The Michigan Wolverines will start the college football season as the No. 2 team in the nation and they have high hopes of making a run at the national championship. They are a team that has a number of star players, including running back Blake Corum, wide receiver Cornelius Johnson, defensive tackle Kris Jenkins and quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

McCarthy may have an excellent chance to contend for the Heisman Trophy this season after completing 208 of 322 passes for 2,719 yards with 22 touchdowns and 5 interceptions last season, but he was not named one of Michigan's team co-captains.

Instead, Corum, Jenkins, Mike Sainristil, Zak Zinter, Trevor Keegan and Mike Barrett will serve as co-captains for the Wolverines.

Since McCarthy was so instrumental in Michigan's 13-1 season, it seemed quite likely that he would have been named one of the captains. However, there is nothing nefarious about the reason that McCarthy was not given the honor. All of the players named as captains are seniors for the Wolverines, while McCarthy is a junior.

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Zinter explained McCarthy's status. “J.J. wasn’t eligible to be a captain,”  Zinter said. “So, it’s only a seniors, fifth-year, sixth-year guys. So he wasn’t on the ballot this year. But he’s definitely one of the biggest leaders on our team. He knows that and we know that and he’s just as much leader as any of us.”

Zinter offered the explanation because he thought Michigan rivals might suggest that there was something questionable about J.J. McCarthy's leadership, and that's why he did not get the honor. While Zinter answered the question, it would not be a surprise if the issue was raised from time to time during the regular season.