January 12th, 2021 at 7:23 AM ^
He’s out there or lost?
January 12th, 2021 at 7:38 AM ^
It's easy to get lost out there.
January 12th, 2021 at 8:56 AM ^
especially when we're not sure if you spell it "Alabama" or "AlabaXa"
January 12th, 2021 at 9:00 AM ^
Ah... so *that's* why osu was missing some players. Makes sense.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:29 AM ^
I think he’s vacationing somewhere in South America. Can’t remember where but I think it was between Brazil and Chile somewhere. I don’t think he’s coming back.
January 12th, 2021 at 7:26 AM ^
I will say. Cheering for Alabama last night was actually pretty fun. Now I know what it's like to be a fan of a dominant college football team.
January 12th, 2021 at 7:45 AM ^
These things come in cycles. It was fun cheering for Michigan in the 90s and even early 2000s... not so much for Alabama back then.
January 12th, 2021 at 8:13 AM ^
Can we stop with the "this comes in cycles" thing? I've heard our fans say this since I joined back in 2009. Nearly 20 years of being dominated by OSU is not a "cycle". Either you fix it or you don't, it doesn't just happen automatically.
January 12th, 2021 at 8:42 AM ^
I say it because it is true over the long run. It is easy to find decades where certain programs dominate and then were quiet for the next decade (or more). It happens. If anyone wants to claim that "this time is different" they can try, but that is rather myopic.
Does this mean Michigan will be dominant again in the 2020s? Probably not (but maybe... hopefully). It does mean that someone else is likely to rise up and displace one (or more) of the current "power" teams (or, more aptly, one of those teams will fall back to Earth).
January 12th, 2021 at 10:26 AM ^
I love the "these things come in cycles" nonsense. Lions fans have been waiting for their cycle to start for 60 years now. We're at 25 years. Ryan Day is a baby and will likely be at OSU for 30 years. Can't wait for Michigan's cycle to kick in 30 years from now when I'm likely dead. Cool.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:17 AM ^
Nonsense? It applies to NFL as well - just ask a Browns fan now... or any New England fan... or any Dallas or Miami fan. There are naturally cycles. Detroit has been in cycles also, but mismanaged it - there were points to where one could see a real pathway to being consistently "good" if not better.
As for Michigan - were you not around in the 80s, 90s or early 2000s? Did you not see how close we actually came even just a few years ago? We aren't "back" by any means, but this isn't exactly a lost cause either. Get some perspective.. or maybe find a different sport if you can't handle some turbulence in this one.
(Speaking of cycles in college sports - look at our basketball program over the past 30 years. A single team, with relative continuity in staff and AD personnel, can have short term cycles. A school/program can experience much longer term cycles that last several coaching changes. It happens to other schools beyond our own.)
January 12th, 2021 at 11:22 AM ^
I feel like there are better examples than the Browns here. They've won one playoff game, against a severely downward trending team. And they were by most accounts the worst 11-5 team ever.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:24 AM ^
True, they're not very high on the scale yet... but compare that to their baseline for the last few years (or decade).
January 12th, 2021 at 11:58 AM ^
Eagles. Giants. Saints. Packers. Broncos. Rams. Raiders. Bucks. Titans. Jags. Bears.
Red Wings. Avs. Bruins. Blackhawks. Penguins. Lightning.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:15 AM ^
Look at OSU over the last 50+ years, they've fielded top teams each and every decade. There were a handful of individual years where they didn't do as well, but they are never 'quiet' for a decade.
The cycles concept may apply to many teams, but not to OSU.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:28 AM ^
It's almost like OSU is doing something that Michigan doesn't! Namely, build their football program as an NFL semi-pro team that has no time for student athlete-ing and these silly NCAA "rules" most teams are following.
8.5.5January 12th, 2021 at 4:31 PM ^
And yet they are well ahead in APR and the number of academic All-Americans on the football team. If you think it’s the amount of time spent in the classroom that is holding UM back, I’ve got some bad news for you.
January 12th, 2021 at 5:18 PM ^
APR is a very poor metric to use and is easily "gamed".
January 12th, 2021 at 2:34 PM ^
That's not exactly right. From 1971-2011, the Buckeyes won about 75% of their games and one national championship, same as Michigan. OSU didn't kick it into another level until Meyer.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:05 AM ^
You're relatively young. I still have vivid memories of this.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:53 AM ^
OSU beat us that year as well. Just sayin'
January 12th, 2021 at 10:03 AM ^
Wasn't that picture after they lost in the National Championship game in 2007 (14 years ago). So yeah, they were beating us back then and competing for National Championships, and they are beating us now and competing for National Championships, with zero indication that a change is on the horizon. 15 years, and counting, is a pretty long cycle.
January 12th, 2021 at 10:25 AM ^
No it is from the 90s.
But you are correct that their fans were crying after that national championship game too ???
January 12th, 2021 at 10:42 AM ^
It's from after they were upset at home in 1998 to MSU . . . coached by one Nick Saban.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:00 AM ^
Thanks for setting me straight! I'm surprised I had that so far off in my head.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:43 AM ^
JFC, you're all wrong—that photo was taken at OSU's victory over Miami for the National Championship in January 2003.
Welp, turns out I'm full of crap.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:48 AM ^
From the Toledo Blade
January 12th, 2021 at 12:18 PM ^
get you right in the 'feels', doesn't it?
no. actually not one bit. hard to suppress laughter at that hubris-filled program. trying to not take joy in that, but i'm losing that battle....
January 12th, 2021 at 2:50 PM ^
I don't know where I got the notion that it was taken in 2002... I have zero recollection of MSU's victory in 1998.
January 12th, 2021 at 4:36 PM ^
Don’t sweat it don. If someone is one or 2000 years old, it’s easy to mix up football seasons.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:09 AM ^
Can we stop with the "this comes in cycles" thing? I've heard our fans say this since I joined back in 2009. Nearly 20 years of being dominated by OSU is not a "cycle". Either you fix it or you don't, it doesn't just happen automatically.
This got downvoted quite a bit see, but I guess I'm in the minority and agree with you . I've heard that phrase way too much on here as well over the years. People are still stuck talking about the 1997 Charles Woodson punt return against Ohio St (which was awesome but it was 24 fucking years ago).
January 12th, 2021 at 9:16 AM ^
I think this phrase is way overused, but that is such a strawman statement. Nobody is saying they're still living off the excitement of Charles Woodson and the national championship from 24 years ago. But it's a statement of fact that things are cyclical. Every program has its downs. Michigan went 40 years without a losing season (and only 1 year with <8 wins, when it was common to play only 10 or 11 games in a season).
If you really think that "this is just the way things will always be" then, honestly, why do you even bother watching or following the team or caring at all? That's not a rhetorical question. What is the point of watching?
January 12th, 2021 at 11:45 AM ^
There is no guarantee that this isn't always how it will be for Michigan. Minnesota, Illinois, and Pittsburgh were once powers. Wisconsin was a doormat from the 60s until the 90s. So was Kansas State.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:14 AM ^
I remember more than a few disappointing seasons during that time as well. Truth be told we haven't had a dominating time like the current Bama dynasty since a guy named Yost roamed the sidelines.
January 12th, 2021 at 10:29 AM ^
How many programs were that dominant before Saban? I think that’s what all the googoo eyes for him are about. USC wasn’t this good. Neither was Miami. We weren’t and osu has never been.
January 12th, 2021 at 11:59 AM ^
Michigan's current cycle that it is repeating is the latter half of the Oosterbaan era and all of Bump Elliot's
January 12th, 2021 at 2:22 PM ^
I’m not so sure. You imply that we are trapped in some sort of world where the successes and failures are outside of human control. I disagree. I’m sure FSU, Miami(YTM), USC, and Texas are all waiting for their cycle too.
January 12th, 2021 at 8:07 AM ^
I'm glad they won, but the playoff is broke. I hope they expand it soon
January 12th, 2021 at 8:14 AM ^
It was never designed to function as a proper playoff (neither was the BCS). This was clear the moment it was announced as a 4-team affair.
January 12th, 2021 at 8:39 AM ^
Expand to 8 or more, result will still be the same as long as 'Bama, Clemson, OSU remain at their current level.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:06 AM ^
Yeah, I don't get this argument. The goal is to find the best teams / team. They have consistently done that.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:15 AM ^
TCU from 2014 might disagree. Others from different years also have a case (and even more from the BCS years).
January 12th, 2021 at 10:19 AM ^
No one outside of TCU would.
January 12th, 2021 at 1:42 PM ^
A number of AP voters disagreed with that sentiment in 2014. I doubt many of them were from TCU.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:18 AM ^
The goal isn't to find the best team, it's to crown a champion - and generate lots of fan interest. College football's method may not be so great for the latter.
Have a real tournament that gives more teams an incentive at the end of the season, and you will unquestionably boost fan interest. Do the #16 seeds in the NCAA basketball tournament lament their fate? No, they're just thrilled to be there.
Beyond that, if more teams start regularly making the playoffs, that will reduce one of the big selling points of the Bama/Clemson/OSU triad.
January 12th, 2021 at 10:05 AM ^
The goal isn't to find the best team, it's to crown a champion:
So the champion isn't considered the best team? I think you have this confused with the basketball tournament, where sometimes the hottest team wins. Football crowns the best team, and adding mediocre teams to that mix isn't going to change it. Explain to me which teams being added this year, or last year, or the year before that would have changed anything.
January 12th, 2021 at 10:32 AM ^
Giving the best players more than three options for school if they want to go to the playoff seems like one of the biggest selling points, to me, for expanding the playoff.
January 12th, 2021 at 10:17 AM ^
I get it the better teams usually come out on top but if the playoffs get expanded then there’s a chance for an earlier upset. Yes, OSU beat Clemson but OSU caught Clemson on the perfect night with two of Clemson’s best defenders out and their OC out. Other than Clemson, OSU played a pathetic schedule. Maybe get a few more teams in the playoff and a hot team can advance. It works in basketball.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:12 AM ^
I agree and disagree. There'd be more games played, and more chances for teams to slip. Every year there seems to be a clear cut 1 and/or 2 and the last 2 seem to come from a group of 4 or 5 teams that equally deserve to be in.
I know this isn't the best comparison, but what the NCAA does for basketball is a great counter-argument. From a quick search, it has only been the top 4 number 1 seeds in the final four once, and rarely are the final four all ranked 1/2/3. There's usually a 5+ seed that makes it in, and a lot of times those teams were never ranked in the top 25 all year. Our playoff doesn't allow the "cinderella story" to happen. Could Cincinnati have done better than Notre Dame? Coastal Carolina and Liberty looked good(yes I know they'd get destroyed by Alabama). Ucf from a few years ago.
Personally, I want it expanded to 16, and not be the top 16 teams necessarily. If you go undefeated, you deserve a spot. Regardless of the competition, that is rarely done.
January 12th, 2021 at 9:15 AM ^
I don’t know that the four teams are at their own level or that the best teams were clearly determined. Is getting blown out by 28 “at” Alabama’s level? And it wasn’t particularly predicted OSU would handle Clemson. So what are the levels of the three exactly?
To make it more complex, Florida played a heck of a game against Alabama and could’ve won by a shoestring (or hurdle). The Gators are the only team that seemed like an equal competitor to Alabama this year. Certainly not OSU.
Also, a playoff containing the same four teams is self-fulfilling. Who can say it was a confirmation of the best despite its flaws? Alabama was special, but none of the other three looked it for each of the games they lost in January.
This is why playoffs happen and why they should include more teams.