Change one 2013 outcome: FB vs OSU, or BB vs Louisville. Which do you choose?

Submitted by NoVaWolverine on

Last Saturday's near-upset against OSU made me realize how much of a "We were THIS close..." year this has been for my sports fandom. Besides my Cardinals losing the World Series against the Red Sox (substitute Detroit in the ALCS if you're a Tigers fan), our hoops team fell to Louisville in the NCAA championship game after a brilliant season and run to the Final Four (and an 11-point first half lead -- argh), and then Team 134 came three yards shy of shocking OSU -- and all of us.

This got me to thinking...

Last night, you turn in after watching the hoops team endure the usual punishment of playing at Cameron Indoor, and after sleeping for a bit, you are awakened by the Magic Genie Spirit of Michigan Athletics.

"Humble Wolverine fan," he says in a booming voice, "You have endured much trial and suffering because of your love for the Maize and Blue. I have come from the Great Spirit Realm of Yost, Crisler, and Schembechler to grant you one great favor."

"Yeah?" you reply, half-awake.

"As this year of 2013 nears its end, I will allow you to go back in time and change the outcome of one -- and only one -- Michigan Wolverine sporting event from this past year. Your choices are:

Number 1: The football team succeeds in the two-point conversion at the end of The Game and beats the hated Buckeyes, 43-42. Seeing Drew Dileo covered, Devin Gardner pump fakes, then tucks the ball and burrows through a crease in the line, gimpy ankle and all, and just manages to thrust the ball over the goal-line plane before being walloped by a Buckeye defender. The road to Columbus is sown with the bitter tears of Bucknut fans returning home after seeing their undefeated season and BCS title hopes crushed in the Big House. The Aura of the Invincible OSU Version of Urban Meyer is deflated; Coach Hoke is 2-1 against our most bitter rival; Lewan and Gallon cap their Michigan careers with a glorious victory; and the painful mediocrity of 2013 Michigan football, which was basically all downhill after the Notre Dame game, is partially redeemed."

"Wow, that would be fantastic!" you say. "What's the other choice?"

"Number 2: The men's basketball team defeats Louisville in the NCAA championship game. Trey Burke's block (no longer a foul!) against Peyton Siva turns the momentum; our boys re-take the lead down the stretch and put away the game. Coach Beilein cuts down the nets while Pretty Boy Pitino sobs, Spike Albrecht makes out with Kate Upton in the Georgia Dome parking lot while 'One Shining Moment' plays in the distance, and the entire Ann Arbor campus eats at Subway and goes crazy."

"WOW! That would be awesome," you reply. "But ... if we win, do McGary and GRIII go pro?"

"Who cares, you greedy fool!" the Genie bellows. "You've just won the NCAA tourney!"

"OK, OK... so, those are the only choices?"

"What?!?" says the Genie, in shock. "Well, I suppose you could have Jordan Morgan's put-back against Indiana fall in, so the Wolverines win a share of another Big Ten title. Or the hockey team could beat ND in the CCHA championship game to keep the NCAA tourney streak alive. Or Al Borges could find the Magic Key to Unlock Narduzzi, and the football team finally beats MSU in East Lansing. Hey, I'm just as sick as you are of getting whipped by Sparty... But come on, man, be serious! OSU or Louisville. Choose one!"

So, which would you choose? Would love to hear everyone's choice, and their reasons.

Mine? This is tough, but as much as I hate losing to OSU and wanted to win that game, I'd take winning the tourney in March over Louisville. As we're seeing so far this basketball season, even for an elite program with a very talented team, it usually takes a rare combination of luck (e.g., the Kansas game) and a transcendent talent/leader (Trey Burke) to survive and win March Madness -- and titles are forever. It would have been a fitting end to a sublime season. But that's just me.

 

 

MikeCohodes

December 4th, 2013 at 3:47 PM ^

The hoops title is the easy pick for me. I'd only pick the OSU game if your sports Genie revealed the outcome of the upcoming BCS games. If OSU wins it all this year in football then my hatred of OSU would make picking the football game more likely.

Nah, even if OSU wins the BCS title this year, I'd still probably go with the hoops championship. I would've won my pool had Michigan pulled off the upset, instead I had to settle for 2nd place. Plus, national championship would've helped tremendously with recruiting, probably would've helped us do better with some of the guys we lost to KY.

Paps

December 4th, 2013 at 3:56 PM ^

enough said.  A basketball championship is forever greater than the difference between 8-4 and 7-5 in football, even if its ohio. Now if the football game featured two 11-0 team, it would be a MUCH closer call...

BubbaT33

December 4th, 2013 at 3:57 PM ^

Getting to the final and losing is a bigger moral victory than taking that team down south to the last second and losing.  With this is mind, I take the win over the bucknuts and the joy of almost winning it all!

a2_electricboogaloo

December 4th, 2013 at 4:01 PM ^

Either would have made me very, very happy.  But if I have to choose it would 100% be basketball.  I never got to see a national championship while I was a student, and that was my last chance in a major sport (we also came really close in hockey a couple years before).  Plus a national championship would have given us more basketball natty's than Ohio and tied us with MSU.

LS And Play

December 4th, 2013 at 4:05 PM ^

This might be the most ridiculous question ever asked on Mgoblog. The choice is an 8-4 season or a national championship. No one should even need to think about that. 

Drew Sharp

December 4th, 2013 at 4:09 PM ^

The choice is winning possibly the single greatest game in the rivalry's storied history. (It def would have been had we converted 2 pts and won)

mGrowOld

December 4th, 2013 at 4:54 PM ^

We talk about the 95 & 96 games around here mostly as evidence of a crappy Michigan team (so to speak) being able to beat a good OSU team.  And the 69 game is remembered as the launching pad for the Bo era.  Would a victory in year three of Hoke's regime be remembered 45 years from now so fondly?  Only time (and revisonist history) will tell.

But I'll bet the 89 Baskeball team gets more national attention than those three Michigan football teams.  Cause it won it all.

But I understand your point.

Drew Sharp

December 4th, 2013 at 5:11 PM ^

But long term it'd simply be the greatest of all time. I'd tell my grandkids about the time Brady Hoke went for two to ruin Urban Meyer's winning streak as a huge underdog (similar to Bo in 69 of course). Who cares what our record was in the big picture?

snarling wolverine

December 4th, 2013 at 6:00 PM ^

As classic a game as it was, I don't think a game involving a 7-4 Michigan team is going to go down as the best ever.  

Regardless, it's still a debate between 1) winning one game in a season that otherwise went nowhere and 2) winning the game for the national title.

The '69 game (which is often considered the best in our history) wasn't just a huge upset; it clinched us a share of the B1G title and while we were headed to Pasadena anyway (because of the no-repeat rule), we went as the rightful titleholder.  It was confirmation that we had arrived as a program, not just a flukish win out of the blue.

 

goblue20111

December 4th, 2013 at 6:42 PM ^

Until the next greatest game in the rivalry passes it up. It would have been nice but in the grand scheme of things it wouldn't have really meant much. We've beaten OSU as underdogs before and will do so again. I'll take the BBall NC every single time.

goblue20111

December 4th, 2013 at 6:49 PM ^

Everyone in 69 thought this was the greatest game in the history of the rivalry. Everyone in 95 thought so. Everyone in 96 thought so. Everyone thought 2006 would be Amazeballs. See the pattern? They'll be great games in the rivalry always -- you're guaranteed a chance of one each year.

Winning a NC is so rare and so hard -- I don't get how anyone couldn't choose winning an NC unless you're solely a Michigan football fan. There's just no argument that can be made against it in this situation.

ldoublee

December 4th, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^

Basketball for sure.  However, if the football win would come with a guarantee of Urban Meyer crying uncontrollably and throwing a temper tantrum like a 5-year old on national TV, you might sway my vote.

Mgoscottie

December 4th, 2013 at 4:24 PM ^

Beilein is my favorite Michigan coach ever and national championship....

BUT that win against ohio would have been one of the best upsets in the game we'd ever see ever.  I think on some level national championships have become very over-rated because games are so crucial and important to me.  Even in that tournament, beating Kansas was so much better than Florida even tough the Florida win meant a final four appearance because the ending to that game was just so immensely awesome.  

If I were an Auburn fan the win over Bama would mean more to me than the win against FSU if they play.  Our win over ohio in 97 is more important than the win against Washington state on some level to me.  

pdgoblue25

December 4th, 2013 at 4:32 PM ^

National Championship

We've already had the experience of beating an undefeated OSU team in the 90's. 

Yeah it's fun to look back on, but not as much fun as thinking about the 97 championship.

M-Wolverine

December 4th, 2013 at 4:29 PM ^

And it may be too soon after the OSU game to look at it clearly.

My head says the banner is what matters most. That's what you play for. But other than marking that date, I'm not sure it does that much more for the program going forward.

My heart says OSU, and it's not really about what it does to OSU's season, but what it means for the rivalry.  There is nothing bigger than The Game. And it may have been the greatest edition of it with that conversion connecting.  And sends the program into a much better place than winning one more game would for basketball. I mean, it'd be a championship in the books, but I'm not sure it would distinguish itself from a lot of other championship games.  The football game would be one of the most storied upsets of all time.

Today I'd say the football game. In a couple of months reason will probably have taken over and I'd say the basketball game.  But Michigan Football > Michigan Basketball.

Spunky

December 4th, 2013 at 4:40 PM ^

Although it would have been nice to beat OSU and Urban, it's hard to pass on a basketball title. Plus, I still feel all stabby about the block (or "foul"). And Siva wore a disguise to the football season opener. I bet he would have stayed home and worked on his jumper if Louisville lost that championship game.  

UAUM

December 4th, 2013 at 5:26 PM ^

I'd take winning the BBall National Championship.  Would rather look good on the second biggest national stage than on a regional stage against our most hated rival.

Sucks that this isn't reality though.

Wolverine 73

December 4th, 2013 at 4:57 PM ^

Would you rather change the outcome of the Louisville game and win the NC, or the outcome of the OSU 1 vs. 2 game a few years ago and have a chance to play Florida (presumably) instead of OSU playing them for the football NC?  While I prefer football to basketball, I still think I would opt for the NCAA title, but it is a closer call. 

4godkingandwol…

December 4th, 2013 at 5:10 PM ^

... anyone who says football because it brings OSU down is a spiteful person more interested in others suffering vs. enjoying things yourself.  A banner lasts forever and can be enjoyed forever.  

Generic MGoBlogger

December 4th, 2013 at 5:14 PM ^

So difficult for me... Easily the most depressed feelings I've had all year came after these two losses, and they felt about the same... I'd probably lean toward the National Championship just because the feelings of elation would last all the way into the fall. Don't get me wrong, losing to Ohio really sucked, but man, I have never experienced a favorite team winning a championship (Was way too young to remember 97 title).

yoshfriedman

December 4th, 2013 at 5:29 PM ^

if you pick ruining Ohio's season (maybe extrapolating it to their overall winning streak) over Michigan winning a national title of its own, it doesn't change the fact that you are picking spiting someone else over your own alma mater's triumph, a triumph we have accomplished exactly one time in history.

So congratulations, if you'd rather #BEATOHIO than win a national title, you're a Spartan in Wolverine clothing. Go burn a couch.

Drew Sharp

December 4th, 2013 at 7:22 PM ^

Because we're not choosing it because it ruins ohio state's season. We're choosing it because it would have been a huge upset, possibly bigger than '69, clearly give the program a positive upswing/outlook, and elevate the greatest rivalry back onto the national radar (because face it noone has really paid close attention to it since 06)

goblue20111

December 4th, 2013 at 7:34 PM ^

1969 team won the Big Ten title. We might be guaranteed the Gator Bowl instead of waiting to find out about if we're going to that or the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl if we beat Ohio State this year?

Ya one win in a lost season isn't going to change a whole lot. And we'd still be competing for the spotlight with the Alabama-Auburn game because of that ramficiations. So we'd still be a blip on the radar - got our 15 minutes.

It's fine to admit you're just a Michigan football fan you're just not going to convince any one that the intangibles of upsetting Ohio State in a lost season or beating Ohio State in a lost season (or any season for that matter) outweigh winning a national title in basketball.

1 percent

December 5th, 2013 at 1:56 AM ^

In a normal game I wouldn't have picked OSU but if we convert that 2 pt conversion it's the greatest upset in the rivalry and from my recollection the greatest game in the history of the rivalry.



Also, I live in Ohio.



Maybe if te national championship game was Saturday and the football game was 1/2 a year ago it would be different?



I don't know. I'm really not sure why people are getting worked up about it really ... Neither happened and we lost both.

kalamazoo

December 4th, 2013 at 5:34 PM ^

I like the idea of having a championship, but I started thinking about the ramifications of winning the football game instead. Most of the posts are focused on what the win means to us individually instead of what it would mean to grow the program, IMHO.

1) For recruiting, wouldn't an instant classic huge upset win over OSU in football help us more than a national championship win in basketball? I mean, March Madness is a little of a crap shoot and players know that...they just want to get to the dance, but when you lose to OSU in football, especially for a number of years, recruits start thinking Michigan always loses the big game. It's harder to change football recruits perceptions of programs, don't you think?

2) Football brings in so much more cash than basketball...what is it, like 50% of the athletic department? Anything this positive and surprising (football win over OSU) could once again help recruiting and keep ticket prices higher (to the chagrin of those of us who pay, but for the benefit of the athletic program).

3) Hoke would be 2-1 vs OSU. Another positive in recruiting. Urban Meyer would be 1-1 and not a winning coach vs. Michigan. For someone who has seen Cooper do terrible vs. Michigan then Tressel do well, we know how streaky the rivalry has been. If we can break Meyer's streak, then perhaps it is really Hoke's streak with the occasional annomaly. Basically having a winning record vs. OSU is big. Since Hoke is now 1-2 vs. OSU, now he has to win a minimum of 2 games to have a winning record. More if we lose more.

4) Beating OSU wasn't just playing spoiler for that game. We'd also be ending Meyer's streak of games won in a row to start a program. What is he at now, like 25? Fielding Yost is 2nd ever in this streak at 29. If Meyer won his next few games, then Meyer would forever have that streak over Yost, one of our most prized coaches. I think this is less of a recruiting thing and more of an ego and satisfaction thing, but you know, it's a thing.

So my vote is football, by a hair.

jmblue

December 4th, 2013 at 5:51 PM ^

For recruiting, wouldn't an instant classic huge upset win over OSU in football help us more than a national championship win in basketball?

No way. Winning the national title is infinitely more valuable from a recruiting standpoint. People forget who finished second, but a national champ is immortal. You win a national title and you're instantly credible with any recruit in the country.  (And no, the goal of an elite basketball recruit is not just to "make the dance." They want to win the whole thing.)

The OSU game would have been fun to win, but in no way would it have had anywhere near that kind of impact.  The euphoria would have quickly worn off once everyone remembered we were 8-4 and headed to a second-tier bowl game.