Muttley

November 23rd, 2015 at 9:09 AM ^

 

Michigan over Iowa in the Rose, because if the Big Ten's in the Playoff, this bowl isn't necessarily tied to taking the top-ranked B1G team left. And while we love the Hawkeyes, bowls aren't in the business of passing up the chance to pair the head coaches of top-five brand names against their former teams.

 

 

http://www.sbnation.com/college-football/2015/11/22/9777984/ncaa-bowl-games-projections-2015-college-football-playoff-predictions

ijohnb

November 23rd, 2015 at 9:45 AM ^

that.  I think MSU v. Michigan and MSU v. OSU were the two highest rated games of the year, so far.  The Big Ten is back.  And putting Michgian in a major bowl game this year would not merely be a "business" decision, it would be because we had proven we were a Top 10 team in the country.

Blue Mike

November 23rd, 2015 at 11:49 AM ^

What I'm looking for is to have MSU lose to Iowa in the B1G championship.  Iowa goes to the playoff, and when the Rose Bowl combines MSU losing their last game with having recently played Stanford in the Rose Bowl, they pick Michigan over MSU (again, they don't have to pick the conference game loser). I would enjoy listening to Sparty whine and cry over the holidays about the DISREPEKT.

ijohnb

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:15 AM ^

some point the committee will likely have to request a legit update about Cook if he doesn't play before that.  He may play with weekend and be fine, but if he doesn't play and they beat PSU and sneak by Iowa without him, they may need to know.  I mean, perhaps it should not be part of it but it may be.  I know you can point to last year with OSU but this would be a different story if they did not look dominant v. Iowa like OSU did against Nebraska last year.

In reply to by ijohnb

funkywolve

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:34 AM ^

but if MSU beats OSU and Iowa with their backup QB, why would Cook's status matter?  They'll have just beaten in the span of 3 weeks two teams that were ranked in the Top 5 when MSU played them.

If MSU was beating scrubs with their backup QB's I could see Cook's status being a concern.  Also, OSU last year went into the playoffs with Cardale having only made 1 start and I don't think the committee requested a status on Barrett.

ijohnb

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:36 AM ^

they didn't, but OSU also won like 58-0 in the BIG title game.  Say Cook is out the next two weeks and MSU wins 17-16 and 14-13?  You have to look at the potential opponent and the stakes for the playoff having quality games to showcase.  Once again, I am not hating on State but that is just a reality.  If anything, it would make a one loss ND or Oklahoma much more appealing I believe. (Even though I think State could give ND a very good game with their backups, i.e. ND should not be in regardless but.....shrugs).

michclub19

November 23rd, 2015 at 11:41 AM ^

That's the frustrating part.  MSU's good nonconference win against Oregon is looking a lot better than it did a month ago while in comparison, our loss to Utah is looking worse.  Orgeon was bad when they played MSU.  People are going to forget Oregon's QB was playing with a broken hand, in his 2nd game, and still was a missed wide-open receiver away from winning.  Not to mention their other 2 wins Sparty led for a combined 0 seconds.

I Love Lamp

November 23rd, 2015 at 9:25 AM ^

The committee may feel the heat to include a big 12 team, considering they left Baylor and TCU out last year. ND wins out, they're in, because they're ND. Same with Clemson and Bama. MSU's bad bad loss to Nebraska may keep them out

Pepto Bismol

November 23rd, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^

But just picking a spot here to state that I'm surprised by everybody who's looking at the playoff 4 assuming all these teams will win out.  I know we've all spent late November in a fetal position for most of the past 7 years, but guys, do you not remember how this all goes down?

College football has no stability.  That's what we love about it.  Teams are going to lose.  Maybe not all of them, but maybe ALL of them! 

Alabama's going to Auburn for a rivalry game and then has #10 Florida.

Oklahoma is @ #9 Oklahoma State

Clemson's going to South Carolina for a rivalry game and then has #11 North Carolina under the bright lights.

Notre Dame's @ #13 Stanford. 

Baylor's @ #15 TCU

The B1G is still going to eat each other.

 

Sorry.  I know none of this is news.  Just throwing a reminder out there that as good as we all think these teams are, everything is going to change. 

Beat Ohio State.  Do that, and good things WILL come.

 

 

In reply to by ijohnb

Pepto Bismol

November 23rd, 2015 at 11:50 AM ^

Such a strange sport where those two teams have the obvious advantage of not having that 13th game against what it usually a top-tier opponent - and we're not supposed to count that against them.

HimJarbaugh

November 23rd, 2015 at 11:05 AM ^

I think they are about the same since Texas is a rivalry game and the MSU loss to Nebraska was weird. Oklahoma gets the edge though with at least one good OoC game (At Tennessee). MSU may get the edge on quality wins, but not by much. TCU and Baylor probably compare to UM and OSU however the MSU win over UM was obviously flukey and their next best win is Oregon on the sharp decline before they got spanked by Utah?

The CCG may put MSU over the top, however.

west2

November 23rd, 2015 at 9:32 AM ^

shadow cannot exist without light.  The end of the msu game was a crazy fluke but then we won 2 games that probably should have been lost.  Everything balances out in the end. 

Pepto Bismol

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:38 AM ^

In my opinion, the "Ohio" reference is the single dumbest thing to ever come out of the Michigan athletic program. It was juvenile, made no sense, and was started by a head football coach who was ultimately proven to be a buffoon. 

I really don't mean to attack your post, James.  I just came across it twice now and stopped both times to cringe.  If we ever take a fan-wide vote, consider both of my arms raised in favor of letting "Ohio" die alongside most everything else of the Hoke era.

MGoRedemption

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:47 AM ^

calling them "ohio" actually makes plenty of sense for reasons that have been laid out countless times. That said, i think we should still call them ohio state aside from few a couple exceptions such as the "beat ohio" chant. 

Soulfire21

November 23rd, 2015 at 12:20 PM ^

I don't understand why calling them Ohio is so offensive when they don't even call us Michigan (removing M's and posting *ichigan, or referring to us as TUN or TTUN).

Also, they call themselves Ohio.  The script Ohio, Carmen Ohio, O-H,I-O, etc.

cheesheadwolverine

November 23rd, 2015 at 9:50 AM ^

I think the flow-chart of possibilities is pretty clear at this point.

  • Lose to OSU: Citrus Bowl
  • Beat OSU/PSU beats MSU/beat Iowa: Playoff????
  • Beat OSU/no magic elsewhere: NY6, probably Rose.

Any bowl prediction now is really just a prediction about The Game.

1201 S. Main St.

November 23rd, 2015 at 11:32 AM ^

With MSU beating Ohio State, Michigan has no shot at going to the Big Ten Title game.  A MSU loss with a Michigan win, gives them the same conference record, but with MSU holding the tie breaker over Michigan with its head-to-head win.  If Michigan beats OSU, MSU is going to play in the Championship game regardless of if they beat Penn State or not.  

ijohnb

November 23rd, 2015 at 11:36 AM ^

That was a pretty epic fail.  Where have you been brah?  If State lost and we won this weekend they(and OSU) would two conference losses and we would have one.  The tie breaker would not apply.  That was why the MSU v. OSU game was, like, kind of a big deal.

Zoltanrules

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:00 AM ^

Rose or Citrus. If you would have told the sane fans on this board this in September you would have been labeled a lunatic homer. That said, what a great chance to pay back OSU Saturday.

LSAClassOf2000

November 23rd, 2015 at 10:23 AM ^

I actually would take either of those if they panned out, playing Notre Dame or Stanford in a New Year's 6 bowl. After all, there needs to be some way to get the last laugh on Notre Dame and it would just be interesting to see Harbaugh's current team play Harbaugh's former team, which has a very similar philosophy.