We're about a month away from the start of the college football season.
Expectations are high for both Michigan and Michigan State. Not just within -- on the outside, too.
In the first Amway Coaches Poll of the season, the Wolverines and Spartans both cracked the top 20.
Michigan checks in at No. 7.
Michigan State checks in at No. 20.
Defending national champs Clemson are ranked No. 1, followed by Alabama and Georgia. Oklahoma and Ohio State round out the top five.
The poll is voted on by a randomly-selected panel of head coaches who have agreed to participate. Mark Dantonio is one of the 65 coaches in the pool of voters. Jim Harbaugh is not.
Michigan, a popular pick to win the Big Ten for the first time since 2004, returns several weapons on offense, including quarterback Shea Patterson and an array of dynamic receivers. Under Don Brown, the Wolverines should be stout defensively again, too.
The Wolverines received a total of 1,155 points in the first poll. (25 points for a first-place vote, 24 points for second place, and so on.)
Michigan State boats a defense that should be one of the best in the country. The question the Spartans must answer, after a season of offensive struggles that prompted a reshuffling of the coaching staff, is whether they can score enough points to back it up.
They received 313 points.
Michigan opens the season Aug. 31 versus Middle Tennessee State. Michigan State kicks things off Aug. 30 against Tulsa.
The other Big Ten teams in the poll are No. 14 Penn State, No. 17 Wisconsin, No. 19 Iowa and No. 25 Northwestern.
