Michigan’s 2024 college football schedule is brutal compared to its 2023 schedule. On top of that, Michigan fans have a ton of questions about the roster heading into the spring game. This combination is a prime breeding ground for pessimism.

There is no question the Wolverines will play some talented teams in the fall. They’ll open the season with Fresno State before hosting Texas. They also play conference newcomers in USC, Oregon and Washington.

While you’d still expect them to win Big Ten matchups against Indiana, Minnesota and Illinois, they have David Braun’s Northwestern team the week before The Game.

They’ll host rival Michigan State in Ann Arbor this season, but take on the Buckeyes on Nov. 30 in Columbus.

Despite the tough competition in 2024, here are some reasons why Michigan’s schedule won’t be as tough as we think.

The toughest opponents are relatively spread out

Unlike last season, Michigan’s 2024 schedule is not as backloaded. Michigan was the far superior team in every game last year up until the Penn State game in November.

Here are what we would consider the tougher games on the schedule, and when and where they’re played this fall.

• Sept. 7: vs. Texas
• Sept. 21: vs. USC
• Oct. 5: @ Washington
• Nov. 2: vs. Oregon
• Nov. 30: @ Ohio State

This year’s team won’t need to artificially hype themselves up for more than half the games this season. There are some big challenges on the schedule, but none of them are back-to-back, which is a relief for a team like Michigan that just lost a lot of talent to the NFL.

Most of the tougher games are at the Big House

As you can tell from above, many of the bigger games on the schedule are at the friendly confines of Michigan Stadium this year, and that is a huge benefit.

In 2023, Michigan had one of its toughest games of the season in one of the toughest environments at Penn State. We won’t necessarily see too many hostile road environments this year either, as Michigan will host Texas, USC, Oregon and Michigan State in 2024.

Of course, The Game is in Columbus this season, and Washington does provide a good home crowd, but outside of that, tough road games are nonexistent for the Wolverines.

The Big House might not always be as loud as some other stadiums, but coming off a national championship, Michigan Stadium should be as energetic this fall as it ever has been. Regardless, the Wolverines haven’t lost at home since 2019, so it has given the team the juice it needs to succeed on the field in recent years.

Texas is in Week 2

An early season game against Texas also allows the Wolverines to evaluate where they need to improve early. We will learn about the offensive line and how it holds up against some talented defensive linemen, and we’ll also get a chance to see how Michigan’s secondary holds up against Texas’ receivers and returning quarterback, Quinn Ewers.

The bright side to a big game like this early in the year is that it’s a non-conference game. Even if Michigan loses, the hope of winning another conference championship is still alive. That could be a big boost to the team’s mentality in Big Ten play.

All of that is great prep work for what’s to come later in the season. Unlike The Game, this one won’t be for all the marbles.

The loss of big-name quarterbacks

Bo Nix, Michael Penix Jr. and Caleb Williams are all joining J.J. McCarthy in the NFL. While fans are understandably disappointed and uncertain about the future of quarterback play at Michigan, there are also questions for other teams joining the Big Ten.

While there’s a lot of hype around Miller Moss at USC, especially after his Holiday Bowl performance, it isn’t a done deal his success will translate to a full season of play.

Dan Lanning brought Dillon Gabriel to Oregon this offseason, who spent five seasons at UCF and Oklahoma before landing with the Ducks. He’s an experienced and talented player, but he will still need to learn with a new coach in Eugene. As Michigan fans know all too well, Dante Moore also transferred to Oregon, we’ll have to see how that quarterback battle plays out.

No one knows what to expect at Washington this season, at quarterback and in general. The Huskies very well could be this year’s TCU.

You can even lump in Ohio State here, as nobody knows if Will Howard will be better than Kyle McCord was a year ago. While McCord played well, Ryan Day made it clear it wasn’t good enough for him, so he picked up Howard from Kansas State to be the program’s — and his — savior. But will he really be able to turn the tide in the conference? There are plenty of question marks at the position conference-wide heading into the fall.

The offseason may not have fixed what’s broken in Columbus

Ohio State brought in some talent from the transfer portal, like the aforementioned Will Howard, as well as Chip Kelly at offensive coordinator.

The thing is, we know how important the run game is when predicting the winner in November. Michigan has Donovan Edwards and Kalel Mullings returning, giving them at least two strong options despite losing Blake Corum. Ohio State’s TreVeyon Henderson is a good player, but is Chip Kelly going to be a coach that puts the game in his hands on fourth and short?

We’ll have to wait and see the answer. But we do know Mason Grant and Kenneth Grant will be there to stop him, if so.

The schedule could have been worse

Michigan will travel to Washington in October. Despite playing the Huskies in the National Championship, we know this season’s Huskies won’t look anything like they did last season.

Had Kalen DeBoer stayed with the program, the trip to Washington would be completely different. Instead, Jedd Fisch is leading the Huskies in his first season and is trying to keep the ship in the right direction.

Michigan State will have a better coach this season, but it’s nice to know Michigan just came off a 49-0 win in East Lansing last season. The guys playing for Michigan this year had plenty of playing time against the Spartans last year. It’s easy to see a different year where that game looms larger on the schedule.

So yes, there’s plenty to be concerned about on Michigan’s schedule, but it may not be as bad as we expect it to be.