Feldman's "Should Be" College Football Rivalries
Bruce Feldman made a list of the Top 10 rivalries he'd like to see in College Football. This is another example of the media attempting to create rivalries, but it's hypothetical so it's ok.
You have to be an insider to see the whole top 10, but #1 is Boise St. vs Alabama, and Big Ten schools on the list are: Ohio State vs. Oklahoma, Penn State vs. Pitt, and LSU vs. Michigan.
Having these games would be crazy fun. I'd love to have a series with LSU or another traditional powerhouse outside the Big Ten (besides the Alabama game in '12).
Anyways, here's what Feldman had to say about LSU-Michigan:
LSU-Michigan:
After years of rumors that LSU coach Les Miles, a former Wolverines lineman and Bo Schembechler disciple, would return to Ann Arbor to rescue his alma mater, we now know that he's not leaving Tiger Stadium for the Maize and Blue. Of course, it would be fun if he and his program visited Michigan every other year. Any time one of Jim Delany's prized programs takes on one of Mike Slive's, you're going to end up with a lot of compelling drama.
So, are there any rivalries that you would like to see? Any big opponent that would be fun for Michigan to play, or another series to watch? I think it'd be a lot of fun playing a home and home with Boise (even though State's doing that, which makes it lame) or a California team like USC or Stanford.
Your thoughts?
i don't really see any of this happening when you consider the possible 9 game conference schedule, plus an up in the air home and home annual with Notre Dame. Although i think a season in which we would play texas would be incredible, a schedule with ND, TEX, NEB and OSU would include the top five winningest teams in the history of college football (of course, we're #1). That would be the strongest schedule ever.
With the current BCS setup, Michigan is only going to play one major non-conference team in a home-and-home matchup each year. That does leave room for an occasional neutral site (like next year's opener with Alabama), but if the conference does go to a nine-game schedule, that sort of setup is perhaps less likely to happen.
Here's a list of teams I'd like to see replace Notre Dame on the schedule:
Louisiana State - The reason I'd like to see LSU on the schedule isn't Les Miles. Michigan has never played LSU during the regular season or in a bowl game, so it'd be great to finally see that matchup.
Texas - Another big name school that Michigan has only played once in a bowl game. A home and home--in Ann Arbor and Austin--would be great. Another team I'd add to that list from the Big XII would be Oklahoma and perhaps even Texas A&M.
The SEC: I can list four other teams from the SEC besides LSU and Alabama that should be on the schedule: Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Tennesee come to mind as great locations for a home-and-home series. Arkansas and South Carolina (UM last played in Columbia, SC in the mid-80s) are just outside that list. Michigan has played Vanderbilt not too long ago, and unfortunately there's the recent bowl drubbing at the hands of Mississippi State. The other two programs in the SEC--Mississippi and Kentucky--aren't of much interest.
The ACC: There's just three programs of interest--Virginia Tech, Florida State and Miami(FL).
The Big East: West Virginia and possibly TCU would be interesting matchups.
Pac 12: Michigan played a whole slew of Pac 12 teams in recent years--Oregon, Utah, Colorado, Washington and UCLA come to mind. Because of that, I'd rather see teams from the other conferences in that non-conference game slot than one from the Pac 12.
at FSU. That 1991 games still doesn't sit well.
Also, give me App State once they jump up to the FBS. I'd really like to erase that 0-1 record. Same with Toledo.
In fact, I want to play every team we have a losing record against untilk that changes.
reference: http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/div_ia/bigten/michigan/opponents.php
6-12 against Cornell? Unacceptable!
Being Atlanta born and raised, I have always wanted to see a Michigan-Georgia home and home series. Athens and Ann Arbor are two quintessential college towns, and Georgia is basically the ethical school in the SEC. Can you imagine our winged helmets between the hedges? Uga roaming our sidelines?
From the Big 12, I had always wanted to renew that Michigan-Colorado series, but I think something like Michigan-TAMU could be really good. A solid program, great tradition, and not one of the usual suspects you see on this board (ie, UT or OU).
From the Pac10, I like the Michigan-Cal idea. Another option, though, is Oregon State. We know they're willing to travel (they almost beat LSU in Death Valley a few years ago) and are a good team over the last several years (with the exception of 5-7 last season). Also, ASU against which Michigan lost their only matchup.
From the ACC, I like the idea of Michigan-UNC for a couple reasons. Similar school, like the Cal example above, but also the only ACC school against which Michigan has a losing record.
I understand the UGA point. However, there are so many coaches in the SEC that I cannot stand, and I genuinely like Richt. Rooting against Saban, Miles, Petrino would be so mcuh easier.
I'd like Michigan to play at Hawai'i, every year.
also.....I'd like Florida to play anyone, ANYONE, in a non-conference road game outside the state of Florida. I don't believe that's happened since 1992.
two very storied programs and the SEC-B1G matchup.
Hoke vs Saban would be interesting as well. No one loses worse than Saban, well except Dantonio.
You have reviewed the 2012 schedule, right?
Because they have cool helmets.
Yeah, the BCS plays matchmaker for its bowl games - with a good dose of politics, like matching the only two NAQ teams against each other! But imagine the top 8 (or better yet 16) teams in a seeded bracket, and the matchups that otherwise may never occur - and then there'd be the second round...
Not trying to start a playoff discussion, but I can't believe how any real CF fan can not want to see a playoff (not to mention any coach or player).
OSU and Florida. That way we could see TSIO get there butts handed to them even more in the national spotlight. As for Michigan, I like either Cal, LSU, or Texas, depending on which conference you want to pair up with.
Is there anybody out there that thinks that we really don't need another rival? After all most traditional powerhouses only have one or two rivals. We obviously have OSU, ND, and MSU. Then if you want to add in Minny as a soft "trophy rivalry", we have 4. With Neraska joining the Big Ten and especially our division, it's only a matter of time before they become a rival. There was the "split" national championship in the '97/'98 season that got it brewing and then the epic finish(although we were on the wrond end of that as well) in the 2005 Alamo Bowl. Once we return as a perennial power, the Legends division may come down to the Michigan-Nebraska game most years.
I'm not saying we can't go back to playing two quality non-conference opponents (ND is still #2 on the all-time win % list behind us, right? They will return to an elite program eventually as will we) I just think we are better off scheduling home-and-home games against powerhouses (or neutral games like the 'bama game) than trying to create another rivalry that we face every year like ND. Even if we eventually scrap ND, we don't need to face a perennial power annually.
I'm confused, you say that you want to schedule a powerhouse team each year, but then say we don't need to face a perennial power annually.
I vote starting up a series with one of the other 13-14 power programs and keep it going, but cycling between opponents. Like you said, we'll already be playing three or four each year (UN/ND/OSU/PSU some years) but we really should get home and homes with the likes of Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, Miami, FSU, USC, ect. Even if it's not every season (maybe two years on, four off) those would be special games in A2 and around the country.
Michigan already has three full-blown rivalry games, three or four other schools that see Michigan as a rivalry game, and a chance to start a new rivalry with Nebraska. Then, if they get through all of that, there is a Big Ten Championship game. A school that wants to win a National Championship more than once in fifty years can't afford too many more rivalry games.
There is a difference between "quality opponent" and "rivalry". I'm just getting tired of the 2 MAC and an FCS(+ND) trend we started and see every year now. I prefer that we occasionally schedule a quality opponent like with Oregon in 2007, and like we did throughout the '90s and early 2000s. Look what it does to your rep. You play teams like App St and Toledo, you lose, you never hear the end of it. "Greatest upset of all-time blah blah blah". But if we win, so what, we were supposed to, and we don't get any credit. We don't benefit from games like that. At least games against teams like San Diego St and Utah aren't so bad. All I was saying is its nice to occasionally have a big game outside of the Big Ten and Notre Dame. Play a team like Alabama, take 3-4 years off, then play another team of that caliber. Everyone looks at Rivalries as "must win" games. Just look at MSU. For them, that is their rivalry. That is the most important game on their schedule. That is like our OSU game. When you have a rivalry, the game means more. You can't have a gauntlet of rivalries when your rivals may only have 1-2 other games of that caliber.
I think he's picking cool match-ups, which is fine, but not rivalries (hard to say when it's an Insider article). To me the idea of teams that SHOULD be rivals, but aren't, that have some natural connection, but don't meet up regularly, seems like a good idea. Nebraska-Michigan would have been one, before they joined. Maybe OSU and Cinncy should play regularly. Or something more along the lines of Catholics vs. Convicts, where the cultures of the two schools are so different, they would make natural rivals. People figuring out this would seem more intriguing to me than "these two great teams never play...wouldn't it be cool if...". You get a little of that with LSU-Michigan I guess. But WV-Michigan as suggested above would have made a lot more sense....particularly in the last 3 years.
so i will take a chance on wanting to see what would come of UM vs. Colorado matchup for a few years. Mountain time zone, not west coast but close enough that the game would draw interest with recruits throughout the Rockies range. also close enough to west coast as well as being a pac 10 team to get some interest from fans wondering how colorado would do against B1G power thus helping with more recruit coverage! Bring back the Hail Mary memories and let us redeem them!
Go Blue Beat WMU
The Hail Mary was in '94. We got our redemption for that in '97 en route to our National Championship. But I think we should play our whole '97 slate again. Haven't played Baylor or Colorado since '97. It could be like reliving the '97 season almost, just if we go undefeated this time, we won't have to split our title with Nebraska since we would essentially beat them on our way to the National Championship this time!
As long as we're talking about "opponents we'd like to play" as opposed to trying to create rivalries, I think I have to perfect slate of OOC games. Colorado(Pac 12), Baylor (Big 12), and Notre Dame. No MACs, no FCSs, All AQ teams. Baylor is no slouch anymore, they put together a respectable season last year and showed they can compete. The best part is that the last time we played this slate, we won a National Championship! And they would all be realistically beatable again, home or away. And if we go to a 9 conference schedule, this still would work as our 3 OOC games.
But in all seriousness, the team I would be most interested in playing right now is Missouri. We are 2-2 all-time against them, and haven't faced them since 1975. They are long-overdue for a re-match. There was talks of them possibly joining the Big Ten, so a home-and-home would make sense. The Iowa-Missouri Insight Bowl game turned out to be a good one and I think we could expect games similar to that if we played them. They are a respectable program who gets into the polls, but a team who we could realistically beat. This makes so much sense.
I also would be interested in either Texas or Tennessee, for many of the reasons that other people stated, but since many people already named them, I picked a team getting a little less attention that makes sense. Oklahoma State could be a good matchup as well.
Oregon: It still stings a little we lost both games in the recent home and home. Although, I absolutely loved the west coast traveling out here and to play a team as unique as they are.
UM/OSU vs. Bama/Auburn: It could be a four year agreement where all teams will play a home and home against eachother. Who wouldn't want the The Game, The Iron Bowl and The Game vs The Iron Bowl every year for four years?