Sponsor Note. Start a business! You're overwhelmed with joy, now is the time to do the thing! Look, they did the thing, now you can do the thing, all that malaise you were walking around with has evaporated like so many takes in the sun. And when you start your thing, call up Richard Hoeg to make it legal and official.

He will do the documents and the paper wrangling so you can get to the business of your business. Hit him up today, he's in a good mood.

Here is a video. You will enjoy it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ak9Uxtntfk

Please do not damage the defensive ends. We have a need for them.

Bro i really smacked tf outta jabo https://t.co/lwdkPtwqVJ

— Brayden and D’Angelo’s Dad (@DonovanJeter95) November 28, 2021

No, I don't think I will. I have not been here. I do not have to act like I have been.

The game is over. Move on!!

— Kevin ONeal (@fennealscago) December 1, 2021

Also: 13 YPP!

[After THE JUMP: Iowa is bad at offense but good at defense]

Hey, I know that guy. Tom VanHaaren on Aidan Hutchinson:

He led by example, pushing himself to do one or two more reps when he thought he couldn't in the weight room. He was excited to play in new defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald's system. He was a constant presence in the locker room, reminding teammates not only that they have a goal, but that they can achieve it. That mentality wasn't present during Michigan's 2-4 2020 season.

"Aidan is a tremendously influential person. Despite not just having the most impact on a field that I think a defensive player can have, I think the role that he has on this team is just so important not just for being a leader, but like, helping the other leaders on the team, like me, and Josh (Ross)," quarterback Cade McNamara said. "Just hearing Aidan's opinion as well is just super important. He's contributed so much to the change and the mentality of this team and we truly appreciate him and especially not just his play, but his leadership, as well."

Iowa in a nutshell. They win games when their quarterback is not abominable, and sometimes even when he's abominable:

Absurd: Over the last two years, Iowa is 14-1 when its QBs manage a passer rating over 100.

100 is terrible! That’s the lowest bar imaginable! Top 120 (which they’ve only done in 8 of 20 games), and they’re untouchable. And they’re still 2-3 when the rating is UNDER 100!

— Bill Connelly (@ESPN_BillC) December 1, 2021

Lloyd Carr teams in 2021, except the quarterbacks are random farmhands and not (at least) fringe NFL guys. It defies belief that they're able to do what they do, but here they are. For an infographic view of the above:

Yeah so Iowa's offensive success rate is 111th nationally and their net points per drive is 121st. The only thing they've got going for them on offense are 1) turnovers forced by the defense and 2) their usual crew of Punt Gods that put them in outstanding field position.

More Connelly stats on the championship game:

The Wolverines and Hawkeyes enjoy plenty of Big Ten-esque similarities. They are both driven by outstanding defenses -- Iowa ranks fourth in defensive SP+ and ninth in points allowed per drive, while Michigan ranks seventh and 11th, respectively -- that don't allow big plays, and they both boast spectacular special teams units (punters, especially) that create field position advantages.

Michigan is favored in this game (and is one step away from the CFP) because the Wolverines' offense has been dramatically more consistent than Iowa's. They bullied Ohio State's defense to the tune of 297 rushing yards last week, but they still might not have beaten the Buckeyes if not for gains for 37, 34, 31 and 24 through the air. If Iowa can limit the big passes and turn this into a punts-and-field-position rock fight -- or if the Hawkeyes match with a couple of big gainers of their own -- they could not only cover but win outright.

Georgia's defense is on another planet. If Michigan gets past Iowa and ends up in the playoff they'll be fortunate that this year's field is not going to be the usual murderers's row where you're drawing Clemson/Bama/Georgia/OSU in the semi, but there is a real difference between Georgia and the rest of the field:

Here are some advanced stats for the top ten of the College Football Playoff #CFB #CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/l84ZgWdzKs

— CFBNumbers (@CFBNumbers) December 1, 2021

Extremely bizarre that the worst offense in the top ten is Oklahoma State, which is on the verge of a bid by virtue of its defense.

I have questions. PFF put out their All Big Ten teams, stretching down to five layers. Michigan players featured:

• First team: Aidan Hutchinson (DPOY), Brad Hawkins
• Second Team: Blake Corum, Hassan Haskins, Mazi Smith(!), David Ojabo, DJ Turner, Jake Moody, Brad Robbins
• Third Team: Andrew Stueber, Dax Hill, Corum (KR)
• Fourth Team (labeled honorable mention): Cade McNamara, Erick All, Vincent Gray

While I acknowledge that Michigan's backs and McNamara's decisiveness had a fair bit to do with Michigan's stats, I'm baffled that an offensive line that led the country in fewest TFLs allowed (by 13!), finished second nationally in sack rate allowed, and was 18th in line yards has one of the top 20 OL in the Big Ten, per PFF's reckoning. That don't make no sense.

I have fewer questions about their NFL draft board, which now sports Aidan Hutchinson at #1 overall. (Ojabo is 15, Hill 37, Hawkins 98.)

I just want you to see this. Brian Kelly is at LSU now but work this incredible still needs to be seen even if there's no more thin rivalry thread:

put a lot of thought into this pic.twitter.com/7lfEcFBnmU

— Selected Ambient Cowboys Vol. II (@ambient_cowboy) December 1, 2021

Good luck to Kelly at LSU, where he will have access to all the talent in the world and still drive fans crazy because they rush four times per game. 

Denard wrote a thing! I will always link a Denard thing:

The field was soooooo green. The lines and numbers on the turf were super bright. The bleachers seemed to go on forever. Everything was absolutely perfect — like what a football field would look like in a dream, or in some movie.

Going to be a light roster for some games. One of the costs of having all the hockey talent is that talent going poof for a few games every December. This year it'll be particularly rough: Owen Power and Kent Johnson were called up for Canada's WJC team—preliminary roster so there will be some cuts but probably not them—and USA hockey called up Luke Hughes, Jacob Truscott, Matt Beniers, Thomas Bordeleau and Mackie Samoskevich. Chris Dilks thinks Truscott might be cut, FWIW. That is still two D and four F likely to be gone for some big games. 

Etc.: comprehensive rundown of the Big Ten's bowl picture at Go Iowa Awesome. Michigan is easy because W = playoff and L = NY6 bowl somewhere. Caleb Houston drops to 14 on ESPN's big NBA draft board; Moussa Diabate debuts at 37. The Athletic on hockey commit Rutger McGroarty. MVictors on the aftermath. Gasaway on how Juwan Howard changed coaching hire paradigms overnight. Postgame Mr. Brightside. Khalid Hill rushed the field. Klatt on the aftermath. Seventh year senior Dax Hill. You can have a little schadenfreude, as a treat.