MaineStrength had this comment/question in today's Digging Deeper piece:

This makes UM look pretty bad, but it's not surprising for a few main reasons.  One, that encompasses three different coaching staffs, one of which was the worst in UM's history (RR).  Two, much of what this comes down to is UM's performance against OSU and in bowl games, which has been poor.  They are a combined 3-16 vs OSU and in bowls.  But, they have typically been ranked worse than OSU and worse than who they get in a bowl game. 

I don't really have a problem with losing to teams ranked ahead of them.  I'd be curious to know how they performed against teams that were ranked, but ranked worse.  I'd guess it's a winning record.  UM was clearly terrible under RR and Hoke for all but 2011, but they are also clearly good under JH.  They are really good at beating teams they are better than and just simply don't have the offensive or defensive game plans to overcome teams that are better than them, particularly when playing outside of AA.  We'll see if Gattis can change that and/or if Brown can diversify his system to be better at stopping the better offensive teams that so far he has not been able to do the past few years.

As much as I don't want to dive into the cesspool of Michigan stats and history, let's oblige MaineStrength and his request. Hide the women and children you care about, because this shit is about to get ugly. 

Michigan Facing Better Teams Notes

• Rich Rod ended his final season in Ann Arbor by losing five-straight to teams with a better ranking.
• Hoke won his first two games against teams with a better ranking. Then he lost 8 of the next 10.
• Like Hoke, Harbaugh won consecutive games against higher ranked teams to start his career in Ann Arbor.
• After his consecutive wins, Captain Khaki lost seven-straight and 10 of the last 12 to teams with a better ranking than his boys in Maize and Blue.
• Of the Wolverines' three coaches during the past decade, Hoke has the best winning percentage (.333) against teams with a better ranking. 
• Harbaugh has the same amount of wins (4) as Hoke, but has played 14 opponents compared to Hoke's 12.
• When both teams are ranked, Michigan is 6-14 (.300).

How Did Ohio State Fare Against Higher Ranked Teams?
If you're wondering, Ohio State was 8-4 (.667) when facing teams with a better ranking. Three of the losses occurred in 2011 with Luke Fickell, ahem, leading the way with unranked teams. 

Another way to look at it is when Ohio State was ranked and playing against a team with the better ranking, the Buckeyes were 8-1 (.889). The loss was to Clemson in 2016. Either way, .667 or .889 are a hell of a lot better than Michigan's .258.

Michigan Facing Lower Ranked Teams Notes

• Hoke faced two lower ranked opponents and lost to both.
• Amazing that Hoke only faced two ranked teams that were lower than his Wolverine teams. That speaks volumes.
• Harbaugh is two games above .500 against lower ranked teams.
• Captain Khaki has a three-game losing streak against lower ranked opponents.

When Michigan was the lower ranked team, their winning percentage was .258. When the Wolverines were the higher ranked team the result was a coin flip (.500).

Ohio State Facing Lower Ranked Teams?
The Buckeyes faced 34 opponents with lower rankings and won 28 of those contests. That's a winning percentage of 82.4%. Between November 11, 2017 and December 7, 2019, Ohio State won 12 consecutive games against lower ranked teams. 

Just to refresh, Michigan faced 12 ranked opponents with lower rankings during the 2010s and won six of those contests (.500). Ohio State had this same scenario 34 times and won 28 games (.824).  

In the end, Michigan had a losing record when facing ranked teams during the 2010s and finished the decade 14-29 (.326). Ohio State finished 37-10 (.787)...or 23 more wins and 19 less losses.

*If needed, we can break this down by when facing a ranked opponent with a higher or lower ranking. Not sure that's necessary, but we can go there.