Having multiple rivals
December 7th, 2013 at 9:52 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:11 PM ^
but I'm pretty sure they haven't given a shit for the past 24 games.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:53 PM ^
Peyton sure built a boring-ass house.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:54 PM ^
You can't ask for a better opportunity to play against high level competition. We're not where we want to be matchup wise, but just having the opportunity is huge for us.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:54 PM ^
Most popular teams have multiple rivals.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:55 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 9:59 PM ^
December 8th, 2013 at 12:26 AM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:11 PM ^
and the terrorists win...
December 7th, 2013 at 9:55 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 9:55 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 9:58 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 9:58 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 9:56 PM ^
I love playing against those guys, but I don't care about them enough to be intensly focused on their games when we aren't playing. I'm very surprised at how invested in tonight's game Michigan fans seem to be. I just frankly do not care what happens.
Plus, I've moved on to hockey season.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^
Hockey season is too damn long.
December 7th, 2013 at 11:40 PM ^
Hockey always counts
December 7th, 2013 at 9:56 PM ^
No excuses
December 7th, 2013 at 9:57 PM ^
...but every team is going to play just as hard vs. us as they do OSU.
If only WE played everyone as hard as we played OSU.
December 7th, 2013 at 9:57 PM ^
you eventually get hated. I think having more rivalry games is an advantage. It makes it much harder to mail it in - no opportunities to go through the motions. We haven't handled our rivals very well in the past 7-10 years. Our easiest rival ND is going away to find an easier schedule. MSU and OSU have our number over the last 7+ years.
Michigan has to get batter in the trenches and get meaner if they want to strat making these rivalry games true rivalries again.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:00 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 9:59 PM ^
Because teams don't get up to play Alabama....
December 7th, 2013 at 10:00 PM ^
Also with ND exiting we now have 2 rivals we actually play... so less of an excuse. But really this is lame - Iowa, PSU, Wisconsin, NW are not rivals but have given us dogfights and/or beaten us more often than not the past decade.
If we had players who were developed like Wiscy and MSU does (maybe it will happen down the road, but right now it is lacking), combined with a great coaching staff these type of theories would not need to be discussed.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:17 PM ^
That is Spartan thinking...or was for decades. Happy to go 1-11 as long as UM was one win. So you think if we went 3-8 every year but beat those 3 people would not call for firings? If we have fallen that far it is very sad.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^
Tennessee only has 1 major rival - Florida. Tennesse has been bad for a decade. Maybe if they went down to 0 rivals they would do better.
Don't complicate it. When you have better players, and better coaches it doesn't matter. Did it matter in the 70s, 80s and 90s? When UM dominated MSU, played even with ND and more often than not beat OSU.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:36 PM ^
loosed to any one of those teams. Let the program worry about competing, you'll give yourself a headache.
December 8th, 2013 at 9:11 AM ^
So 11-2 is bad now? That's unfortunate. You might never be un-frustrated again.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:18 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:31 PM ^
I knew when I typed that I'd get blowback on their rivalry but thats beside the point. The Spurrier Fulmer rivalry had me thinking that went to the top of the UT rivalry board for about a decade there. I am sure they have other rivals. But the larger point remains. I guess too many rivals has killed UT the past decade whereas too many rivals did not hurt them in the 80s and 90s, etc.
December 7th, 2013 at 11:20 PM ^
Just as a fyi, Georgia's top three rivals are Florida, Auburn, and GT. Tennessee is always a big game, but its more due to the importance of winning the East, not really because of a rivarly.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:24 PM ^
Tennessee's biggest rival is Alabama
December 8th, 2013 at 1:39 PM ^
is a big rivalry. 3rd Saturday in October every year. SEC made a point to keep this game on the schedule when Bama and Tennessee were placed in opposite divisions.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:03 PM ^
Having more than one rival is fun, it's especially comical how pissy it tends to make the one you care less about.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:06 PM ^
Michigan has to equal the hate that they get from all opponents.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:09 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:07 PM ^
I thought they don't count.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:12 PM ^
Not sure why
December 7th, 2013 at 11:31 PM ^
Illinois has hated us for decades. They think Bo sent Gary Moeller there to destroy their football program. It didn't help when we ran up the score on them after Moeller got fired and what irks them the most is that their best basketball team in history lost to us in the final four.
I'm sure it dates back before that but I don't.
Note they voted to send Ohio to the Rose Bowl in 1973.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:14 PM ^
"The leaders and the best"
December 7th, 2013 at 10:18 PM ^
All opponents get up for Michigan in all sports. It is the natural order of things.
December 7th, 2013 at 10:19 PM ^
it wasn't the rivalries so much as winning the B1G. We were going to get everyone's best punch, sure. But we expected to win. Hell, Ohio's entire tradition of those gold pants has to do with the idea that they need to be reminded that we put our pants on one leg at a time. Everyone chases us. . . We never overly concerned ourselves with the rivalries back in the day because we always expected to win. . .
December 7th, 2013 at 10:22 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:24 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:25 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:44 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 10:51 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 11:08 PM ^
December 7th, 2013 at 11:10 PM ^
Frankly if you are good people think of you as a rival - just a few years back, after Wisconsin beat Michigan, Alvarez called it a "program win".
However, if we keep going 8-5, you won't have to worry much anymore.
December 7th, 2013 at 11:11 PM ^