It’s a long shot although it is certainly possible, but they’d be a 4 seed against Georgia again and I wouldn’t see them giving UGA as much trouble as they did last year.
As far as Michigan rooting interests, a scenario I wouldn’t mind seeing that isn’t all that wild is Georgia and FSU staying undefeated and Oregon winning the PAC 12. That would likely give Michigan Florida State in the semi which would be a pretty favorable matchup.
Parking is a little rough at the stadium. Your best bet, like you said, is arriving early and then trying to find a spot in one of the parking decks downtown is probably the move since you’re not tailgating out of your car and plan to return to town postgame. Not a bad walk, little uphill. Obviously the catch is it’s first come availability so the earlier the better. I’ve had good luck with the HUB deck for past Michigan games, it’s basically in the middle of campus. I’ll be going with a group of 3 and that’s our plan, get in by 7, get breakfast then start wandering around tailgating.
Can they call in a favor from Michael Phelps? This kid wants to be an Olympian and Michigan just had the most successful Olympian of all time as an honorary captain this season, maybe something there.
This is one of the few rational thoughts in this thread. Like you said, strictly from memory but I don't think I'm imagining it, I remember Cade being pretty money on deep shots last year including those deadly flea-flickers. JJ seems like he's been pretty much 0-fer this year and that seems so inexplicable because that wasn't the case for him last year either. That being said, last year Cade never keeping on read options was a limiting factor in the run game and JJ fixes that. None of this is dragging either guy it just is what it's been and, yea, it's been disappointing to keep seeing those shots go long every time. If they could pair hitting one of those occasionally with their run game they'd be even harder to stop, and not for nothing, more fun to watch.
I’m pretty perplexed by Tennessee being left for dead. There are only 4 undefeated teams left. With The Game still to come we’re guaranteed a 1 loss team in the top 4 and Tennessee pretty clearly has the best claim to that spot with wins over Bama and LSU and their only loss being to the #1 defending national champs on the road. If Ohio State loses close, maybe they can sneak in, but I feel like Michigan’s only way in as it sits is to win out and avoid comparing resumes with Tennessee. Of course a TCU loss would open the door back up for a pair of 1 loss teams to be in which could definitely happen. Lots of scenarios but obviously Michigan’s best bet is to beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten. Going to take lots of help if not and all you’ll hear about is that non-con schedule. TCU and Oregon losses would certainly be helpful in the event they can’t get it done in Columbus.
If I had to predict how it goes down right now, I’d say Georgia wins out and locks up #1, winner of Ohio State/Michigan is #2, TCU drops a game and is out which opens the door for 11-1 Tennessee at #3 and then a potential big debate about #4 between Ohio State/Michigan loser and the PAC12 champ depending on how close The Game is and who wins the PAC12.
Biggest key to the game is that it's at home. It seems like things have settled back to normal after the 3 years of trading nearly identical home blowouts from '16-'19 followed by COVID year, but these teams both have more success in this series at home. They're probably close enough that playing this game in Beaver Stadium might be a lean to loss, but in The Big House Michigan should win a competitive game if they can keep the annoying Sean Clifford stuff to a minimum. That's probably up to the linebackers though so it could be uncomfortable for a while.
On a kinda related, kinda unrelated note, is anybody else dumbfounded that Penn State is doing their White Out for the Minnesota game and not the Ohio State game? That atmosphere is worth points, seems like that choice borders on self sabotage. Is it not entirely up to them which game they choose because of TV obligations or what?
The reason those schools are so dominant is coaching, and as we know there is nothing keeping any school from paying a head coach as much money as their little hearts desire. All of these programs, Michigan included, are already paying the person who matters most a boatload of money, so forget about this "narrowing the gap". These kids are still going to want to play for Nick and Dabo. Why? Because they win national championships and put guys in the NFL hand over first.
When Saban retires Alabama will hire Dabo Swinney and the tide will keep on rolling. Those SOBs are set for a long time.
Also, debating Saban's greatness is even dumber than suggesting that Jim Harbaugh's job security isn't ironclad. Saban is one of if not the greatest college coaches of all time, and Jim is staying at Michigan as long as he wants to.
I'm not delusional enough to think I know better than Jim Harbaugh how to run this team, or delusional enough to think we could find a better coach, but yesterday was a new level of perplexing. They were not beaten by a better team, they completely fell apart and blew what looked like it was going to be, and should have been, a comfortable win. Turnovers happen, but what happened yesterday was a string of baffling mistakes that clearly were'nt isolated incidents, it was a teamwide breakdown, collapse, implosion. Call it what you want, but that falls on the coaches, and that's scary. I didn't have the irrational expectations of a CFP appearance this year, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect this team to be able to play a consistent, decent 4 quarters of football in their 13th game of the season and not fall to pieces when momentum shifts. Youth isn't an excuse anymore. This isn't a matter of nitpicking or having to high of expectations.They looked like a straight up Hoke team yesterday, which for the first time made my confidence in this staff waver. What's even scarier is that the O-Line, which is the biggest weak point, will likely be either the same or worse next year with the loss of Mason Cole and no underclassmen tackles clearly poised to step up. That all being said, I do agree with the sentiment of this post. Being a "die hard" fan is bad for your health and mental well being. Be pissed for a minute then shake your head and move on. Quit letting what a group of 18-22 year old kids are doing negatively affect your life so much. Could 2018 be a breakout year? Sure. But, everybody should take this offseason to adjust their expectations in the event that it's just ok.
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Agreed. I’m holding out hope that if Florida State takes care of business and Oregon wins, everyone just slides up 1.
It’s a long shot although it is certainly possible, but they’d be a 4 seed against Georgia again and I wouldn’t see them giving UGA as much trouble as they did last year.
As far as Michigan rooting interests, a scenario I wouldn’t mind seeing that isn’t all that wild is Georgia and FSU staying undefeated and Oregon winning the PAC 12. That would likely give Michigan Florida State in the semi which would be a pretty favorable matchup.
Parking is a little rough at the stadium. Your best bet, like you said, is arriving early and then trying to find a spot in one of the parking decks downtown is probably the move since you’re not tailgating out of your car and plan to return to town postgame. Not a bad walk, little uphill. Obviously the catch is it’s first come availability so the earlier the better. I’ve had good luck with the HUB deck for past Michigan games, it’s basically in the middle of campus. I’ll be going with a group of 3 and that’s our plan, get in by 7, get breakfast then start wandering around tailgating.
Can they call in a favor from Michael Phelps? This kid wants to be an Olympian and Michigan just had the most successful Olympian of all time as an honorary captain this season, maybe something there.
This is one of the few rational thoughts in this thread. Like you said, strictly from memory but I don't think I'm imagining it, I remember Cade being pretty money on deep shots last year including those deadly flea-flickers. JJ seems like he's been pretty much 0-fer this year and that seems so inexplicable because that wasn't the case for him last year either. That being said, last year Cade never keeping on read options was a limiting factor in the run game and JJ fixes that. None of this is dragging either guy it just is what it's been and, yea, it's been disappointing to keep seeing those shots go long every time. If they could pair hitting one of those occasionally with their run game they'd be even harder to stop, and not for nothing, more fun to watch.
I’m pretty perplexed by Tennessee being left for dead. There are only 4 undefeated teams left. With The Game still to come we’re guaranteed a 1 loss team in the top 4 and Tennessee pretty clearly has the best claim to that spot with wins over Bama and LSU and their only loss being to the #1 defending national champs on the road. If Ohio State loses close, maybe they can sneak in, but I feel like Michigan’s only way in as it sits is to win out and avoid comparing resumes with Tennessee. Of course a TCU loss would open the door back up for a pair of 1 loss teams to be in which could definitely happen. Lots of scenarios but obviously Michigan’s best bet is to beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten. Going to take lots of help if not and all you’ll hear about is that non-con schedule. TCU and Oregon losses would certainly be helpful in the event they can’t get it done in Columbus.
If I had to predict how it goes down right now, I’d say Georgia wins out and locks up #1, winner of Ohio State/Michigan is #2, TCU drops a game and is out which opens the door for 11-1 Tennessee at #3 and then a potential big debate about #4 between Ohio State/Michigan loser and the PAC12 champ depending on how close The Game is and who wins the PAC12.
Biggest key to the game is that it's at home. It seems like things have settled back to normal after the 3 years of trading nearly identical home blowouts from '16-'19 followed by COVID year, but these teams both have more success in this series at home. They're probably close enough that playing this game in Beaver Stadium might be a lean to loss, but in The Big House Michigan should win a competitive game if they can keep the annoying Sean Clifford stuff to a minimum. That's probably up to the linebackers though so it could be uncomfortable for a while.
On a kinda related, kinda unrelated note, is anybody else dumbfounded that Penn State is doing their White Out for the Minnesota game and not the Ohio State game? That atmosphere is worth points, seems like that choice borders on self sabotage. Is it not entirely up to them which game they choose because of TV obligations or what?
The reason those schools are so dominant is coaching, and as we know there is nothing keeping any school from paying a head coach as much money as their little hearts desire. All of these programs, Michigan included, are already paying the person who matters most a boatload of money, so forget about this "narrowing the gap". These kids are still going to want to play for Nick and Dabo. Why? Because they win national championships and put guys in the NFL hand over first.
When Saban retires Alabama will hire Dabo Swinney and the tide will keep on rolling. Those SOBs are set for a long time.
Also, debating Saban's greatness is even dumber than suggesting that Jim Harbaugh's job security isn't ironclad. Saban is one of if not the greatest college coaches of all time, and Jim is staying at Michigan as long as he wants to.
I'm not delusional enough to think I know better than Jim Harbaugh how to run this team, or delusional enough to think we could find a better coach, but yesterday was a new level of perplexing. They were not beaten by a better team, they completely fell apart and blew what looked like it was going to be, and should have been, a comfortable win. Turnovers happen, but what happened yesterday was a string of baffling mistakes that clearly were'nt isolated incidents, it was a teamwide breakdown, collapse, implosion. Call it what you want, but that falls on the coaches, and that's scary. I didn't have the irrational expectations of a CFP appearance this year, but I don't think it's unreasonable to expect this team to be able to play a consistent, decent 4 quarters of football in their 13th game of the season and not fall to pieces when momentum shifts. Youth isn't an excuse anymore. This isn't a matter of nitpicking or having to high of expectations.They looked like a straight up Hoke team yesterday, which for the first time made my confidence in this staff waver. What's even scarier is that the O-Line, which is the biggest weak point, will likely be either the same or worse next year with the loss of Mason Cole and no underclassmen tackles clearly poised to step up. That all being said, I do agree with the sentiment of this post. Being a "die hard" fan is bad for your health and mental well being. Be pissed for a minute then shake your head and move on. Quit letting what a group of 18-22 year old kids are doing negatively affect your life so much. Could 2018 be a breakout year? Sure. But, everybody should take this offseason to adjust their expectations in the event that it's just ok.