ESPN Bowl Projections Are Out

I sincerely hope the slights against Michigan continue right up until Armageddon. I want an edge to our team; OSU has earned the slobbering love because of past results, and I am delighted they beat Wisconsin so that their young players can internalize all that praise and love. I'd even prefer we drop to number 5 leading into 11/26, getting passed by Clemson and Washington (assuming all undefeated).

 

I am the biggest fan for whoever Nebraska is playing the rest of the season (well until they get 2 losses). 

 

Wisconsin absolutely has to beat the Huskers on the 29th. 

 

I will be DAMNED if Michigan ends up losing to OSU and Nebraska steals our Rose Bowl spot if they finish the season 11-2. (reason I'd say it would be likely is that their best win would be better than ours, Wisconsin on the road vs. at home, and we wouldn't have had a chance to beat them ourselves.)

 

If Wisconsin wins the West and loses to OSU in the championship game, 11-1 Michigan 100% gets the Rose Bowl as UW would have 3 losses instead of 2 and we beat them head to head. 

Is the worst we do this year, compared to what we've been dealt with over the past decade, I'll take it. I could dream up many other teams I'd rather face than wazzou, but that might be the most interesting place in the world to be if you're media having to cover the coaches press conferences. Harbaugh and the pirate would be something.

Schlabach had Michigan in the playoff up until this point.  Wonder why he removed us from his projection?

For a few weeks ESPN had Middle Tennessee playing a bowl game.  Can you imagine the meltdown in EL is Middle Tenn took MSU out in both football and basketball post-season?  

Michigan plays in the Rose Bowl. Life is a lot better than it used to be. 

They basically just take the current conference standings and apply them to the bowl tie ins. That whole deal would be better titled as "if the season ended today, these are your bowl games with a guess or two thrown in"

but if we make the Rose Bowl we will be playing a very good Pac-12 team and if Washington State handles business and makes it there they will be highly ranked and it will make for a very good game.

Only saw MSU mentioned once and that was for the game at Ford Field...... LOL....

assuming no stumbles (and I for one believe MSU will play their  best game of the year vs us because it will  be their Bowl game) But..lets just say for arguments sake Mich and OSU are undefeated....Best Case scenario...  Final Four..Worst Case scenario.. Rose Bowl...I will take That anytime...Lets not forget where we were just a few short years ago....

Michigan vs. Utah, while not a dazzling matchup, would allow us some payback for 2014-15. And while we obviously want the playoff first, settling for the Rose Bowl is a far cry from where we were 2 years ago.

While I don't think Wazzu is good enough to make the Rose Bowl, having Harbaugh and Leach in the same press conference would be golden.

How many quirky one liners would come out of just that one press conference?

MSU vs Couch

"Franklin American Mortgage Music City Bowl"

The overt commercialization of college football bowls is an abomination with seemingly no boundaries.

I know everything is for sale, and I know I'm just a consumer of college football, but can they at least pretend to not shove it down my throat?  Can they use ether first?

Goddammitall.

going to the Rose Bowl would be a great consolation prize to me.  I haven't been to one for years and I'd definitely go.  It's a great bowl game experience.  

I will reserve my celebrating until such a time as we win the Big Ten Championship.

I like Wisconsin vs Arkansas and Colorado beating Penn State matchups

Screw these projections. We are playing Clemson and then the winner of Alabama vs Washington

Can the Rose Bowl take whoever they want to replace the B1G champ (i.e. not the B1G Champ Game Runner-up)? The sexier match up would probably be to get passed over and be selected as an at-large for the Orange Bowl or similar NY6 against a different power school. The PAC12 Rose Bowl back-ups this year are looking less than intriguiging.

Keep in mind that McMurphy consistently has us at one of our lowest rankings in the AP poll every single week. For example, this week he thinks we should be ranked #6. Only one other person has us ranked that low.

If we won the national championship we'd still be ranked #2 by him.

what is driving the trend of "value-priced" products, services and some restaurants all finding that it's a good marketing move to sponsor a shitty bowl game. Maybe that question answers itself. Tthe Dollar General and Motel 6 bowls both arriving in the same year finally made me have to ask. 

Is this the same ESPN that had Oklahoma, LSU, Stanford, Tennessee and Notre Dame in their preseason Top Ten power rankings?

Wisconsin would mop up clemson...   I really wsh the CFP was either 6 teams with top 2 getting a bye or just 8 teams. 

 

We are always going to be in the most fucked situation with this setup, because SEC teams can drop a big game and still get in. (well, ohio state dropped one early as well when they won the whole thing).

 

Now that things are seemingly coming back to parity with MICH/OSU in the BIG,  a one-loss season with a superclose loss  in "the game"  means 0 chance to recover for whoever takes the L. 

 

Two important games to watch for before the big one... Wiscy v Nebraska and OSU v Nebraska...  If nebraska loses both of those, I imagine wiscy stays a 2-loss team and has the head to head win against the huskers.  

edit: so what happens if a 2 loss Wiscy pulls out the W in the BIG championship game and you have a 1-loss ohio and 1-loss mich?