2016 orange bowl

Michigan Gets Orange Bowl Bid, Will Face Florida State Comment Count

Brian

Florida Florida St Football (14)

Zero surprise here once the championship games fell the way they did. Game is on the 30th, not the 1st, since the 1st is a Sunday this year; it's at 8 PM at whatever they're calling the place the Dolphins and Hurricanes play this week.

FSU is 9-3, 5-3 in the ACC, with wins over Ole Miss (which had a terrible record but was still top 20 to advanced metrics, USF (10-2), Florida, and Miami. They lost to Clemson and UNC narrowly, and Louisville somewhat less narrowly.

S&P+ has them 9th in the country, with the #6 offense and #18 D. An adjusted sack rate of 85th projects to be a problem for the FSU offense against Michigan. On the other hand, monster DE DeMarcus Walker and his 15 sacks rather loom on the other side of the ball. S&P+ has Michigan a 12-point favorite on a neutral field; dunno how neutral the Orange Bowl is given this context. 

Comments

schreibee

December 4th, 2016 at 5:28 PM ^

OK, so first I was gonna reply "Huh? I don't get it?"

Then I thought, Oh wait, is there a future schedule tab up there somewhere? Yup, there it is. Let's see, who do we play in 2017? Ah, Florida Gators are our first opponent - so yeah, beat the next two teams we play from Florida!

+And then I'm thinking  "Next two teams from Florida?! Hell, let's beat EVERY team from Fla EVERY time!

Lemonade Bowl here we come! 

Joined: 11/02/2009

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mtzlblk

December 5th, 2016 at 11:39 AM ^

but it was spring break '89 and we went all the way to Key West.

 

In my defense it was a long time ago and besides whoever was behind the wheel, we ignored any open container laws and started the festivities around Ohio, so things are blurry. 

Point still stands on drive vs. flight though. 

 

Joined: 01/20/2009

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TrueBlue2003

December 5th, 2016 at 1:19 PM ^

four times as many top ten teams as both of those teams combined. Much easier to not lose games when you don't play great teams.

We're a lot better than Washington.  Clemson is closer.  But UM, Clemson and OSU are pretty close.  One could easily make the argument that we're better than both.

Joined: 01/05/2010

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anywaytodelete…

December 4th, 2016 at 5:26 PM ^

are you confident about any of the teams in the CFP besides Alabama?  This year everyone seems to have some pretty ugly warts.  Hard to view OSU or Clemson as truly deserving. Washington is a big unknown because of their schedule.

I  expect OSU to beat Clemson, possibly handily, but have no idea if/how they'll hold up against Alabama.  Given the way Michigan shut OSU down, hard to believe that Alabama won't perform similarly, if not better.

Of the teams NOT in the CFP, you can certainly make an argument that there are a few other teams that might be able to beat Alabama and certainly should be competitive with the other 3.  Everyone's bemoaned Michigan's late season offensive problems, but there's not question they could beat OSU, Clemson, and Washington and might make a game against Alabama a better contest than any of the three.  If you want to throw in Penn St. and USC, fine.  After that, find an 8th team (Oklahoma?  I have no idea), and I think you've got a fairer, more interesting CFP.

The point is not that there are teams who were left out that obviously deserve to be in the top 4, it's that it's unclear that 3 of 4 in really deserve to be there either.

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TrueBlue2003

December 5th, 2016 at 1:32 PM ^

individual.  The giddy Harbaugh-can-do-nothing-wrong crowd is just more vocal when the going is good. Let's call them the optimists. They quiet down when the going isn't so good which is when the sky-is-falling pessimist crowd comes out from under the bridges.  I don't think there are many individuals on here that go through those actual swings personally.

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burtcomma

December 5th, 2016 at 5:57 AM ^

QB and O-line were known to be our question marks this year, and they showed themselves at Iowa and at OSU. Tough to lose 2 games by a total of 4 points, but in year 2 of Harbaugh with 1 real recruiting class we are making huge strides. Let's see how those 2016 guys play as they fill in the holes in 2017.

Joined: 11/01/2009

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jdon

December 4th, 2016 at 4:24 PM ^

you guys are pathetic.

Are you really paralyzed by the screw job at OSU?  There is nothing to be done about it except go out and smash FSU. 

 

Can I just say that I am tired of the whining and complaining on this site the last 4 or 5 days? 

Steel the spine suckers!

Joined: 09/28/2009

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Wolvie3758

December 4th, 2016 at 6:00 PM ^

How many times this weekend did we hear one analyst or another say that Michigan was one of the top 4 in the country...BUT not one of the deserving...I thought the whole point of the CFP was going to be the top 4 regardless...AND that SOS who you played and who you beat mattered...then we get Washington....the whole thing is a failure just like before...If 3 of the top 4 are from one conference so be it but have to be PC and so therefore were not in....

 

The ONLY thing that will work is a bigger playoff like 16 teams..If every ther division and High School can do it SO CAN DIV 1

 

This system falls into all the other failed attempts...

Joined: 12/12/2010

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Carcajou

December 4th, 2016 at 10:02 PM ^

I doubt the playoff could ever go beyond 8. Somebody was going to be left out, and it was bound to Michigan. When we couldn't finish against Iowa and OSU, our fate was sealed.

Wouldn't have minded quite as much if OSU had also been left out, too, though.

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