Michigan has to 'beat the boss level' in 2023

Michigan football reached new heights the past two seasons, winning the Big Ten title in consecutive years and making back-to-back College Football Playoff appearances. But in 2023, the Wolverines have the best chance yet — and a narrow window — to prove they haven’t already hit a ceiling.

And that’s just what On3’s J.D. PicKell wants to see. Is Michigan just riding this wave only to be second-fiddle to Ohio State again? Or are the Wolverines setting the stages for a run of dominance in the Big Ten?

“Michigan has everything there in-house to get it done. They’re not looking for 2024 or 2025. And for Michigan as the Big Ten starts to shift, they’re going to add USC and UCLA, this is their chance,” PicKell said. “… This is their chance to really stake their claim in the Big Ten and say, ‘No, no, no. Two years in a row we’ve won the Big Ten. But now, nationally, this is our deal. We run this now.’ Michigan, hail to the victors, that’s all back. This is their chance to do. Because if they don’t get it done this year, then people are going to start to say ‘Did they peak? Is that all they are? They make the College Football Playoff twice. They’re a good story for two years, but then they kind of run their course.’ Or is it, ‘No, no, no, Michigan’s here to stay.’ This the chance for them to really do that.”

And as such, Michigan needs to finally best what PicKell has dubbed the “boss level.”

In 2021, Michigan broke through with a win against Ohio State and ended up as semifinal fodder for Georgia as the Bulldogs razed the Wolverines en route to a national championship.

Last season, Michigan repeated as Big Ten Champions and looked poised for a national championship appearance with surprise playoff entrant TCU opposite the Wolverines in the semifinals. However, the Horned Frogs jumped on Michigan and left with a 51-45 win.

The Wolverines have shown they can best the basic levels and get to the final boss. Now it’s time for Michigan to beat the game and play in the national championship game.

“The thing for them is that they gotta beat the boss level. Because you’ve done everything else up to this point. A couple of years ago, you would’ve said, ‘We beat Ohio State, awesome. That’s all we want in this world, is to beat the Buckeyes.’ Well now you’re saying, ‘Well we beat the Buckeyes twice in a row. We’ve won the Big Ten Championship twice in a row.’ And now you’re saying, ‘Big Ten title or bust.’ And you’ve earned that. It’s like when you play the video game and you beat level one, level two, but then you get to the boss level, and you don’t care about anything besides beating that boss. And the boss right now for Michigan is a national title. And everything is in Ann Arbor to get it done,” PicKell said.