The Blue Board

You specifically referenced the front seven.

Michigan dominated on both sides in the trenches.

Notre Dame was a better team than Michigan, not saying they weren't, but talent level was very similar to Michigan.

Film and beer is fun. I don't get guys that don't understand how fun it is to watch film and drink beer.

Good god. It's never ending

Wait. You mean you didn't take ND +28.5? Suckers.

Uh.. They played Pitt towards the end of the season...

I am good with it. Which thread had the ban bets?

Why don't we just ask the mods to merge the two threads? :)

Merge threads is not a function mods have I wish we did though.

I do think it's significant, I think it shows that UM may have outplayed ND in several phases of the game.

It doesn't, however, suggest to me that UM has more talent than ND. Do you believe that it does?

13 months still to go, but the 2014 class for MSU looks to be a special one for them. Great start, and look to be in on some highly touted kids.

I'm really getting my hopes up for Michigan's future OL. This year 'Bama showed that a dominant OL can push around a good DL. If (and I know all reasons that this can go wrong) Michigan's OL can even be in the same neighborhood as 'Bama's was this season, then they could have a strong 2-3 year stretch simply because they would be able to run the ball effectively on a lot of the teams they played.

Yea, not sure what's up with Henderson/Kizer. There's another 4-star from OH, Dareian Watkins, that's visiting MSU for the MSU - tOSU Bball game in a few weeks. He's a 93 4-star.

Kind of surprised, but MSU is also high on Kyle Trout's list as well as Nick Richardson. Now, I'm sure UM sweeps in and scoops them all up, but for now it's fun to dream

Let's look at actual numbers (recruiting wise)
You guys are upset, and I understand that, but let's look at some numbers to help explain why Michigan is at where they're at right now. This is not meant to be a dig on any of the players, or say that rankings are always right because they're a prediction/projection. That being said, take a look at what Brady Hoke and Al Borges are working with on offense.

2008 Class still on the roster:

OL still on the roster (3):
Ricky Barnum: #4 OG, 80 rating (equals a 4-star)
Elliott Mealer: #42 OT, 77 rating (equals a 3-star)
Patrick Omameh: #113 OT, 69 rating (probably a 3-star)

WR still on the roster (1):
Roy Roundtree: #104 WR, 3-star

You have three OL, one WR, no QB's, RB's or TE's from this class still on the roster.

One four-star remaining on the offensive roster.

2009 Class still on the roster:

QB (1):
Denard Robinson: #7 ATH, 81 rating (equals a 4-star)

OL (2):
Taylor Lewan: #12 OT, 80 rating (4-star)
Michael Schofield: #40 OT, 77 rating (3-star)

RB (2):
Fitz Toussaint: #28 RB, 79 rating (4-star)
Vince Smith: #60 RB, 77 rating (3-star)

WR (1):
Jeremy Gallon: #80 ATH, 77 rating (3-star)

One QB, Two OL, Two RB and One WR.

Three 4-stars left on the offensive roster.

2010 class still on the roster:

WR (5):
Devin Gardner: #5 QB, 4-star
Ricardo Miller: #27 WR, 4-star
Jeremy Jackson: #39 WR, 4-star
Jerald Robinson: #99 WR, 3-star
Drew Dileo: #137 ATH, 3-star

RB (1):
Stephen Hopkins: #50 RB, 3-star

There are No QB's and No OL left from this class (Christian Pace was the only one committed), only One RB left and he has moved to FB and there are three 4-stars left.

2011 class still on the roster:

QB (1):
Russell Bellomy: #35 QB, 3-star

RB (2):
Justice Hayes: #22 RB, 4-star
Thomas Rawls: #84 RB, 3-star

OL (2):
Jack Miller: #53 DT, 3-star
Chris Bryant: #37 OG, 3-star

One 4-star on the roster and No WR's.

So now let's sum all of that up. Between the 2008 and 2011 classes, which is 4 recruiting classes you have the following:

Two QB's. One 4-star and one 3-star. Two quarterbacks over four classes, and Bellomy was added late after Hoke got here.
SEVEN OL. TWO 4-stars. That's seven offensive linemen over four classes. To compare, there are 8 OL commits between the 2012 and 2013 class. There were TWO 4-star OL in these four classes, Michigan has double that amount in the 2013 class alone. One OL commit between these four classes (Barnum) was ranked in the top five at his position, however Lewan is an exception here obvs.
Six WR's. Two of the receivers were four-stars, one of them (Ricardo Miller) is nowhere to be found. Only two, including Miller were in the top 75 at their position.
Five RB's, one has moved to FB. Two 4-stars, none in the top 25 at the RB position.

(additional comments by TomVH)

- The 2010 class is a big hit to the roster. There are ZERO OL on the roster and only three WR's contributing, and Hopkins is at fullback, which you could consider a loss since Michigan now has two scholarship fullbacks.

- Also, here's a comparison between these numbers and just how good the 2012 and 2013 classes are:

The 2012 and 2013 classes combined have 10 commitments ranked in the top 10 at their position. The 2008-2011 classes (four classes) had two commitments ranked in the top 10 at their position.
Michigan has six 4-star OL commits in the 2012 and 2013 classes, five of which are in the top 10 at their position. The 2008-2011 classes had two, only one was in the top 10.
Shane Morris is the first TOP FIVE QB that Michigan has landed since Ryan Mallett in 2007. That's for pro-style or dual threat qb's.
Michigan has 14 commitments in the ESPN 150 in the 2012 and 2013 classes, they had 12 between 2008 and 2011 (That's total not just offense).