The 2008 BCS Championship Game will take place in New Orleans on Jan. 7 and the Michigan Wolverines will make up half of the title game's field.

Several people have said they'll wait until some point midway through the '07 season to decide what the Wolverines are, but that's not necessary.

Heading into last season, all the talk in Columbus centered around the Buckeyes losing almost all of their defensive starters from a team that walloped Notre Dame in the '06 Fiesta Bowl. Well, for 12 games, at least, that group of no-named Buckeye defenders played well enough to help their team secure a spot in the 2007 National Title Game.

Michigan is in the same boat. The team's four best defensive players-Leon Hall, Alan Branch, LaMarr Woodley and David Harris-were among the first 50 players chosen during April's NFL Draft. Five of the seven UM players taken in the draft play on the defensive side of the ball. In total, the Wolverines lost 10 defensive standouts to either graduation or the NFL.

A group of unfamiliar names will be asked to step up this fall. It'd be easy to say they'll tak their lumps throughout the campaign, if it weren't for a few key items.

The schedule

I won't discuss Michigan opening with Appalachian State or the Wolverines scheduling Eastern Michigan halfway through the season. Even though I don't like either of those teams being on a top team's schedule, you have to play what you're given.

That's two Ws right there, with both games set to be played at the Big House. Six of the Wolverines other 10 games are in Ann Arbor, too, meaning Michigan only has to travel outside the Ann Arbor city limits four times this season-at Northwestern Sept. 29, at Illinois Oct. 20, at Michigan State Nov. 3, and at Wisconsin Nov. 10.

That's three road tilts against teams that will most likely finish at the bottom of the Big Ten and a tussle at Camp Randle that could have conference championship implications.

I'd say a rivalry game in East Lansing late in the season could be tough, but can you name me five starters for the Spartans? And the game at Wisconsin would be a question mark, as well, if it were played earlier in the season-like when the Wolverines lost a heartbreaker in Madison in 2005.

Home games against Oregon (Sept. 8), Penn State (Sept. 22), and Purdue (Oct. 13) should test Michigan's mettle; as will the season finale Nov. 17 against the hated Buckeyes. However, homefield advantage should play a role in the Wolverines coming out of those games unscathed.

The offense

At the beginning of each college basketball season, there's a list put out of the 50 players who could win the Player of the Year award. If there were a college football equivalent of that, three Michigan players-Michael Hart, Chad Henne, and Mario Manningham-would make the top 15 of that list.

The Wolverines are loaded on the offensive side of the ball, returning almost every major cog on a team that outscored opponents 29-16 in 2006. Imagine what that margin would be if head coach Lloyd Carr would open up the playbook every once in a while!

It'd be extremely difficult for Hart to outdo his 1562 yards, 14 scores and 4.9 yards per carry from a year ago; but, with Michigan turning out offensive linemen like a factory, it's possible.

Henne will look to end his career in Ann Arbor with a bang, and his first bowl win. The signal caller also has a good shot at improving on his 2,508 yards, 22 TD, eight pick performance from '06, too.

Manningham, who only appeared in 10 games last season, is sure to best his 703 yards, nine TD performance from last season. And sophomore-to-be Greg Matthews should make his name known this season, making for a potent 1-2 punch on the outside.

Those two things alone make it extremely possible that Michigan could mark the 10-year anniversary of its last national title with another trip to a title game.

If Hart or Henne sustain injury, however, all bets are off. Huge improvements need to be made in the secondary, as well, since the squad was out gained by an average of 225-195 through the air in 2006 and yielded 132 first downs through the air to its 118.

So, Wolverine fans can start making plans to migrate to the Bayou this holiday season. But, as a Spartan alum, if none of the things mentioned above happen, I'll be FAR from upset.