cincibuck
You kids stay off my lawn!
I'm wondering if it isn't time to think about moving the Michigan game.
My thinking is simple, I can recall more than one instance when a late loss to Michigan cost us dearly in the polls and in terms of which bowl we went to. In 1996 -7 it even cost us a National Championship. If we had lost the Michigan game earlier in the season we would have had time to pull our selves back up in the polls to the point where playing ASU could have been the NC game. Miami had lost a game earlier in the season to a lesser opponent (North Carolina!) and yet was able to re-surface to the number two slot in the polls. Michigan seems to have fared better in this situation... if you can ignore getting shut out of the Rose Bowl following a 10 - 10 tie with OSU in Ann Arbor, but they've gotten the short end of the stick due to a late loss to us also.
Much as I love the tradition of the last game, I think there are lots of reasons to let it float through the schedule.
"But what about all the other rival games that weekend? (I hear you ask)"
Might be welcome news to some other schools who'd like to get on the national network with their big rivalry games. Purdue - Indiana has to settle for private outlets and 30 seconds of highlights at half-time of The Game. Same - same Illinois - Northwestern, Minnie and Wisky...
might also be a time to ask why we get stuck with Penn State EVERY year, while they float off of Michigan's schedule. That means we are always playing two of the three best programs (say what you will about the last few years, but with all that tradition and the second biggest stadium in the conference PSU is going to be tough) in the conference every year.. Whadaya think?
My thinking is simple, I can recall more than one instance when a late loss to Michigan cost us dearly in the polls and in terms of which bowl we went to. In 1996 -7 it even cost us a National Championship. If we had lost the Michigan game earlier in the season we would have had time to pull our selves back up in the polls to the point where playing ASU could have been the NC game. Miami had lost a game earlier in the season to a lesser opponent (North Carolina!) and yet was able to re-surface to the number two slot in the polls. Michigan seems to have fared better in this situation... if you can ignore getting shut out of the Rose Bowl following a 10 - 10 tie with OSU in Ann Arbor, but they've gotten the short end of the stick due to a late loss to us also.
Much as I love the tradition of the last game, I think there are lots of reasons to let it float through the schedule.
"But what about all the other rival games that weekend? (I hear you ask)"
Might be welcome news to some other schools who'd like to get on the national network with their big rivalry games. Purdue - Indiana has to settle for private outlets and 30 seconds of highlights at half-time of The Game. Same - same Illinois - Northwestern, Minnie and Wisky...
might also be a time to ask why we get stuck with Penn State EVERY year, while they float off of Michigan's schedule. That means we are always playing two of the three best programs (say what you will about the last few years, but with all that tradition and the second biggest stadium in the conference PSU is going to be tough) in the conference every year.. Whadaya think?
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