2024 NCAAF Cheat Sheet: Michigan Wolverines Stats Odds

How Will Michigan be Impacted by Loss of Harbaugh and Key Offensive Stars?

July 22, 2024 154 4 minutes readNCAAF Picks & Parlays

Can the Defending National Champion Michigan Defy the Odds in 2024?

What does Michigan do for an encore after winning the national title, losing head coach Jim Harbaugh, quarterback J.J. McCarthy, and running back Blake Corum to the NFL?

When looking at the potential 2024 Michigan Wolverines stats, Michigan was just 2-4-1 against the spread at home last season compared to a 4-1 ATS mark on the road.

The Wolverines covered in just two of five games against non-conference opponents in 2023.

Only two of Michigan’s home games went over the total last season.

The Wolverines were favored in all 15 games during their run to the national title.

Dating back to the start of the 2021 season, three of the last four games when the Wolverines were the underdogs, the game went under the total. Keep that in mind when looking at the best college football bets.

Michigan At A Glance

Odds to Win	Opening Odds	Current Odds
Championship	+1000	+2800
Conference	+550	+700
Regular Season Win Total	9.5 (o +152, u- -192)	9.5 (o +152, u- -192)
To Make Playoffs	Yes +110, No -140	Yes +110, No -140

Uphill Battle for Stanford Despite Return of Key Players

Michigan was pretty quiet when it came to working the transfer portal. The 247sports.com database had 13 Big Ten teams with better groups of incoming transfers.

Maryland linebacker Jaishawn Barham (37 tackles, three sacks as a sophomore) and Northwestern offensive lineman Josh Priebe were the top-rated incoming transfers.

Michigan prides itself in being a physical football team and both of those players fit the Wolverines’ DNA.

Running back Donovan Edwards, defensive lineman Mason Graham, and conerback Will Johnson lead the returnees for Michigan.

The defensive line has the potential to be the best in the countyry for the Wolverines.

There are questions at the quarterback position after J.J. McCarthy headed to the NFL.

🏆The Michigan Wolverines are your 2024 NCAAF Champions!

Pre Season Odds: +1000#GoBlueM #Wolverines pic.twitter.com/SyjYnIp45J

— Ballislife Bets (@BallislifeBets) January 9, 2024

Championship Odds: Wolverines Are Trending in the Wrong Direction

When looking at the CFP predictions, the odds of winning the national title would have looked much different had McCarthy returned for another season.

In a conference with quarterbacks prominently featured in the Heisman Trophy odds, the jury is still out when it comes to the quality of play at that position for Michigan.

That could impact the 2024 Michigan Wolverines stats even if Michigan finished 11th in the Big Ten with an average of 24.1 ing attempts per game. In conference play, only Nebraska threw the ball less frequently than the Wolverines did.

Michigan has a week to figure things out once the season gets underway with the Wolverines currently favored by 21 points against visiting Fresno State in the Aug. 31 season opener.

The following week is a huge test when Texas and Heisman Trophy contender Quinn Ewers comes to Ann Arbor before the Wolverines wrap up non-conference play against Arkansas State.

Conference Odds: Defending Champions Have Plenty of Incentive

With Penn State recently moving ahead of the Wolverines in the odds of winning the Big Ten title, Michigan now is fourth in the conference title odds.

Jim Harbaugh loved to play the “us against the world” card, will new Michigan coach Sherrone Moore be able to use this perceived slight to Michigan’s advantage?

The conference opener will be against Big Ten newcomer USC and there will be plenty of eyes on the NCAAF scores on the day.

It will be played at home as will the matchup the following week against Minnesota as Michigan won’t hit the road until early October.

The hopes of repeating as Big Ten champions could likely come down to the final month of the season when Michigan plays Oregon and wraps up the regular season against Ohio State.

Regular Season Wins: Can the Wolverines Hit Double Digits?

When looking at the 2024 Michigan Wolverines stats, the chances of Michigan topping 9½ could mean that the Wolverines need to win at least once in the Ohio State.

Two of those games are at home.

There will also be a rematch of the national championship game when Michigan heads out to meet up with Washington in its first road game of 2024 on Oct. 5.

Although Michigan lost some prominent NCAAF players, Michigan had a top-10 rated recruiting class in 2022 and those players could hold the key to the season for the Wolverines.

Before rolling past Washington in the national title game, the last five games played by Michigan were decided by 9, 7, 6, 26, and 7 points.

There could be more nailbiters this year even if the Wolverines do face many teams picked to finish in the bottom half of the Big Ten.

To Make Playoffs: Don’t Count Out the Wolverines Just Yet

While going into the season with more questions than answers at the quarterback position is not ideal, it isn’t as if the Wolverines relied on the ing prowess of their quarterback for success in recent years.

The running game is in capable hands with the return of Donovan Edwards while the defense figures to be nasty once again.

If this was a four-team College Football Playoff field, it would be a different story but multiple Big Ten teams should be among the 12 College Football teams being invited to the CFP this season and Michigan will be in contention for one of those spots.

Side Bets

Michigan hasn’t lost a season opener since 2018 and hasn’t lost to an unranked team since 2020 so the question is whether the Wolverines will cover as the 21-point favorite against Fresno State.

The Wolverines haven’t been a home underdog since beating Ohio State in the 2021 regular-season finale so keep that in mind when looking at Texas being favored by 3.5 points against Michigan on Sept. 7.

Michigan had lost 10 of its previous 11 games when listed as the home underdog.

It is going to take some searching to find a Michigan quarterback in the Heisman Trophy odds but running back Donovan Edwards does come in at +8000 to win the Heisman Trophy.

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