If Michigan went to the Rose Bowl, would it be “meaningless”.
My opinion: all NY6 bowl games have meaning. They are marquee games against good opponents that are nationally relevant. A Rose Bowl win, however, is just a touch higher than the rest at least to me. The history and attachment it has to the Michigan program is special, 11-2 with a win over ND, MSU, OSU and W in the Rose Bowl has got to be the best season since 97.
I do see the other side, no East division title, no Big Ten championship, no CFP. I even had that same attitude, this was a wasted season. But would an 11 win season with a Rose Bowl win suffice to you?
November 18th, 2019 at 5:28 PM ^
The rose bowl is never meaningless
November 18th, 2019 at 5:29 PM ^
The Rose Bowl is traditionally the best bowl Michigan could ever wish to attend as Big10 champ. However, with the CFP replacing tradition it has fallen to just another non-CFP bowl game. Still better than the Peach Bowl last year, but not a ton more meaningful.
That 11th win would be way more meaningful than any bowl game. Beating OSU this year would be all that I would need ... a Rose Bowl appearance would merely be icing on the cake and not critical.
November 18th, 2019 at 5:44 PM ^
Optics definitely play a role in the meaning of a bowl game
Was psyched to go to the Sugar Bowl as a kid, loved going to the Rose Bowl in 2007
Laughed at the very thought of flying to Georgia to go watch the Peach Bowl
November 18th, 2019 at 5:31 PM ^
Fuck yeah. It’s the rose bowl. Great narrative heading into the game and even better momentum in the off season.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:07 PM ^
Hell yeah.
After the way the season started... needing a missed FG to escape Army and getting blown out in all phases against Wisconsin, I'll be highly satisfied with a win over OSU and RB appearance.
November 18th, 2019 at 5:33 PM ^
Every bowl game is meaningful or else they wouldn’t play and the game wouldn’t count on your overall record. This eve of the game means nothing is slowly help ruin college football. I miss the days when players played and cared about helping their team finish strong and hopefully use it as a spring board for next year and finish recruiting strongly
November 18th, 2019 at 5:37 PM ^
Of course it would not be meaningless. It would have tremendous value. A Rose Bowl (and especially a win) could be hung up on the wall with the very many other very nice things Harbaugh has brought the program - 10 wins seasons, top 10 and top 15 rankings, ranked wins on the road and top 10 wins at home. Would be outstanding for the narrative of the program.
But you're saying a win over OSU is included there. Buddy that would make everything else an afterthought.
November 18th, 2019 at 5:41 PM ^
Hell no. The rose bowl is the rose bowl. Harbaugh would punch you in the nards if you asked that to his face.
November 18th, 2019 at 5:51 PM ^
Dreamy as fuck. No questions about it. Would be huge for this program and I want to buy rosebowl gear again.
November 18th, 2019 at 6:01 PM ^
If we go to the rose bowl it will be our best season since 2003. If we win it will be our best since '97
November 18th, 2019 at 6:05 PM ^
If Michigan beats OSU this season, this team will be remembered as one of the greatest in recent history. A Rose Bowl would be a bonus.
November 18th, 2019 at 6:11 PM ^
I’d be happy with it. Of course I’d be happier with a NC...
November 18th, 2019 at 6:33 PM ^
It would have meaning to me - I would have my butt parked in a seat around th 35 year line.
November 18th, 2019 at 6:45 PM ^
You mean the 35th through 37th yard line, right?
November 18th, 2019 at 9:10 PM ^
Hugh Jass is so fat that when he sits around the Rose Bowl, he sits AROUND the Rose Bowl.
November 18th, 2019 at 6:42 PM ^
If we beat OSU, its a great season regardless of what bowl we go to. I don't know if its mathematically possible to go to the Rose Bowl if we lose to OSU, but if it is, the Rose bowl would be about the only bowl I would really care about.
November 18th, 2019 at 6:44 PM ^
I'm old school and grew up watching Bo vs. Woody. The Rose Bowl is a great outcome to any season. Only 4 teams get to the CFP. Aside from that, from the fan experience, EVERY Michigan fan needs to experience the Rose Bowl at least once. It's a great venue and place to watch a college football game. The whole backdrop of the parade, mountains, history, and setting make it the best bowl experience in America. I really, really hope Michigan goes this year. I haven't been there in a while and would love to go back.
November 18th, 2019 at 6:58 PM ^
It’s meaningless in the sense that it doesn’t mean what it traditionally means to Michigan or the Big Ten as a whole.
It used to be, win the conference, go to the Rose Bowl. Period. The CFP format, and even BCS to a lesser extent, effectively ended that.
it’s still a NY6 and a big game. But it doesn’t really mean any more than the Peach Bowl or whatever.
November 18th, 2019 at 7:08 PM ^
Meaningless imo
November 18th, 2019 at 7:19 PM ^
Of course not. Far from it. Ugh.
November 18th, 2019 at 7:36 PM ^
Tell the team it’s meaningless...
November 18th, 2019 at 7:37 PM ^
No... 1000x no. Echoing what has already been posted, we'd have had to beat our three biggest rivals and finished 10-2 on the season to get there. That also means our offense will have kept improving in its first season. Add playing in the Grand Daddy of Them All?? Definitely not meaningless. These kinds of resilient turnaround seasons are what dominant teams are born of. We've lamented how the team has crumbled after being punched in the mouth, but ending a season this way would change the narrative moving forward. There will always be something special about playing in the Rose Bowl...
November 18th, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
Beat Ohio. Every down counts. Every practice snap counts.
Act like what you do matters because it does.
Yeah, winning out would be about as good as it can get short of a national title.
November 18th, 2019 at 7:40 PM ^
In 2008 I moved to San Diego with visions of easily going to the Rose Bowl. My kids were very little then, but now they are M fans like me and we've been waiting and waiting for our chance only to be heartbroken in 2016.
Rose Bowl is sacred ground and I've told myself I'll never go to a game there unless Michigan is playing. Now that M cancelled the UCLA series, playing in that bowl game is my only chance. It's in my top 5 bucket things in life, and I could care less if it's for a Natty, I just want to see my team play in that game!!!
November 18th, 2019 at 7:44 PM ^
No Michigan fan who experienced the 1970, 1972, 1973, or 1974 seasons would ever say bowl games are meaningless. Those who do are spoiled candyasses who have no fucking idea what true disappointment is.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:01 PM ^
Who said it would be meaningless?
November 18th, 2019 at 8:15 PM ^
I don't like posters who ask one question in their title then the opposite question in their text.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:18 PM ^
Let me check with Karan Higdon and get back to you.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:36 PM ^
If we’re in the Rose Bowl, it means we beat OSU. Which means we beat all three rivals for the first time in god knows how long.
Sign me the hell up. Is it the CFP? No. But the Rose Bowl is far from meaningless. Still the best non-CFP bowl out there.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:46 PM ^
First off, having to play Florida again sucked. They should have had Florida v. UCF in the Peach Bowl and Michigan-LSU in the Fiesta Bowl.
Secondly, there is nothing special about the Peach Bowl. It's just a blah bowl game. The Rose Bowl is a huge deal. It's the biggest bowl game outside of a playoff game because of the history, location, and everything else associated with it.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:47 PM ^
Beat Indiana
Beat THE University of Ohio State
Beat a bowl opponent.
I don't believe in a "wasted season". I mean, my 20s were a wasted season, but in terms of college football, wouldn't every Power 5 school that doesn't win it all consider it a wasted season?
What kind of season does Sparty consider this?
November 18th, 2019 at 8:53 PM ^
To get to the Rose Bowl I think Min has to lose next week and to Wisconsin. Wisconsin has to lose next week but not to Min.... and then we have to beat OSU, with OSU going to the CFP if they beat PSU, and PSU going if they beat OSU.
So, like, you guys are spending a lot of time on this thing that's probably not going to happen, just saying. My benchmark is can we beat OSU, finally.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:59 PM ^
Uh no
A two loss non champion Minnesota doesn't make it over a two loss Michigan who has beaten OSU and ND
Same goes for a two loss Wisconsin, even though they beat us head to head, that Illinois loss knocks them out unless they win the conference
November 18th, 2019 at 8:53 PM ^
Beat Indiana. Then beat Ohio State. Speculating about bowls we may never achieve and what getting there might mean is silly. If we win the next two, then we can start to speculate about bowl games.
November 18th, 2019 at 8:58 PM ^
I can't wait for the day when players sit out the Rose Bowl in order not to get injured for their NFL careers. You know it's coming. And it will be fantastic.
I can't wait to see Kirk Herbstreit's reaction. The Rose Bowl has always acted as the snobbiest organization in sports. If it's not the CFP, it's just another bowl game. The NIT.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:11 PM ^
Rose bowls are never meaningless.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:21 PM ^
Absolutely not. Playing (and even better winning) in the Rose Bowl when it is not part of the playoff series, is still the mark of a very well played season, and deserves to be celebrated by the players and the fans.
I know the OP is not making this point, but I hear it a lot in the media and I vehemently disagree with it - "the second you are no longer playing for the CFP, your season becomes meaningless".
By that rationale, all QB's that are not playing as well as Tom Brady should quit, all coaches that don't win 92% of their games should retire, etc.
If you like watching and playing in big college football games, you would love a chance to play in and go to the Rose Bowl this year.
As a player, if you have a competitive bone in your body, you would take it seriously and play to win. Just one guy on the internet's opinion anyway.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:38 PM ^
Clearly the best season I would have witnessed. If we can get to 11-2 that would be best season since 2006 when I first became a fan.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:57 PM ^
Outside of watching Michigan v. OSU live the Rose Bowl is the best thing I've ever experienced in college football. I love everything about it and all Michigan fans should experience it at least once.
November 18th, 2019 at 9:59 PM ^
The Rose Bowl is probably out of reach. The only scenario I can see where we wouldn't have to jump either someone who beat us (fairly or not) or a Big Ten West champ is if Penn State wins out and goes to the playoffs, and we're taken at 10-2 over 10-2 OSU (head to head) and a Minnesota that wins the Big Ten West but loses to Wisconsin.
November 18th, 2019 at 10:11 PM ^
I think you're badly underestimating the impact of a win over OSU
If everything holds chalk except we beat OSU you have
- 10-2 Michigan with wins over top ten OSU and ND, only losses on road to Penn state and Wisconsin, haven't lost a game in half a season
-10-3 Wisconsin with two losses to OSU, a loss to Illinois, and best wins being Minnesota and Michigan in week four
-10-2 Penn State with losses to Minnesota and OSU, only good win over Michigan by seven at home
-10-2 Minnesota with losses to Wisconsin and Iowa, only good win over Penn state at home
-12-1 OSU with only loss to top ten Michigan, big ten champ over Wisconsin
OSU definitely gets in the playoffs with that resume because they will never place a pac 12 or big 12 resume over an OSU team. And from the group of teams leftover for the rose bowl they'll take the highest ranked team, the team with the longest winning streak, and the only team to beat OSU all year. Head to head won't be considered nearly as heavily as a win over OSU would be, it's the only tiebreaker that makes sense when all the teams haven't played each other
November 18th, 2019 at 9:59 PM ^
No it would not be meaningless if we beat Ohio state because that’s the only way they are going to the rose bowl
November 18th, 2019 at 10:00 PM ^
I'm old-fashioned. The Rose Bowl still has a special place in my heart. Pasadena. The grand daddy of them all. The iconic stadium. Pac 12 v Big Ten. The sun setting over the mountains as the game gets going. All those years of Bo's teams losing. No, it would not be meaningless.
November 19th, 2019 at 1:58 AM ^
Not everyone at Michigan agrees that the experience of playing in the storied Rose Bowl is a great experience for Michigan.
The Michigan AD just pulled out of that opportunity to instead play East Carolina/Hawaii in Ann Arbor.
November 18th, 2019 at 10:26 PM ^
OP punctuation could be your friend, OP?
November 18th, 2019 at 11:14 PM ^
Hell no, how long has it been since we’ve been there? 10 years or so. Please we were at the bottom looking up to the whole BIG10 just 4 years ago. I will take it
November 18th, 2019 at 11:49 PM ^
weirdly, the loss to PSU brought everything into focus: it's all about OSU, and nothing else matters.