Michigan Football is A Week Away!

So it's officially seven days until Team 133 takes the field in Arlington, TX, to start the 2012 football season. This is the second year after the dark days of the Rich Rod era, and it still seems like a honeymoon between Meeechigan fans and Coach Hoke.

I have been looking forward to this matchup with the defending National Champions, the Alabama Crimson Tide, for 234 days. Ever since our OT win against Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl, I have been counting the days until we get a chance to hand Tricky Nicky Saban another defeat.

If you are a Wolverine, these are the games you relish. These are the games that can set an amazing tone for the season. First game of the year against the defending champs. Michigan rolls in at #8 against the Tide at #2. The Crimson Tide would have been ranked #1, but USC apparently did the best job of raiding Penn State's cupboard after the sanctions came in against the Nittany Lions, so they climbed over Alabama in the preseason rankings.

Michigan comes in a 13-point underdog against the defending National Champs, and in the last 234 days I have yet to meet a person — other than myself — who says we will win, although I am sure there are many.

That's just fine with me, because I love bucking the system. I love being the fly in the ointment. I call 'em as I see 'em, and Michigan is gonna win this game. When the Boys in Maize & Blue win, folks around the country will say Michigan shocked Alabama, but I will not be shocked in the least. I'll be happy to be sure, but shocked? Nah. This is a Saban team we are up against.

Nicky Carpetbagger has coached against Michigan 12 times, five of them as a head coach. In those five games, he is 2-3, and his two wins were by a grand total of 6 points. Overall, Michigan has outscored his teams 153-115. He did have a 1-1 record as an assistant coach at The Ohio $tate. Hmmm. No wonder I can't stand this guy.

So let's review. We are going against a guy whose complete record against Michigan comes from two teams. Ohio $tate and Sparty. He is 5-7 in those games. Will we win? Yes. Will I be shocked? Absolutely not.

This is the first time in the storied history of these two schools that the Wolverines will play Alabama in the regular season. We have played the Crimson Tide in three bowl games in the past. The Wolverines won two out of the three bowl games.

So let's get historic and look at wins and losses in program history. If you look at it this way, it becomes #1 Michigan, against #10 Alabama. 895 wins for the Maize & Blue against 814 wins for 'Bama. Now there will be those who say Michigan has been around longer, played more games, blah, blah, blah. The truth is that Michigan has played 1241 games, and Alabama has played 1177 games. Michigan played its first game in 1879, while the Tide played its first game in 1892.

How about winning percentage? Maybe Alabama has an edge there. Nope. Michigan has the best winning percentage of any college football program in history. Alabama comes in at #8. They might have been a little better, but The Tide had 8 wins and a tie vacated in 1993, and 21 wins vacated between the 2005-2007 seasons. Wonder why that happened? Can you say NCAA infractions?

In the end, Michigan leads in wins. Michigan leads in winning percentage. Michigan has a winning record against Nicholas Lou Saban. Michigan leads in head-to-head matchups. Alabama, I guess, leads in only one category. They have had more wins vacated due to cheating than Michigan. That would be 29-0. They dominate in that category.

Will we win? Absolutely! Will I be shocked? Hail no...