Michigan football's confidence is very real and it should be

Michigan will enter Saturday in the Ohio Stadium as the only unbeaten team in the Big Ten, with eight consecutive conference wins averaging close to 24 points. Wolverines are candidates for college football. They are the favorite this weekend. And they know it.

Just ask them.

"(A win) would mean everything, for us and our season, for this to continue – we have not beaten (Ohio State) for a while," Michigan co-captain Devin Bush Jr. said Monday. "It's something we really want to do.

"And that's something we're going to do."

More: Jim Harbaugh: Michigan and Ohio, the biggest day of "our football lives"

The situation of Karan Higdon, who guaranteed a victory on Monday, was tricky. A journalist literally asked him to offer the guarantee. So he did it. Some people got upset about it. Jim Harbaugh thought the question was "silly".

It's hard to argue.

But that is also beside the question.

Because the goal is clear: Michigan is entering the biggest week of its season with unwavering confidence. The confidence is built during a series of 10 consecutive wins. Trust acquired and justified.

"He is our captain," Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson told Higdon's statement Tuesday night. "I do not think players lack self-confidence in this locker room.

"I think everyone has that feeling – it's our captain and we support him."

Winners do not mingle with games like this.

They attack them.

Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh attends a match against Indiana at Michigan Stadium on November 17, 2018 in Ann Arbor. (Photo: Gregory Shamus, Getty Images)

Michigan turns to Columbus as a football team convinced it's better than the Ohio State. With the exception of maybe the 2016 game, this was not the case in the era of Urban Meyer. Not like this.

It's hard to blame them.

When you step back and analyze the match from top to bottom, a theme develops over the last 11 games.

The state of Ohio is the number 2 offense in the country. Michigan Pass defense is ranked first. The Buckeyes were slightly above the ground average, ranking 52nd in rushing yards. Michigan was elite on the defensive against the race, in the 14th.

The Ohio State defense yields 402.6 yards per game. The Michigan offensive counts 429.6. The Buckeyes allowed 579 yards last week against a Maryland team that has accumulated 220 against the Wolverines. Michigan's offensive release last week? 507 yards. Michigan and Ohio State have six common opponents.

The average Buckeyes victory margin in these games is 16.5.

Michigan is 27 years old.

Michigan believes that it is the best team and for the first time in a long time, it is extremely difficult to discuss this.

Because they're based on everything we know right now.

The seriousness of what has happened in this game since 2000 exists. Michigan has not had much success against OSU in the last 18 years and has lost 13 of 14 in the series. The Wolverines never beat Meyer.

And if Saturday's loss does not change the fact that Michigan has managed to turn the negative trend of last season into a positive direction, it would stain all year long, become a colossal disappointment and a missed opportunity.

So, there is pressure on Michigan.

But there is pressure on Michigan for 11 months. The Wolverines had a full season as they reorganized during the off season. And the pressure has been rising since the start of the season with a disappointing seven-point loss to Notre Dame.

"I still see pressure as a vital energy," Harbaugh said this week.

Michigan's trust has not crossed unknown borders. Noah Furbush called this the "greatest game I will ever play". Harbaugh said it was the most important thing in the "football lives" of Michigan.

Rashan Gary, always cordial with the reporters, told the media on Tuesday that he did not have much time for questions.

"Everyone knows what week we are," said Gary. "I'm focused, I'm trying to hurry back to the movies."

Michigan is very well placed at the moment. Not boastful, but far from nervous. Just confident.

It's hard to blame them.