Minority POV: anyone tiny bit concerned OSU lost?
So I switched off the OSU game when Samuel put them up 19-7, convinced the game was over at that point, started watching a movie, then promptly fell asleep. Woke up to the shockng news of the PSU win. Now, while I'm always happy for a MSU/OSU loss, in this instance I admit to a little concern/disappointment, for two feelingsball, (not rational reasons I admit) reasons:
1- An undefeated matchup of both us and OSU for the game would be a giant national story, with huge buildup and insane hype. Now, if things stay the same and we're unbeaten and they have one loss that's still a really big game, but a tiny bit less
2- Isn't a one loss OSU team that has already been upset actually a more dangerous team to play at home in the Game than an undefeated OSU team?
I can see the responses to this view already, and they are all legit, no argument. Am I alone in this?
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:41 AM ^
I actually did the exact same thing
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:11 AM ^
I turned it off to watch a different game at that point. After my wife went to bed, I went into the family room. Something told me I should turn it on again. Glad I did.
Years ago I was watching MSU vs ND. MSU was up big. I fell asleep. I woke up later to find out ND won. Two days later, we had "The Rant".
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:53 AM ^
Not at all.
Nope.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:09 AM ^
I'd feel sorry any team that has to play OSU next week.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:21 AM ^
Ohio state wins, but won't blow them out.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:42 AM ^
Whether both teams are undefeated and ranked 2 & 3, or we are ranked #2 and OSU is like #6 or something, it still has the same significance. We must win. It will still be a huge national story with insane hype. Winner goes to B1G title game.
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October 23rd, 2016 at 12:09 PM ^
Buildup for The Game may be diluted, but the chances OSU gets into to the CFP after Michigan beats them in Columbus is severely reduced.
And that is worth something.
October 23rd, 2016 at 4:21 PM ^
Michigan could have joined the short list of schools that have beaten OSU twice in one season.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:42 AM ^
Fuckeyes will be our toughest game of the season irrespective of either of our records.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:56 AM ^
your irrespect for OSU.
Or should it be 'irrespekt'?
October 23rd, 2016 at 11:23 AM ^
Regular season
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:44 AM ^
My lingering ptsd from the end of the Carr years and the dark days tell me that OSU will play lights out and somehow we will get molly whopped in Columbus. Then I realized Jim Harbaugh is our coach.
He won't get his shit pushed in by Urban again 2 years in a row. Michigan will compete and win this year.
The MSU game will be a good indicator of how we deal with rivals and how Harbaugh coaches up players to avenge losses to them.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:52 AM ^
That's an excellent point and one I hadnt thought of until you said it. Lots of post-game chatter on twitter from the Michigan players about the game next week but let's see what happens. By all rights we should absolutely throttle them - we're pissed off and good - they just have the "we can still salvage our season by beating sCUM" card to play. This SHOULD be a bloodbath.
But will it be? We're on the road for our first difficult game away from AA and how will the players respond? If we win easily I will feel a LOT better about the OSU game and our ability to handle very hostile crowds. But if we struggle and win a close game my concern over the game in Columbus (and even Iowa for that matter) will escalate sharply.
Don't forget that back in the 70's & 80's Bo had a couple of fantastic teams have their undefeated seasons derailed by tough losses on the road (Purdue 1976, Iowa 1985) so it's happened before. Hell, it happened once to Harbaugh himself.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:19 AM ^
MSU will barely be a road game. Expect a 50/50 crowd as Michigan fans scoop up all the ticketes that Spartan fans are unloading.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:31 AM ^
It probably won't be 50-50. The Great Spartan Selloff really only got going a couple weeks ago. I could see us being around 30% of the crowd, which is still a really big number for a visiting.
OTOH, by the time OSU visits (Nov. 19) their fans may outnumber MSU fans.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:54 AM ^
Kind of nitpicky here, but that 1985 Iowa team was really good, much better than MSU is this year.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:56 AM ^
Wasn't that a #1 vs. #2 matchup?
October 23rd, 2016 at 4:13 PM ^
Yes.
Like the Sugar Bowl 2 years before it, we hold their star player completely out of the end zone (Bo Jackson for Auburn, Chuck Long for Iowa) and yet we still lose on field goals.
Two of the most frustrating losses in my Michigan lifetime.
I swear, had Bo Schembechler been willling to throw the ball on 3rd and short no more than a half a dozen key times in his career, he would have had multiple National Championships.
October 23rd, 2016 at 11:55 AM ^
Why do people do this? What do losses 30 to 40 years ago have to do with this year's game?
October 23rd, 2016 at 12:26 PM ^
The pain still lingers for those of us of a certain age - part of the pain is how confident we always were we were gonna win those Games, those Bowls... confidence of victory DEFINITELY increases the hurt of loss.
THAT'S why those of us who remember dwell, my friend..........
October 23rd, 2016 at 12:29 PM ^
The Butterfly Effect!
I'm surprised no one has brought up how Basil "the Bulger Slayer" ruled over the Byzantine Empire from AD 976-1025 and how that will affect this game.
Could not be more related in my mind.
October 23rd, 2016 at 12:38 PM ^
True. Basil had a pretty killer ground game.
October 23rd, 2016 at 1:49 PM ^
I'd be shocked if this wasn't a bloodbath. MSU will not be able to stop us and our defense will anihilate the MSU offense. We have an elite defense, and a bunch of very angry men on that defense. That defense is going to do some serious damage. The offense is one of the best offenses we've seen at Michigan in decades. We score 40+ a game (outside of Wisconsin). If we get half that we almost certainly win. Just hang onto the ball and run over these Spartans.
October 23rd, 2016 at 2:03 PM ^
I'm pretty sure MSU isn't ranked in the top 2 nationally this year.
I think you're looking for the 16-0 loss to Minnesota in 1977.
Harbaugh did lose 20-17 to Rickie Foggie at home in 1986 on a 3rd down Foggie scramble that put Minny in range to kick the game winning FG.
October 23rd, 2016 at 4:15 PM ^
Very cold windy day in 1986. Lots of turnovers. The ball was bouncing through the air so much it looked like a volleyball game.
October 23rd, 2016 at 3:47 PM ^
...and Rutgers wasn't?
I was going to look at comparative scores but, bizarrely since they're in the same half-conference, they still don't have any common opponents. But Rutgers is 2-6 against the #34 schedule in the country (Massey) and MSU is 2-5 against the #27 schedule in the country. Each is 0-5 in the conference; Rutgers has had two close games in the conference (#35 Iowa, #40 Minnesota) and MSU has just the one vs. # 65 Indiana.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:43 AM ^
next week, I'd be more worried...that's Northwestern's problem now...
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:47 AM ^
combining how OSU has looked in the last 2 weeks, with how Northwestern has looked the past 2 weeks.
There is now more than a 0% chance that OSU could lose again.
Doubtful of course, but more likely than it was a few days ago.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:43 AM ^
My concern is that OSU's loss eliminates the already very small chance that Michigan makes the playoffs even if they lose to OSU.
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October 23rd, 2016 at 9:46 AM ^
I thought of it the other way. This loss eliminated the possibility that they could still get into the playoffs after we beat them and we'd have to face them twice. Had we both been undefeated and that game came down to the final play and we won, they'd be the first team in line to sneak back into the playoffs if something weird happened at the end in college football.
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October 23rd, 2016 at 1:14 PM ^
The thing nobody is thinking about: It's possible, albeit unlikely, Ohio State loses again BEFORE The Game. This would mean that even if Michigan lost to OSU, we could still win the Big Ten.
I think a 12-1 Michigan team that loses a close game in Columbus and bounces back against a top ten Wisconsin (or maybe Nebraska) is still in 9 times out of 10.
But yesterday elminated the chance of a non Big Ten winning team making the playoff, whether it's Michigan or Ohio State.
October 23rd, 2016 at 2:11 PM ^
The only way a non-conference champion is getting in is if upset(s) occur in conference championship games and it's indisputable that the resulting "champions" do not belong in the CFP. (E.g., if USC or Florida had won their conference championship games after entering it from a weak division.)
This year, even without a CCG, the Big 12 "champ" might be indisputably unqualified to participate in Larry Culpepper's tournament.
October 23rd, 2016 at 4:18 PM ^
A one-loss Big Ten champ is in unless all four of the reamining P5 champs are undefeated. It could happen, but it's not likely.
October 23rd, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
A close loss at OSU is still nearly the same thing if OSU has one loss. I think the only way we were getting in with that loss was if we had some impressive wins. We needed Colorado and Wisconsin to finish strong. Now we could throw PSU into that mix.
Another wildcard is the CCG. What happens if a 3 loss team from the West beats OSU? We'd be the only Big Ten team with a chance.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:43 AM ^
Their loss last year was bad because that team was actually more talented than their NC team, they just were sleep walking through their schedule. That loss woke them up and they took it out on us and Notre Dame with the power of 12?14? NFL draft picks.
This year they just don't have it (which by Urban Meyer standards means 11-2 or 10-3). They're a young team with weaknesses. His system and sheer talent will still get them to double digit wins, and The Game will be a battle. However, we are the better team than they are this year.
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October 23rd, 2016 at 10:17 AM ^
Shocked is more like it. OSU is a better team than how they appeared last night; but not as good as last year.
What matters is we are now competitive with the best teams in the country.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:45 AM ^
this year, but I don't think they have been improving much as of late. Michigan is continuing to get better week by week. Right now, I think we are the better team.
It will still be a difficult game.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:44 AM ^
A battle of 11-0 teams would've been epic, and the center of the college football universe would be on us, but I just enjoy seeing Ohio State lose whenever, because unfortunately it's too few and far between.
It will be as dangerous as always. Probably more so now because they will want to screw us out of playoff contention more than ever.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:06 AM ^
I'm with you. My head wanted a battle of undefeateds. My heart rejoices in OSU going down.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:45 AM ^
Both MSU and OSU will be up and ready for games when we play regardless of schedules or locations. With a young OSU team, not sure this will have the same effect losing to MSU had last year for OSU....ala waking them up and getting them focused.
With Meyer they are going to fix issues I would assume, but it might create some tension in a young team, where I think last years team just assumed they would be able to walk to the NC and be able to turn it on anytime they wanted too.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:45 AM ^
yes. College football teams generally seem to play better when there is less pressure on them.
Last year in particular, many of us thought OSU losing to MSU contributed to them playing their best game of the year against Michigan. Different year though, and OSU will still have plenty of pressure and expectations on them when they play Michigan at home, as well as a lot of physical pressure from Michigan's outstanding defense.
October 23rd, 2016 at 9:48 AM ^
Now we have a second path to the B1G title game and playoff. If OSU loses to Nebraska in two weeks, we could still lose to Ohio and make the conference championship game. And beating Nebraska in said game should get us to the playoffs with one loss.
First goal is beat Ohio. But now there's a conceivable back-up plan.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:00 AM ^
I'd be perfectly happy to see Nebraska beat OSU, though I don't think they will. Nebraska would be a very soft opponent in the conference championship game, much easier to beat than Wisconsin. They are probably the weakest undefeated team in the country.
October 23rd, 2016 at 10:12 AM ^
is the least impressive undefeated team in the nation so far. They have had difficulty putting away sub-.500 teams.
Still, as was saw last night, anything can happen.
October 23rd, 2016 at 11:17 AM ^
I agree, except I'm not sure Baylor is all that far behind in terms of unimpressive undefeated teams.
October 23rd, 2016 at 12:14 PM ^
Baylor-Nebraska should be a bowl game this year.
October 23rd, 2016 at 11:48 AM ^
But on a neutral field in the BT championship, I'd like us by 2-3 touchdowns, and I wouldn't bet against more. Wisconsin would be a much tougher matchup-not a team I would relish playing again.
October 23rd, 2016 at 12:16 PM ^
When I said 'anything can happen' I meant that Nebraska could beat OSU in Columbus. Not likley. But anything can happen.
October 23rd, 2016 at 4:20 PM ^
Nebraska is going to lose by double digits to Wisconsin this week.
They are not beating OSU in Columbus.