I think beating MSU and OSU this year (or at least one of them, preferably OSU) is extremely important because we are at home and because it would give Harbaugh the upper hand right away in the eyes of the public.
But almost as important as those two games, IMO, is the Utah game. Harbaugh is and will be one of the biggest stories going into the college football season. The Utah game is the Thursday night game opening the season, so everyone will be watching. If we go out and win, particularly if we look impressive doing so, that will solidify all the current momentum of the program. Even losing later games won't be as harmful, because the Utah game will have reinforced the Harbaugh "turning Michigan back to a power school" theme and everyone will understand first year adjustments (and most later games won't be watched by as many people). A big win this early in the season would, IMO, give us further strength with top prospects that I don't think will be lost with later losses. This win will also give the team confidence to perform better.
Losing to Utah would not stop our momentum or make Harbaugh less likely to succeed or have a terrible effect. It would just slow things down some and change the story to Harbaugh is rebuilding Michigan rather than Harbaugh immediately makes Michigan better. The team would not get the confidence build that would result from the win and our recruiting may be slightly hurt. In other words, a loss probably doesn't have significant adverse effects, other than slowing down the assumption of the Michigan return. But a win would provide credibility that "Harbaugh has brought Michigan back" story all season and, the resulting confidence from the win may make this story more likely to be true.
But almost as important as those two games, IMO, is the Utah game. Harbaugh is and will be one of the biggest stories going into the college football season. The Utah game is the Thursday night game opening the season, so everyone will be watching. If we go out and win, particularly if we look impressive doing so, that will solidify all the current momentum of the program. Even losing later games won't be as harmful, because the Utah game will have reinforced the Harbaugh "turning Michigan back to a power school" theme and everyone will understand first year adjustments (and most later games won't be watched by as many people). A big win this early in the season would, IMO, give us further strength with top prospects that I don't think will be lost with later losses. This win will also give the team confidence to perform better.
Losing to Utah would not stop our momentum or make Harbaugh less likely to succeed or have a terrible effect. It would just slow things down some and change the story to Harbaugh is rebuilding Michigan rather than Harbaugh immediately makes Michigan better. The team would not get the confidence build that would result from the win and our recruiting may be slightly hurt. In other words, a loss probably doesn't have significant adverse effects, other than slowing down the assumption of the Michigan return. But a win would provide credibility that "Harbaugh has brought Michigan back" story all season and, the resulting confidence from the win may make this story more likely to be true.
