Some excerpts from this week’s chat on ESPN.com with college football analyst Ivan Maisel: On USC vs. Michigan and the #2 BCS slot: Anthony (Troy, OH): Who would win in a match-up between Michigan and USC? In your opinion, isn’t it unfair to base rankings on what your ideal National Championship scenario is? I prefer to see what people truly think teams should be ranked. Ivan Maisel: That’s the way the system is supposed to work.
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Buckeyes Prevail in Classic, 42-39
SALINE MICHIGAN Minutes after the end of ‘The Game’, wow, what a game, it seems a blur now. Maybe that’s the impact of a baker’s dozen of Miller Lites. Maybe it’s the after shock of a season that could have been. Perhaps, just perhaps, there’s the air of wonderment around what will play out in the next two weeks in with the 1 loss challengers. Here’s some quick answers to some likely questions: – Did Ohio State deserve to win? Yes. – Did Michigan play like champions? Yes. – Does Michigan look like the 2nd best team in the country? Probably. – Is a rematch out of the question? No way. So here I am, just 30 minutes from the final whistle and while I’m disappointed you have to be proud of how M stood in there, you have to be upset at the late penalty, you have to wonder what could have been. But soon your thoughts turn to what might be. What if the nation thinks Michigan deserves a rematch? What does a close Michigan win in Glendale resolve? Instead of answers on ‘Judgement Day’ or ‘Armaggedon’ or ‘The Game’, we have more questions. At least around who deserves the other spot in the BCS Championship.
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Michigan Football Preview 2006
What you need to know about this squad SALINE, MICHIGAN AUGUST 10, 2006 Expectations are high once again for Michigan. Here’s this season’s look at the upcoming season and this team. – Last Season. Obviously this was ugly, and 2005 will be looked at as the worst season since the early 80s. Michigan could have won every game on the schedule and had significant leads in every game, blowing it five times in losses to Notre Dame, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Ohio State and Nebraska in the Alamo Bowl. And the wins didn’t come easier either, with Michigan winning on the last play of the game against Michigan State in DB13 (OT), Penn State and Iowa (OT). While it is the worst season since I entered the U of M campus in the Fall of 1989, it probably featured the most exciting games. – Sun Belt Refs. Speaking of exciting, the Alamo Bowl all in all was quite a ride. The pathetic crew of referees from the Sun Belt conference that lost control of the game are a running joke in town. Check this out, the Sun Belt conference even produced a full report to rebut the hammering they took in the national media [check it out]. These guys were so clueless. – Last Play of the Season. I captured the diagram…
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Alamo Bowl 2005: Huskers Drop Michigan, Near-Miracle Final Play
Michigan surrendered another double-digit second-half lead and lost the Alamo Bowl to Nebraska 32-28 late last night. The game featured several twists, bad calls, and nearly one of the greatest plays in college football history. No matter how you look at it, this loss was reflective of a sad season that will sting throughout the winter, spring, and summer up until the 2006 Wolverines take the field. If Lloyd Carr doesn’t do something to stop this trend, Pam Ward will be calling Michigan games for ESPN2 next season. Here are the takes on this game: – Final Play. See the diagram above. Listening to the radio in the morning and reading both the Detroit Free Press and News in the morning, you’d think that the final play was not a big deal. ESPN, fortunately, thought otherwise, breaking it down several times after the game and today in between breaks. This really makes this one a bitter pill. After watching it several times on ESPN.com, it looks like Tyler Ecker thought he could turn the corner on the Nebraska defensive back and score. He was pushed out of bounds at about the 14. Stevie Breaston, who played a great game on special teams, was trailing Ecker the whole time begging for the ball. Had Breaston got the ball, M would have…
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Rose Bowl 2005: Texas Tops Michigan
Michigan falls short in classic battle in 2005 Rose Bowl ONEKAMA, MICHIGAN JANUARY 2, 2005 It was at times exciting, at times confusing – but there’s no doubt about it this was a classic. Texas kicked a wobbly, apparently deflected, field goal as last second ticked off to defeat the Wolverines. Certainly if the Wolverines could have put a hand on QB Vince Young, the outcome would have been different. What could have Michigan done better? They didn’t make too many mistakes, but here’s a few points to consider as Michigan comes home: – Stopping those QBs. It was the biggest fear of most fans and analysts coming into the game. Would Michigan be able to stop a mobile quarterback. Not only did Michigan not stop Vince Young, the problem seemed to get worse. Young made the Michigan defense look confused, if not foolish. Ohio State’s Troy Smith, and thankfully for one half, MSU’s Drew Stanton, torched Michigan this year. What is the deal? I thought Michigan had it figured out during the middle of the second half, but no. Big questions remain for the defense and coach Jim Herrmann next year as there’s little doubt that the Big Ten has taken notice. Sports talk radio in Ann Arbor (1050AM WTKA) and Detroit (1130AM WDFN and 1270AM) is calling for…
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Scalping Rose Bowl tickets in the air? Weak
ABOARD NW333, DECEMBER 31, 2003 During my flight to LA, a stewardess paced slowly through the aisles with two Rose Bowl tickets in her hand. She approach my row and I heard her ask if anyone wanted tickets to the game. A lady across my row raised her hand, excited, and the stewardess brought the tickets over. I took off my headphones and asked her what the story was. She said a guy up front was selling the tickets for $200 apiece. Checking out the tickets, I could see that they are in the Michigan section and that they were bought from the ticket office for $140, just like mine. So, someone up in first class just made a cool $120. Weak.
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Rose Bowl Recap 2004: USC Edges Wolverines
Return trip to Pasadena in ’04 yields no win PASADENA, CALIFORNIA JANUARY 2, 2004 Congratulations to the Trojans for handily defeating Michigan during another incredible trip to the Rose Bowl. USC did what they needed to do – they played sound, aggressive offense and went after Michigan’s defensive backs. The Trojan defense forced John Navarre to move around the pocket on big plays and we all know he just doesn’t move and throw well. Going into the game all I wanted Michigan to do was to not defeat themselves as they did at Oregon and Iowa. In hindsight that wasn’t enough as USC went out and beat Michigan. That doesn’t happen very often to the Blue. Hats off to Southern Cal and I’m glad they are getting their piece of the national championship. I’d typically rather watch a Mad About You marathon than watch M get beat, but somehow I survived this one. Pregame & Tailgate Jeff Arch and I left Venice at around 8:30 and made the trek over to Pasadena. This was my fourth Rose Bowl and second time driving (the first two we took the tour bus). As inevitably happens on the way to the game we ended up monkeying around Pasadena and running up against the Rose parade route. I have to give it to the…
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Buckeyes Lose, Yet Still in BCS Championship?
BCS Scenario: Buckeyes Lose to Michigan but still end up in BCS Championship? ALEXANDRIA, VA NOVEMBER 18, 2003 While everyone is crunching all the BCS theories, here’s another one I call “The Luckeye Phenomenon”. Here’s how it goes: Let’s say all the things that have to happen for Michigan to weasel into the BCS championship occur. To repeat, Michigan beats OSU on Saturday, and LSU and USC lose one of their remaining games, and Michigan, as would be expected, gains enough in the computer poll to pass the other 2 loss teams (Texas, Tennessee, and Georgia). Well, as I’m looking at the numbers, under the scenario of events that would seemingly put the Wolverines in the Sugar Bowl, I see a strong possibility that a 2 loss Ohio State, despite losing to Michigan, could still go to the BCS championship game and screw the Blue. Each computer poll loves the Buckeyes, they are ranked #2 in every one except for Jeff Sagarin who has them #3 (good ol’ Hoosier, Jeff). If they lose to Michigan, the Buckeye’s BCS computer average will drop, but by how much? I’d imagine losing to a top 10 team can’t hurt you that much. There is no “justice” in the computer ranking, i.e., the machine won’t automatically drop a defeated opponent behind the victor. Losing…
