Charmin like schedule? If you recall Michigan was thumped by Oregon who is currently 5th in the BCS standings and when the Wolverines beat Penn State (6-2) and Purdue (6-2) both were ranked in the top 25 and both the Illini and Northwestern (both 5-3) were just outside the top 25 when the wolverines beat them. So although they came out of the blocks stumbling, they seem to have turned the ship around somewhat...With the Spatans and on the Buckeye still looming they may stumble in one or both of those games. However, at one point folks were predicting a just a break even season, no bowl appearance and new coaching next season. Reputation and tradition is part of the issue though. In a poll taken last Wednesday, no one believed that then second ranked S. Florida would play in the BCS championship game and Hawaii, which is undefeated at 7-0 is only ranked 17th in the BCS.
Fair enough. My beef with the whole thing is that the whole structure of the BCS is more like the communist stock market. In any stock market, it is more about expectation (and/or reputation) than performance, yet in the BCS, the big schools protect themselves by not competing honestly with everyone on a level "playing field" (no pun intended). Protectionist-like practices that have been legitimized by years of big money. Exactamundo!!!
I thought that scheduling Oregon and ND was pretty daring. ND turned out to be horrible, but that wasn't the case in previous years. The easy part of the schedule is that they have had so many home games to start out with. Still, some quality wins.
This whole ranking system is not worth the paper its printed on. BCS is calculated using some complex formula. But the strength of the schedule is still based on rankings.
Pretty much every ranking system has flaws. The worst is Olympic figure skating. Even David Letterman's top 10 lists can be debated.
I get so angry when the Figure Skating judges are biased! The Wolverines have a chance to make this a great season. The offense is really coming around...the defense is suspect.
The question now remains. Where will Michigan be ranked if they run the table? Top ten..........maybe top 5.......if enough top teams lose.
Well if they run the table and it includes knocking off the Buckeyes if they are still # 1, then definitely top 10, but I am not sure about top 5.... There should still be at least 5 one lost teams in the mix to keep Michigan at bay..
Michigan wins again and is now 7-2. I like the 7 wins in a row. Great game as we dominated the offensive stats. Something like 560 yards to 230 yards of offense. Glad to see we could win convincingly without Hart nad Henne. Do we play anybody good next weekend? Wait, we play MSU. I wonder if their annual collapse will continue.
It can't continue. It's complete. You've got this one. No sweat. Enjoy. MSU will try to keep it close so they can feel real good about themselves. "Hey, with a couple big plays and twenty more points we could be an 8-0 team...blah blah blah." U of M is playing really well, but they are beating crappy teams. They won't play a good team until their bowl game...which typically exposes them as just another pretender.
I really don't see us beating OSU. That's sad since they've had our number over the last half-dozen years. With 3 losses (or more) I think this bowl season, UM will see a beatable team. Being in BCS bowls the last 4-5 seasons has been tough since the opponents are quality. We really are a pretender right now when it comes to a national championship. I figure if we win out and beat OSU, there are still 6-8 teams better than us. Right now, being ranked 19th is about right. I just wish that MSU could end their streak of collapses.
Nice article about Mike Hart in the New York Times...... This is the type of person who SHOULD win the Heisman......... http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/03/sports/ncaafootball/03hart.html?ref=sports
Talking about a comeback??? The Spartans played well enough to win this one, but a gutsy performance by Henne, some nice sideline play callin by the coaches and nice game winning catch/leap by Manningham keep the Michigan faithful happy for more week and leaviing suffering Spartan fans going home thinking...we'll get you come hoops time
Loss No. 2 should be next week. At least they won't be overconfident vs. Ohio State. Hopefully, a loss at home against Ohio State will seal Lloyd's fate. UM needs to move in another direction. It's painfully obvious, even to non-UM fans.
I posted this "rumor" over on detnews, but thought it was funny enough to re-post over here: The UM athletic department is in negotiations right now to have the Wolverines play in a new bowl game called the Retribution Bowl (in case they don't beat the Buckeyes next week). The game would pit the Maize and Blue in a rematch with Appalachian State. There has been an impasse in the negotiations, however, as bowl officials want to give Michigan a 7-point "head start" in the game. This would give the folks in Boone, NC, a more exciting game, bowl officials reason. UM AD Bill "Quick Trigger" Martin thinks the 7-point advantage is an insult and is pushing for 14 points. There will be no payout, and the game will only be televised locally in Boone, NC. Sponsors include Glenda's Lost Luggage Store ("If you lost it, we're selling it") and Henchmen's Auto Repair ("When you ask how much the bill is, we ask you how much you got - and then pull out a gun"). Stay tuned for further updates.
