championship game location

Submitted by Thorin on

Soldier Field in December is not my idea of fun (unless they bring back the ski jump). Ford Field seems more likely.

RockinLoud

June 12th, 2010 at 10:26 AM ^

Ha, that's about right as far as football stadiums in Omaha go.  I think the highschool I went to is the biggest football stadium @ 6000 capacity (pretty big considering the one I went to in Mich was only like 500, haha.  But there is a really nice new baseball stadium on the way where the Omaha Nighthawks are going to play.  But no, I think the point of your picture is pretty much accurate when it comes to having the conf. champ. game here.  It would be cool to only have to drive 15 mins to see UM in the game though.

psychomatt

June 11th, 2010 at 8:53 PM ^

I live in Chicago. Great place to watch a game. Open air in the winter (real football). And plenty of nightlife for people in from out of town.

Alternate the game between Chicago and Indy if you need to, but even with that I would be in heaven.

FWIW, they had the hoops tourney at the United Center for several years (currently it is in Indy), so a Chicago-Indy aproach is very possibly the blueprint they would follow.

OHbornUMfan

June 11th, 2010 at 9:07 PM ^

Yes, I'm aware of the zone read.  However, if the offense were based on running and passing was a nice thing to have occasionally, you could make a reasonably strong argument that DRob should've started last year.  DRob should not have started last year. 

When does the Michigan offense struggle frustratingly?  When we don't complete swing passes to the rb's and we don't complete bubble screens or we complete the bubble screens but don't block well or when te's drop passes.

Or, compare board discussions about receivers and board discussions about rb's.  A trillion questions, comments, and answers about outside receivers, slots, and formations to best utilize receiver talent.  There are mere hundreds of thoughts on running backs for next year.

The running game is important, and is maybe the platform upon which everything else is built.  BUT, when Denard came into the game against Big Ten opponents last year, the offense became one-dimensional, predictable, and less potent.  If we can't pass, we can't win.  Play indoors.

psychomatt

June 12th, 2010 at 12:53 AM ^

Any offensive system is going to work better indoors, i.e. where the weather is not a factor. But that was not the question. The question was weather RR's zone read system would put Michigan at a disadvantage vis a vis other B10 teams in a conference championship game played outdoors (specifically, Soldier Field) in December. I don't think it would at all. If anything, being a running-based system, it should put Michigan at an advantage vis a vis teams that are passing-based systems.

And I never said RR's zone read did not require signficant and sophisticated passing component to be effective. But, again, that applies to all systems not just RR's zone read. Any system that is one-dimensional is much easier to defend. To the extent that bad weather makes it harder for Michigan to pass presumably it makes it harder for the other team to pass too. And, for that reason, whichever team is more dependent on the pass is likely to be at a disadvantage. That is all I said.

bronxblue

June 11th, 2010 at 9:06 PM ^

Let it be a rotating game between Indy, Chicago, Detroit, and Minneapolis-St. Paul.  All have either nice local stadiums and/or fun cities to visit.  

MI Expat NY

June 11th, 2010 at 9:11 PM ^

I don't see a problem with playing at Soldier Field.  Big 12 has played their championship games in KC, not much warmer there in early december. 

gobluesasquatch

June 12th, 2010 at 3:20 AM ^

Playing in Cleveland, even though it would be east of most teams in the conference. While domed is nice for corporate fans, I don't think an outdoor cold weather game would affect attendance one bit. If they can sell out Arrowhead for the Big 12 Championship game, the Big 10 would have no problem either.

I'm also not opposed to having on campus championship games. Reward the best team in the conference. Unless Northwestern or Indiana win, is their really a small stadium in the conference? And if either Northwestern or Indiana won, I'm sure that either school could work to host the game at Soldier Field or Lucas Oil. 

Of course, having on campus games might cause some logistical issues unless the conference championship game is two weeks later. But why should the Big Ten just accept the previous models.