Official bowl speculation / "How tan will I get this Christmas?" thread

Submitted by turd ferguson on

I'm not sure about a lot of this, but I thought that I'd start a thread to collect some news, speculation, and opinions.

Here's what's extremely likely: we'll play an SEC team in either the Outback Bowl or Gator Bowl.  With Nebraska losing, we're ineligible for the Capital One Bowl, since we have two fewer wins than Nebraska.  So either Nebraska or Northwestern will go to the Capital One. 

Then the Outback Bowl picks.  They'll choose between Michigan and whichever of Nebraska and Northwestern doesn't go to the Capital One Bowl.  If the Capital One picks Northwestern, the Outback has to pick Nebraska.  Then the Gator Bowl chooses, and they'll almost certainly pick whichever of the three is left.

Long story short: we're going to either the Outback (Tampa, Jan 1, vs. SEC #3/4) or Gator (Jacksonville, Jan 1, vs. SEC #6).

That means that we're playing an SEC team.  If you believe some reporting out there by the Atlanta Journal Constitution and Shreveport Times (links below), the SEC bowl picture seems to be clarifying.  It sounds like the Capital One will probably take Texas A&M (maybe for an old Big 12 battle vs. Nebraska).  They probably also like that they'll get the likely Heisman winner.

The Shreveport Times then says this:

The Outback Bowl in Tampa, Fla., is next, and it is strongly in favor of taking No. 10 South Carolina (10-2). A logical place for the Gamecocks could be the Chick-fil-A Bowl, but that bowl is locked into No. 14 Clemson (10-2) as an opponent. And the SEC does not want a South Carolina-Clemson rematch after those two just played on Nov. 24.

Most projections I've seen have Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

So if you believe what's above and that the Big Ten is more unsettled than the SEC, we're most likely looking at South Carolina in the Outback Bowl or Mississippi State in the Gator Bowl.

 

Worth noting ----- It's very possible that all of this is wrong or premature.

 

http://blogs.ajc.com/uga-sports-blog/2012/12/01/notebook-nick-saban-bel…

http://www.shreveporttimes.com/article/20121201/SPORTS0202/121201015/Gl…

CoachBuczekFHS

December 2nd, 2012 at 3:13 AM ^

Why even bother posting or reading, or being interested in Michigan football if you're going to automatically declare a match-up against SC a loss? It's a football game and anything can happen. We could beat SC. It's a good thing you aren't a coach. I can't believe the pessimistic fans on this site sometimes. 

Lazer with a Z

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:25 AM ^

 

You are right, but I'd still like to whip that ass. You know, just to remind them who we are. 

Also, wouldn't it be fitting to use that game as a way to close the door on that subject for good ?(as if anything ever could?)

MGoSteelers

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:10 AM ^

I hope you're right about the Heisman but it wouldn't surprise me in the least if it went to Te'o.  Too good of a player, too good of a person, too good of a story, and he's on a NCG team to top it all off.

UMICH1606

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:19 AM ^

There seems to be conflicting information on whether we are able to be selected by the Capital One Bowl. Some are saying that Capital One is tweeting that Michigan is still in play because the contract is within one win OR loss.

turd ferguson

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:23 AM ^

We aren't eligible for the Capital One Bowl.  The rules are pretty clear, and on top of that, the Capital One Bowl has said so via its Twitter account (after a misleading tweet suggesting the opposite).  Adam Rittenberg wrote something about this and the Capital One Bowl confirmed that what he says here is correct.

http://espn.go.com/blog/bigten/post/_/id/66327/clarifying-capital-one-o…

We're not going to the Capital One.

Wolverine Devotee

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:25 AM ^

mississippi state looks average this year. They got humiliated on the road at ole miss and beat troy by 6.

Give me vanderbilt, and we shall beat them by 20 but lead 13-7 at half with a chorus of boos raining down from the stands ala 2006 season opener. 

Brick

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:22 AM ^

So if we played Midwest Regional State instead of Alabama we could have been going to the Capital One bowl? That 2 loss rule is BS. Northwestern is rewarded for playing a crap out of conference schedule. This is just one more reason teams schedule non conference pushovers.

Perkis-Size Me

December 2nd, 2012 at 1:11 AM ^

Bowl selection committees will always pick Michigan over Northwestern if they have the option. We're a powerful brand name. We put asses in the seats. Northwestern doesn't. Northwestern home games are glorified high school games. Most people at the school couldn't care less about the football program.

michfan6060

December 2nd, 2012 at 1:00 AM ^

Actually Northwestern had some of the Big Ten's only out of conference wins against BCS teams. They had 3 wins against Syracuse, BC, and Vandy. Obviously not powerhouses, but 2 of them are playing in bowl games.

snarling wolverine

December 2nd, 2012 at 1:12 AM ^

Northwestern is not going to get picked over us.  Their overall record is only one game better, so we're eligible to go over them (though not Nebraska).  Our fanbase is much larger and any bowl will choose us first.  The teams that will be slotted below NW will all be 7-5 or 6-6.

 

Brodie

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:30 AM ^

I have a feeling we'll be playing the Cockz which is scary because holy shit our o-line holy shit

would happily play Mississippi State again since it's not like there's really any more "prestige" to the effing Outback Steakhouse Bowl and we can actually beat the Bulldogs. 

coastal blue

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:34 AM ^

We are going to get the Outback Bowl against one of South Carolina/Texas A&M/LSU/Georgia. 

I hope we can send the seniors out with a big win against a high-quality SEC team, but things don't look good. 

One Inch Woody…

December 2nd, 2012 at 12:52 AM ^

This is what I've got so far:

Relevant Bowls:

  • Rose: Wisconsin vs. Stanford (Given Wisco's performance tonight + more time to get used to their coaching staff changes + Joel Stave returning, I'll give it a push)
  • Fiesta: KSU vs. Oregon  (What was to be the NCG.. Oregon dominates)
  • Sugar: Florida vs. Oklahoma (Push, if Landry Jones decides to show up)
  • Capital One: Nebraska vs. Georgia (Nebraska will get crushed.)
  • Cotton: Texas vs. Texas A&M (Good old rivalry game)
  • Outback: Michigan vs. South Carolina (Will be a good game)
  • Chick-Fil-A: LSU vs. Clemson (lolACC)
  • Alamo: Oklahoma State vs. Oregon State (OSU wins.)
  • Gator: Northwestern vs. Miss State (Honestly NW could pull this out)
  • BWW Bowl: A BAD TCU squad vs. Michigan State (Staee wins)
  • Meineke Car Care: Baylor (yikes!) vs. Purdue (Baylor kills Purdue)
  • Heart of Dallas: Iowa State vs. Minnesota (Minnesota gets the win)

Big 10 record: 4-3 (Win: Wisconsin, Northwestern, Michigan State, Minnesota. Loss: Nebraska, Michigan, and Purdue). 

EDIT: 

Without any sanctions, we could have been looking at something like this:

  • NCG: Ohio vs. ND (W)
  • Capital One: Nebraska vs. Georgia (L)
  • Outback: Michigan vs. South Carolina (L)
  • Gator: Penn State vs. Miss State (W)
  • BWW Bowl: Wisconsin vs. TCU (W)
  • Meineke Car Care: Northwestern vs. Baylor (L)
  • Heart of Dallas: Michigan State vs. Iowa State (W)
  • Pizza Bowl: Minnesota vs. Northern Illinois (L)