(Photo: David Guralnick, Detroit News)
This is the year. (Legal disclaimer: Unless it’s next year).
Based on prevailing midsummer opinion, this is the year Michigan finally wins the Big Ten and Jim Harbaugh finally beats Ohio State and reaches the playoff. This is the year Mark Dantonio fields one of the five best defenses in America and cracks open his offense and Michigan State returns as a contender. Oh yes, and this is the year Ohio State finally slides, with Urban Meyer gone.
You hear a lot of “this is the year” talk this time of year, and it cranks up this week when the Big Ten holds its football media days.