http://www.maxpreps.com/list/rankings.aspx

You'll have to pick Michigan as I can't get a direct link ... no clue what a computer based ranking is going off at this point ...

It starts like this

1. EGR
2. Hudsonville
3. Menominee
4. Dakota
5. Adams
6. OLSM
7. Lowell
8. Brother Rice
9. Detroit CC
10. Lansing Everett

http://www.prepseer.com/?p=172#more-172

Thanks for pointing it out .... I had not checked the Prepseer Blog in about a week ...

Here we go .....

I was not planning on bringing it out this early .... but I had some free time today ... so HERE IT IS!!!

Pre-Season Super 32

Holland West Ottawa QB Tyler VanTubbergen
&
East Grand Rapids TE Chris Blair

Link to a MichiganPreps.com Story

Can anyone back this up?

http://www.mlive.com/forums/hsfootballeast/index.ssf?artid=270448

Inkster High School was given back all victories with the exception of one to end last year's season 8-1. The one loss (Ohio) was not overturned simply because it wasn't worth it for Inkster to make a big deal out of the situation at this point. FYI

http://michiganstate.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=827686

July 16, 2008

Matt Dorsey
SpartanMag.com Recruiting Analyst

This Saturday several members of the Michigan State recruiting class of 2008 will play their first game in Spartan Stadium. They won't be wearing the Green and White, but they will be indirectly representing Michigan State University. SpartanMag.com has some details on the East vs. West High School All-Star Game.

Deyo earned his Michigan State offer after a strong performance at the Spartan summer camp.

Four members of the Michigan State recruiting class of 2008 will be participating in the 28th East vs. West Michigan High School All-Star Game. The players include John Deyo of Gull Lake High School, Caulton Ray of Birmingham Brother Rice School, Ethan Ruhland of Lake Orion High School and Glenn Winston of Detroit Denby High School.

Winston, Ray and Ruhland will be playing for the East Squad, while Deyo is the lone Spartan playing for the West Team.

Ray and Winston are expected to provide the East with a formidable rushing attack. Both players had outstanding careers in high school at the running back position, and will be given a shot to play that spot at Michigan State when fall practice begins in August.

Offensive guard Ruhland will be one of the players opening holes for the tandem of Ray and Winston. Ruhland is fully recovered from injuries he suffered during his senior year and is expected to be a key component of the Spartan offensive line in the near future.

Deyo will be anchoring a West offensive line that may use the passing game to counter the East's power run game. Indiana Hoosier Quarterback Adam Follett will lead the West Team. Depending on whether he lines up at guard or tackle, it is possible that Deyo could spend some of his time blocking Michigan 2008 signee Mike Martin of Detroit Catholic Central.

Deyo will be joined on the West offensive line by future Wolverine Rocko Khoury of Traverse City West High School. A guard/tackle combination of Deyo and Khoury could be formidable.

	Glenn Winston will look to show his running skills on Saturday

In addition to the players listed above, several other high-level players will also be participating in Saturday's game. Future Iowa Hawkeye defensive end Jason Semmes of Orchard Lake Saint Mary's will be playing for the East as will prolific pass catcher Jimmy Saros of Grosse Pointe, who is headed to Brown University.

Kickoff for the game is at 2PM. Player introductions will begin at 1:30. The price of admission is $10. The East currently holds a 14-13 advantage in the series.

SpartanMag.com will have coverage of the game and which players stood out later this weekend.

I know Michigan lost a lot on the OL from last year to the NFL, graduation and transfer. ... one of the main reasons I suspect they could struggle.

I was reading this posted on thewolverine.com and I didn't realize the the OL while inexperienced ... will be filled with upperclassmen who were highly rated out of high school.

6 reasons why UM will succeed in 2008..

Reply

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I stole this from the bleacher report. Interesting..

1.) Better coaching under Rich Rodriguez

Rodriguez hasn't yet coached a game at Michigan, but I believe that he and his extensive staff of assistant and position coaches will do more for and yield better performance from Michigan's current roster of student football athletes than Lloyd Carr would have.

The reason I believe this is that Rich Rodriguez has a proven history in his Tulane, Clemson, and West Virginia coaching stints of achieving more with less in terms of winning with less player experience and less raw talent.

Michigan's starters on offense are for the most part four- to five-star recruited athletes ranked in the top 25 at each position. Rodriguez did most of his winning at West Virginia, Clemson, and Tulane on the backs of mostly three-star recruits that were ranked below the top 50 at their positions.



2.) Improved Team Strength & Conditioning

Michigan S&C coach Mike Barwis was already a legend in his own right at West Virginia. He has now transformed the UM S&C program for the better.

It will take time to see the full results, but there are immediate improvements already to be seen with the UM OL and DL players, with marked gains in strength, speed, flexibility, and weight loss. Michigan football will be a lot leaner and faster than ever before.

This is another example of the current coaching staff of Rich Rodriguez bringing Michigan football into the 20th century by increasing speed and endurance to play a full 60 minutes or more of intense, no-huddle football.

The conditioning and focus on flexibility will also most certainly improve Michigan's injury record, which has been nothing short of horrific under former S&C coach Mike Gittleson. See Michigan's 2005 and 2007 football season and rosters for an exhaustive list of exhibits.



3.) A new offensive philosophy: Score on every play

Rich Rodriguez brings in one of the most effective offensive schemes in football to Ann Arbor?the spread option offense. Rodriguez states that he is determined to fit the offensive scheme to the talent of the current Michigan personnel at QB, WR, OL, and running back.

Rodriguez explains that the new offense is designed to force defenses to defend the entire 50-yard width of the field, to get the football into the fastest players' hands as quickly as possible, to utilize misdirection, and to score on every play.

The goal is to score on every play.

This is completely new and different from the Lloyd Carr regime, with his offensive coordinators Terry Malone and the now infamous Mike DeBord. Michigan's offense under past OC leadership was predictable, to say the least, and lacked any sense of urgency to score or strategic innovation.

Michigan's offensive complexity and inventiveness last fall could be summed up in two plays: Hart zone run off left tackle and Mario Manningham flag pattern pass play. That's about it.

Michigan offenses have indeed been blessed with talented quarterbacks, tailbacks, O-linemen, and wide receivers over the years. But Michigan averaged 28, 29, and 29 points per game in 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively. Under Mike DeBord, the emphasis was on burning the clock and keeping opposing offenses off the field, not scoring points.

This is because HC Lloyd Carr feared being viewed by opponents as "running up the score." Lloyd's philosophy was burn clock, score as little as freaking possible (only what you need to), and then have the defense hang on desperately to victory through the fourth quarter by bloodied fingernails.

With four Heisman candidates in DeBord's offensive arsenal in 2007, Michigan finished a pathetic ninth in the league in total offense. Ninth! Michigan lost all of these "Heisman candidates" to graduation and the NFL.

Even with Michigan's less experienced QB and offensive line, these statistics can only improve in an otherwise weak Big Ten conference and with RR's new emphasis on trying to score touchdowns every possession.



4.) A new defensive philosophy: Greater emphasis on sacks and turnovers

Scott Schafer is the new defensive coordinator for Michigan, replacing Ron English (fired and now DC at Louisville). Schafer brings in a 4-3 flexible defensive core scheme, the same one used effectively earlier in his career at Western Michigan in 2006, when the Broncos led the nation in sacks.

Defensively, Michigan gave up 21, 16, and 21 points per game in 2005, 2006, and 2007, respectively. Michigan returns its front four intact and has very high-rated talent two and three deep. Michigan may very well lead the Big Ten in sacks and forced turnovers this fall.



5.) Michigan's inexperience and Michigan's talent

A lot of college football experts focus on three variables that, when combined, will almost certainly equate to Michigan's football season destruction in 2008: an inexperienced quarterback, an inexperienced offensive line, and a new offensive system (the spread option attack).

While I understand and agree to some degree about the player experience factor, many teams have performed well and achieved successful seasons without one or two years' game experience under their belts. I fully expect plenty of offensive miscues in 2008, some of which may lead to disappointing Michigan defeats.

One might also consider that projected starting UM quarterback Steven Threet was a four-star recruit, ranked 13th in the country at his position. He is not Pat White, nor is he Chad Henne. But do we now automatically insert an equal sign to failure?

Threet is an unknown, as are his backups Justin Feagin and Nick Sheridan. Michigan has had freshman and inexperienced quarterbacks start before with fairly good results. Rod Smith is an excellent QB coach for this offense with a proven track record of success at South Florida and West Virginia.

Let us also consider the Michigan offensive line, their upperclassmen status, and talent ranking by position:

LT Cory Zirbel, Sr (four star, 20th-ranked)

LG Tim McAvoy, Sr (four star, 14th-ranked)

C David Moosman, Sr (four star, 17th-ranked

RG Steve Schilling, Jr (five star, 3rd-ranked)

RT Mark Ortmann, Sr (three star, 45th-ranked)

On the face of it, that's not exactly a reason to slit your wrists if you're a Michigan football fan. Most college football teams in Division I would kill to have that kind of starting OL lineup.

In addition, Michigan's offensive line will run at a no-huddle pace, keeping defenses off guard and reducing defensive preparedness and substitutions. UM's offensive line will also no longer need to sustain blocks for two to three seconds for Chad Henne's three or four step drops anymore. The football must now get into space quickly, so we're talking one to two step drops and go.

For rushing plays, technique blocking will be the order of the day for drive blocking, tackle traps, and guard pulls. That's not easy, but not impossible either. Greater endurance, strength training, and speed improvements will only help this inexperienced group get better as the year progresses.

Oh, and for the record, Schilling, Ortmann, and McAvoy all have gametime experience. Schilling is the anchor for the line.



6.) Schedule

Seven of Michigan's 12 games are at home this year. Michigan did lose three home games last year (App State, Oregon, and Ohio State) and lost one away (at Wisconsin).

Michigan played remarkably well under Lloyd Carr on the road in big games versus Top 10 opponents. It remains to be seen whether Rodriguez can instill the same motivation and performance in this young UM team.

The toughest bouts this year in Ann Arbor will be Utah, Illinois, Wisconsin, and Michigan State. The toughest road games will be at Penn State, at Purdue, and at Ohio State. Michigan's schedule is considered one of the toughest in the Big Ten (second only to Michigan State's in difficulty rating).

Link

Pete Sampson
IrishIllustrated.com Editor

Position	Verbals 2009	Freshmen	Soph	Junior	Senior	Roster Players Only
QB		Dayne Crist *****	Jimmy Clausen *****	Evan Sharpley ***		Avg Stars = 4.33
RB	Cierre Wood *****	Jonas Gray ****	Armando Allen ****	James Aldridge *****		Avg Stars = 4.0
	Theo Riddick ****		Robert Hughes ****
			Barry Gallup ***
FB		Steve Paskorz ****	Luke Schmidt ***	Asaph Schwapp **		Avg Stars = 3.0
WR		Michael Floyd *****	Richard Jackson ****	Robby Parris ***	David Grimes ***	Avg Stars = 3.67
		John Goodman ***	Duval Kamara ****	George West ***
		Deion Walker ****	Golden Tate ****
TE	Jake Golic **	Joe Fauria ****	Mike Ragone ****	Will Yeatman ***		Avg Stars = 4.0
	Tyler Eifert ***	Kyle Rudolph *****
OG	Alex Bullard ****	Andrew Nuss ****	Chris Stewart ****	Eric Olson ****	Mike Turkovich ***	Avg Stars = 3.8
		Trevor Robinson ****
C		Braxton Cave ****	Dan Wenger ****			Avg Stars = 3.67
		Mike Golic Jr. ***
OT		Lane Clelland ****		Sam Young *****	Paul Duncan ***	Avg Stars = 3.8
		Taylor Dever ***
		Matt Romine ****
DT	Tyler Stockton ****	Brandon Newman ****	Ian Williams ***		Pat Kuntz ***	Avg Stars = 3.25
		Hafis Williams ***
DE		Sean Cwynar ****	Paddy Mullen ***		Justin Brown **	Avg Stars = 3.29
		Ethan Johnson ****	Kallen Wade ***
		Kapron Lewis-Moore ****
		Emeka Nwankwo ***
ILB	Carlo Calabrese ***	Steven Filer ****		Scott Smith ***	Maurice Crum ***	Avg Stars = 3.29
		Anthony McDonald ****		Toryan Smith ***	Steve Quinn ***
		Dave Posluszny ***
OLB	Dan Fox ****	Darius Fleming ****	Kerry Neal ****	Morrice Richardson ***		Avg Stars = 3.5
			Brian Smith ****	John Ryan ***
				Kevin Washington ***
CB	Marlon Pollard ****	Robert Blanton ****		Raeshon McNeil ****	Terrail Lambert ***	Avg Stars = 3.8
		Gary Gray ****
		Jamoris Slaughter ****
S		Dan McCarthy ****	Leonard Gordon ***	Sergio Brown ***	David Bruton ***	Avg Stars = 3.25
		Harrison Smith ****		Jashaad Gaines ***
				Ray Herring ***
				Kyle McCarthy ***
K/P	Ben Turk *		Ryan Burkhart **			Avg Stars = 2.0
	Nick Tausch *		Brandon Walker **
Total		30 players = 30/85	19 players = 49/85	18 players = 67/85	9 players =76/85
	Avg Stars = 3.18*	Avg Stars = 3.9	Avg Stars = 3.53	Avg Stars = 3.28	Avg Stars = 2.89
		Bold = Redshirt