Preseason rankings are the talk of the college football world right now. The Coaches Poll and AP Top 25 have revealed rankings ahead of Week 0 and Week 1 action. Many analysts and publications also share their own Top 25 rankings.

Michigan is coming off of a 12-2 finish in 2021 after reaching the College Football Playoff. The Wolverines received a final ranking of No. 3 in both the Coaches Poll and AP Top 25.

Some are expecting to see a bit of a dropoff for Jim Harbaugh’s squad in 2022 with talents like David Ojabo and Aidan Hutchinson now in the NFL. 247Sports analyst Josh Pate, however, has Michigan at No. 4 and favors this year’s Wolverines over the 2021 squad.

“The JP Poll does not care about what your record is, it only cares about who it would favor against who,” Pate said about his preseason ranking model.

“We’re high on Michigan…really high on Michigan,” the Late Kick host said about the Wolverines. “Our model would favor this Michigan over last season’s Michigan team. Even with Ojabo, even with Hutchinson lost to the NFL, we think they’re a very very solid team. We have them at 4, the industry would have them around 6.”

Pate’s take will certainly be well received by Michigan fans as the Wolverines look to defend their B1G title in 2022.