Rooting Interests?
Obviously we want everyone above us or near us in the rankings to lose a game. Even Alabama, if they lose to Auburn next week that means the SEC title game loser is guaranteed to have 2 losses and then behind a hypothetical 12-1 Michigan BigTen Champion.
However, do we cheer for past opponents to win in case the committee considers having someone like Georgia or Oklahoma leapfrog us?
-If MSU wins today against Nebraska they will likely finish 8-4 (last game is vs Rutgers). If MSU is 8-4 they likely re-emerge into the Top-25 giving us a quality road win. However, MSU falling today and hitting 6-5 could take more shine off of Dantonio's luster. What is better for our program?
-#10 OSU at Maryland? The same. An OSU win means that they would likely still be top 15 if we beat them and they are 10-2 when the committee selects teams. However, it would be nice to see Meyer start to crack a bit.
-#22 Northwestern beating Minnesota seems like it can only help us as they are the West winner anyways and we need them entering that game 8-4 and possibly in the top 20.
Do we cheer for MSU and OSU to pad our resume or against our rivals as they are showing potential cracks.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:31 AM ^
May OSU and MSU lose every game every day in every way
November 17th, 2018 at 8:34 AM ^
forever and ever, amen.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:32 AM ^
Peace be with you
November 17th, 2018 at 8:34 AM ^
When they play each other it is literally one of my favorite games of the year. It is so because one of them will lose and that is always glorious.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:54 AM ^
Yeah, that game was gloriously horrible in person this year.
I actually divo'd the first hour of our game so that I could go watch both teams implode. I probably had about 10 sets of "stae" fans tell me impromptu that they were rooting for MSU to lose so that Michigan wouldn't be put in the B1G championship. (I'm sorry, like, am I supposed to be upset as a Michigan fan that you are telling me you hope your state team loses? okay...)
November 17th, 2018 at 10:17 AM ^
And they get upset with the moniker, "little brother".
November 17th, 2018 at 10:48 AM ^
What makes that the best logic is state losing didn't knock Michigan out of the championship, which they act like it did.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:04 AM ^
With targeting.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:32 AM ^
If UM wins and OSU loses, UM clinches the B1G East. That is a good thing.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:44 AM ^
I do not like rooting for teams to lose. I believe that MSU and OSU wins or losses will have little impact on Michigan relative to the CFP. That being said, personally, I would be happy for both of these ethically challenged programs to lose. Here, it's too bad both OSU and Maryland won't lose. Any losses by teams in contention are good for Michigan.
Win!!!
November 17th, 2018 at 1:58 PM ^
Rich Rod and Brady Hoke are the best thing that ever happened to MSU and helped OSU a lot as well. Rooting for them to have those same kind of stretches is what we should hope and pray for.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:45 AM ^
I'm rooting for Cincinnati as I am tired of the UCF talk.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:59 AM ^
I like the controversy. Expand to 8 and let the top 4 have a home game in the first round...
November 17th, 2018 at 9:17 AM ^
Is UCF even for sure a top 8 team? The FPI has them ranked #31 and for a reason.
Who is their best win against? A 1 point win over #51 Memphis? #55 Pittsburgh? #65 Temple?
If they beat Cincinnati that would be their best win at #44...but then again that might drop Cincinnati below Memphis.
If you are head and shoulders above your mid-major conference, why ever schedule a tough OOC schedule? You can beat a few teams ranked in the 50s and 60s and then thump your chest as if that is the same as playing week in and week out in a bigger and faster conference where you aren't pulling your starters at the half every week.
We currently have 5 teams on our schedule ranked in the top 25 (Notre Dame, Ohio State, Penn State, MSU, and Wisconsin). UCF has ZERO teams on its schedule currently ranked above #44. BTW Northwestern is ranked #41.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:22 AM ^
Agree. I'm not saying UCF should be in it, but I would like an 8-team playoff. In all of the scenarios and thoughts about that, though, they all include the 'best' G5 team as one of the at-large entrants. I don't know if that's fair, but you know it will happen.
But I do agree with you that UCF shouldn't even be in the top 15...
November 17th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
Seems like the most likely 8 team format is each P5 conference champ, the best G5 team and two at-large. If you think of the G5 as sort of a "super-conference" letting in the best G5 team (the "super-conference" "champion") is on par with letting in each of the P5 conference champs.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
Ads in the middle of reading MGB...has this always been there? Or is it occuring more frequently? Very disruptive to my stream of conscience reading style....<Revision: guess i’m a neophyte...thought i could copy and paste a screen shot on MGB 3.0..it’s not happening boss>...insert blog ad pucture on iPhone...(see invisible box below)
November 17th, 2018 at 8:47 AM ^
Yes, no doubt. MSU, Northwestern, Wisconsin, Penn State winning out all help Michigan. They could all four be ranked if that happens and it's doable. They also can't pass us in the rankings. So yes, no matter much we detest MSU and PSU, we still want them to win out for selfish ranking purposes.
Ohio State winning or losing today may be irrelevant but better if they win and we keep a top 10 matchup next week.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:58 AM ^
While normally I'm 100% behind rivals imploding when they are unable to do the right thing off the field due to their extreme desire to win, i'm with this guy simply because who knows what the CFP will do otherwise.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:48 AM ^
Nebraska is one of those teams that is not an easy team to beat, but the perception is that they're atrocious. So MSU beating them doesn't move the dial much for MSU, but losing to them, which is very possible today, would look really really bad.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:55 AM ^
The MSU-Nebraska game is the more interesting one to ponder, IMO. It’s always nice seeing State lose. But many TV people would view that as a “signature win” or something for Frost, which undoubtedly boosts his efforts to get that program going again. Long-term, a revived Nebraska program is probably more of a threat to M than MSU in the twilight of Dantonius.
Yet Nebraska is even more of a threat to Wisconsin, who—this year’s struggles notwithstanding—have generally had the West all to themselves. And even if Frost does bring Nebraska back from the dead, that’s always going to be a program that does it with mid-level recruits and walk-ons; they won’t seriously compete with M on the recruiting trail. Even so, I’d prefer that Frost’s program build slowly rather than enjoy instant success and ever again become any kind of hot commodity in the college football world. So I guess I’ll root for State. But just this year.
OSU-Maryland is easy, have to pull for the Terps to get the upset so Michigan can clinch.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:57 AM ^
I think the teams that have a good chance to make an impact on Michigan's prospects are Syracuse and Oklahoma State. I think your supposition that stronger records for MSU/PSU/OSU and Northwestern is somewhat correct - but regardless of their records I don't see the committee bias for the SEC and ACC going away.
November 17th, 2018 at 8:57 AM ^
I'm in the camp that it doesn't matter - if Michigan wins out, they're in. Case closed.
That said, I don't care what happens with the other teams, but I do kind of hope OSU wins only because I want that 1-loss, top 10 team next week. That ass-kicking would be just a little more fun than over a 2-loss, 12-15 ranked team.
It would also be nice for MSU to win, because that would prolong the illusion of Dantinyo being a really good coach. We all know the truth... It's like watching MSU ball continue winning with obsolete schemes - looks good, but we all know Beilein will kick the ever living shit out him when it matters!
November 17th, 2018 at 8:59 AM ^
These threads crack me up cause me up cause they never, ever change:
OSU root to lose. Always and forever
MSU root to lose. Always and forever
ND root to lose. Always and forever
PSU root to lose. Always and forever
Any and all SEC teams root to lose. Always and forever
The rest just depends on who you're betting on.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:36 AM ^
The "always and forever" part is something I am not so sure about.
I remember ripping Dantonio years ago for saying that he wanted Michigan to lose to Ohio State, whereas if Michigan beat Ohio State it would actually have helped his team reach the Rose Bowl. He'd rather us lose than have his own players win the conference and get the Rose Bowl. You don't put your disdain for your rival above the wellbeing of your own team - at least in my opinion.
Hypothetical future scenario - Michigan is 11-1 just beat Ohio State in the noon game slot. Penn State 10-1 has the tie breaker against us and we need them to lose for a chance at the conference title and a playoff spot. 7-4 MSU is playing them in the evening game and has the ball with 1 second left in the game down by 4 points inside the Penn State 1. You are telling me that you aren't cheering for MSU to punch it in on that final play and keep Michigan's title hopes alive - because "always and forever" you will cheer against MSU? I disagree...there are times where an MSU win could potentially help us.
I am inclined to cheer against OSU today, because I (A) would like to wrap up the East Division today for a chance at our first conference title since 2004, (B) don't like them or Meyer, and (C) I am dreaming of the start of a down decade for OSU. However, I won't be upset if they win, because it does help our resume ever so slightly in case we do go 12-1.
November 17th, 2018 at 12:13 PM ^
While I get the point, the hypothetical could have been constructed better, because both MSU and PSU are on the "always and forever" list.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:02 AM ^
I can occasionally cheer for MSU to win-- I can never cheer for OSU. I just can't do it.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:39 AM ^
My disdain for MSU is about as close to equal as OSU's that you can get. No way in hell I could ever root for either of them to win.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:08 AM ^
Never ever root for MSU or OSU for any reason.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:26 AM ^
Yeah, because fuck it if they tank and the conference looks like shit and no one wants the B1G around then it's only good for Michigan, right?
November 17th, 2018 at 9:30 AM ^
Did you notice us tanking for ten years having any adverse effects on anyone besides us?
November 17th, 2018 at 10:35 AM ^
Do you notice the continuous overranking of mid tier SEC teams because of how well the top teams do?
November 17th, 2018 at 11:03 AM ^
That's a shell game.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:51 AM ^
Define “overranked”?
Their performances in bowls would tend to say the SEC gets the appropriate amount of credit.
November 17th, 2018 at 2:23 PM ^
Doesnt hurt that their bowl games are also basically home games.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:13 AM ^
I'm more rooting for Michigan's CFP bid to improve, and so nobody can say post-season that Michigan shouldn't have been invited, i.e. there was a second 1-loss deserving team, etc, so outside of the B1G:
Syracuse to lose, badly (2:30 pm on NBC)
Middle Tennessee over UK (Noon, SEC Network)
Oklahoma State over WV (3:30 pm on ABC)
Duke over Clemson (7 pm on ESPN)
Cincinnati over UCF (8 pm on ABC)
Arizona over Wazzu (10:30 pm on ESPN)
Oklahoma is also playing Kansas (7:30 pm on FOX) but I just don't see that one happening.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:21 AM ^
Honestly, not too concerned about making it into the playoff if we win out. Long term, losses by our rivals will have bigger impact on their recruiting and perception of their programs as we continue to win. I'm in the "I hope they both lose" portion of the fanbase here.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:25 AM ^
MSU OSU NW - Win First
Any teams we've beaten previously not playing the 3 above - win
Georgia, Bama, WVU, WSU, Oklahoma - Lose
ND - A lot of people here are absolutely certain that we leapfrog them with a loss. I personally think it looks like the committee is doing everything it can to get a second SEC team in and would rather they win out.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:31 AM ^
I can't root for Staee - just can't do it.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:43 AM ^
I rooted for OSU once, in 1980 (not against Michigan, of course). I’ll never make that mistake again.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:47 AM ^
I don't root for any other teams. And I also don't generally root against other teams. However, for OSU to win, albeit not by much, is good. Same with MSU and Northwestern.
November 17th, 2018 at 9:55 AM ^
I want teams we beat to win and I want our competitors to lose.
A stronger B10 is better for Michigan. I’d rather be the standardbearer of a strong conference than of a weaker conference. It gets you ready to face stronger competition like Bama or Clemson.
Probably won’t matter if we win out but I’d rather our resume be as strong as possible to ensure no funny business.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:05 AM ^
I honestly don't care if OSU, and MSU, win every game as long as we beat them. When we lose then I want them to lose, but if their only loss is to us, I think it hurts them more.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:08 AM ^
Even though my head tells me to root for sparty and buckeye for SOS implications, my heart cannot make that leap. To avoid the inner conflict I will not watch those games and stay true to myself.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:22 AM ^
While we're at it, let's pull for SMU. Incredibly they still have the chance to win their conference (Currently tied for Division lead with tie-breakers in hand).
November 17th, 2018 at 10:26 AM ^
Am I the only one worried if we clinch the East today, that will leave NW with an extra week to prepare for us while we prepare for the game.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:33 AM ^
I have a hard time believing Ohio State, Michigan State or Northwestern lose to crappy BIG teams.
November 17th, 2018 at 11:05 AM ^
Ohio State has already lost to a crappy B1G team once.
November 17th, 2018 at 10:34 AM ^
Just beat Indiana...
November 17th, 2018 at 11:22 AM ^
I’m for hedging. Osu losing today guaranties we play for big ten title, even if we lose against them. Given that we could easily lose on the road against osu regardless of the osu Maryland outcome I’ll take the big ten game in our collective pockets.