Rose Bowl

Don't look now, but Sparty is about to put us back in the Legends Division driver's seat.  It's so great to cheer for Sparty, our team having made them inconsequential to the season other than serving Michigan's interest.  They must be terribly conflicted over at RCMB.

Jerry Palm released his 2012-2013 bowl projections that include Michigan (Big Ten Champ) facing Oregon (Pac-12 # 2, USC gets picked for the MNCG).

Obligatory statement about the utter ridiculousness of predicting bowl games before a single game of the season has been played?  Check.

The reason I bring this up (as opposed to other prognosticators) is that last year around this time, he had Michigan in a BCS bowl (the Fiesta) and most people were taken aback at his "silly" (but not so silly looking back on it) faith in Michigan.

And it's not just that he correctly predicted Michigan into a BCS bowl, he also predicted Michigan's losses to MSU and Iowa.

At the very least, it's nice to see us in the conversation for high-profile bowls, championships, etc.  You know, how it should be.

According to the Sport Business Journal we get some insight as to why the B1G was so protective of the Rose Bowl during the playoff negotiations this summer.  (Hint - it wasn't nostalgia or a desire to play in the Granddaddy of Them All.)

The payoff has increased 167% to an average of $80M a year over the 12-year deal beginning in 2015 and ending in 2026.  Link here http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2012/07/16/Colleges/BCS-playoffs.aspx via Kyle Meinke here  http://annarbor.com/sports/um-football/report-rose-bowl-more-than-doubles-revenue-in-latest-espn-deal/?cmpid=mlive-@mlive-wolverines . 

Deals for the Orange and Outback bowls are pending per the SBJ, so we'll see if the Rose Bowl deal is a market-maker.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203604577396102303663334.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Basically it states the best thing about college football is the rose bowl, and a playoff system would make it less special

I agree

Why not just play for the B1G championship then go play against the Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl?  What does UofM really lose?

So Jim Delany is a nut job. This is an e-fact. Apparently his friends in the other conference are also nut jobs (this is not news). His idea of a playoff system includes the Rose Bowl (Pac12 vs. B1G) as a separate game that could theoretically count as a semifinal game. This is a horrible idea even if it benefits the B1G.

This is one of the "finalists" for the "playoff" that FBS football is moving to.  

Jason Kirk runs through scenarios from the past few years. (also contains a link to the proposal) here: http://www.sbnation.com/ncaa-football/2012/4/4/2925390/rose-bowl-college-football-playoffs

I forget how this one ends, but I might put my money on Washington State--that Ryan Leaf looks talented.

Started at 3:30 eastern, runs until 5:30.