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

M-Dog

December 5th, 2016 at 12:31 AM ^

We screamed bloody murder when Brandon indicated he was OK with moving it to October when the Big Ten went to 2 divisions.

Even that tone-deaf asshole had to listen to an uproar that intense.  Same thing happned down at Ohio State with their fans and their AD.

It should always be the last game of the regular season.

 

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elhead

December 4th, 2016 at 6:16 PM ^

I pity this team that will have to play us with all of our folks healed up and with nearly a month of preparation... Will be great to beat up on another Florida team!



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Amaznbluedoc

December 4th, 2016 at 6:17 PM ^

Sort of knew this was coming but it just blows.  We can quibble with the ranking and while I understand why PSU was ranked higher, we beat both teams in the B10 championship and schooled PSU.  When one looks at the overall stats - we're #1 in defense in the country and 12th in pts/game - it's hard to reconcile playing FSU.

Go Blue!

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DoubleB

December 5th, 2016 at 1:08 AM ^

and could not have been more unimpressed with either of those teams. I like Washington's defense and they certainly ran the ball well, but Jake Browning played and looked like complete dogshit. The two best defenses he faced made him look bad and Alabama is a step above USC and Colorado.

MacIntyre should get coach of the decade for getting that team to 10 wins. He should also get fired for playing his son who should be playing D-III ball.

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IMB87

December 4th, 2016 at 8:07 PM ^

I'm excited by this matchup. FSU had an 11 year bowl game win streak between 1985 and 1996. They have pretty consistent highly ranked recruiting classes. This is a great opportunity to make a strong impression in Florida (more so than against Florida last year).



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Clarence Beeks

December 4th, 2016 at 8:45 PM ^

Decently neutral. Tallahassee is a LONG way from Miami (yes, there are FSU fans everywhere in Florida and they travel, but a lot less of them end up in South Florida - definitely more neutral than last year). For perspective, State College is closer to Ann Arbor than Tallahassee is to Sunrise, FL...



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Richard75

December 5th, 2016 at 10:58 AM ^

Beeks is right. When Penn State played FSU in the Orange 10 years ago, the crowd was pro-PSU. There's a post on Black Shoe Diaries about it.

Have to remember that Miami is Gators/Canes country. The locals won't be for the Noles. Add in the distance (Tallahassee is more of a flight than a drive) and Michigan's reach and you'll probably get a crowd that's split or even slightly in our favor.



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ghostofhoke

December 4th, 2016 at 11:36 PM ^

A showcase game in FL for our program is a very, very good thing. Especially as we start to get attention from the level of recruits that FSU has been bringing in. Getting a solid win against the Noles will be good visibility for us moving forward. Shutting down Dalvin Cook and sacking Francois 6X would be a nice exclamation point on the season as well. Lots of UM faithful in south FL, there is no reason at all to look down your nose at this game. If nothing else it will leave the guys hungry to not leave their fate in the hands of others next year and take care of all the business on the field. Onward.



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Chitown Kev

December 4th, 2016 at 11:39 PM ^

Since 2 teams will lose in the CFP and I think that Penn State wl get rocked by USC, it would be nice to throttle the 'Noles and to have a Top 5 finish.

Probably won't be Top 5 next year but in 2018-19...those will be special years

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M-Dog

December 5th, 2016 at 12:39 AM ^

If all goes to chalk - we win, PSU loses, UW loses in the first round, Clemson loses in the first round, OSU loses in the title game - we could finish ranked third in the country.

That's pretty ironic . . . we're only third in the Big Ten East division, yet we're third in the entire country.

 

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Wal-Mart Wolverine

December 4th, 2016 at 11:39 PM ^

Whom in our OL is going to step up and block the stud DE DeMarcus Walker ? I sure hope this isn't going to be a long day for Speight. Go Blue !

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youn2948

December 5th, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^

Humiliate them so badly that Jimbo Fisher applies for the LSU job and the Seminole tribe sues the school for embarrassing their likeness and demands they change it and they get to open casinos on FSU campus.

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fishTheHuron

December 5th, 2016 at 10:48 AM ^

No disresepct to all the folks who are trying to talk down FSU's presence in South Florida, but the idea that this isn't a home game for the Noles is patently false. I grew up down there and can assure you that FSU's alumni/fan presence in SoFla is extremely strong. I went to the 2013 Orange Bowl and the stadium was almost completely sold out and full of Nole fans -  and that was for a game that none of those fans wanted to see (why would you want to pay money to see them play NIU?). Joe Robbie stadium is in west Broward County, not Dade. West Broward is a swamp. Rednecks live in swamps. I can assure you that there are far more FSU fans in South Florida's horse country than Cane fans. This is not South Beach.

 Point being that this game is only going to be made tougher by unfriendly territory. 

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