Ohio State Versus Michigan
November 17, 2006 – 4:16 pmSince just about everyone has preordained this game as the greatest game in college football history, I might as well offer my own pick before the action commences tomorrow. To make it short and sweet, I’ll take Ohio State, 27-17.
Why is everyone so nuts about this game? Yes, it’s number one versus number two, and that’s always a big deal. But why is everyone so certain that this will be the greatest game in the history of organized sport? They’re both good teams, yes, but do people not understand what has to happen to make this game live up to expectations?
Here’s how crazy the situation is: people are already talking about the necessity of a rematch in the national title game. That’s how good people think this game will be. They already want to see it again, and they haven’t even seen it the first time. How ridiculous.
I think Ohio State will win and move on to play in the national championship game. Who will they play? I have absolutely no idea, but if I had a guess at this point, I’d say USC. And they’d probably school USC in that game. Maybe Florida will make it. I really have no idea.
Anyway, it’s almost time to have the action unfold in Columbus, Ohio. The hype is overwhelming. I just don’t see this game living up to that.
6 Responses to “Ohio State Versus Michigan”
I think you’ve avoided talking about one of the most important parts of this game: Both teams are 11-0, and the teams are #1 & #2. If they were playing just about anyone other than each other, then chances are they’d finish the year 12-0, and they’d be ranked #1 and #2. However, since one team has to lose, chances are that they’ll be ranked #1 and #3+, and it isn’t clear to me that that’s the correct outcome. If Michigan wins, they should simply swap rankings with Ohio State. If Michigan loses as an up-until-now undefeated #2 to the undefeated #1, do they actually deserve to drop in the rankings.
Now let’s look at the other teams fighting to get into the national championship: #3 USC, #4 Florida, #5 Notre Dame, #6 Rutgers, #7 Arkansas, #8 West VA, #9 Wisconsin, #10 Louisville. All of these teams could end up with only one loss, and Rutgers could end up undefeated. However, looking at strength of schedule, Wisconsin, West VA, Rutgers, and Louisville all had rather weak schedules compared to the other top teams. So, even if Rutgers goes undefeated, they haven’t been playing the same type of teams as Ohio State and Michigan. Hopefully this season will help with their recruiting and they can start to play some more powerful teams, and then maybe in a year or two they can make a championship.
So, look at USC, Florida, Notre Dame, and Arkansas. First off: Notre Dame. WEAK SCHEDULE: Stanford, UCLA, Navy, UNC, Air Force, and Army. Hell, RICE beat up on Army, and they gave UCLA a run for their money. For Notre Dame, 6 of their wins will be against teams that any team in the top HALF of the league would be ashamed to lose to. Personally, I don’t think Notre Dame should be ranked where they are, but it doesn’t matter, because USC will beat them, and then Notre Dame will have 2 losses and drop in the rankings.
Finally we’re down to USC, Florida, and Arkansas. Let’s assume they all win the rest of their games in the regular season. Chances are that Florida will beat Arkansas in the SEC championship game. That gives us a Florida team that is ranked 12-1, a 12-1 that they earned by beating their way through the freakin’ S.E.C. They may not finish undefeated, and I may hate them down to the very core of my being, but they deserve a shot at the Championship. And as much as I dislike and am tired of USC, they’ve had a good season. Although, USC is finishing out their season agianst an overrated Cal team, a WAAAAY overrated Notre Dame, and UCLA (who, as I mentioned, only beat Rice by a smallish margin).
You know, in terms of strength of schedule, Florida, just by being in the SEC had a much tougher schedule than Ohio State, Michigan, and USC, the other front runners for the national championship, and they (so far) only have one loss.
Let’s assume that the top 4 teams all win the rest of their games (except for the Ohio State/Michigan game). There is no way that you can pick just two teams for the National Championship. There has got to be a playoff system for a race that’s this close.
Anyway, what was I talking about? Oh yeah, the situation where #1 and #2 are both undefeated and play each other as the last game of the season. Has something like this happened since the BCS was implemented? It *is* essentially a preview of the National Championship game, except that by being a preview, it’s going to probably change who actually makes it to the Championship, and I’m not sure that it should. The race for the Championship, at least among the top 4 teams (quit your whining Notre Dame), is too close to call based on simple rankings (especially computer rankings).
By Adam on Nov 17, 2006 at 5:32 pm
Don’t you love it when I make comments that are longer than your original post, Jeff?
By Adam on Nov 17, 2006 at 5:33 pm
But that wasn’t Jeff’s point - or at least not what I took from it. I think he was pointing out that we should wait until after the game to make a judgment on who deserves to be in the national title game.
And why should Ohio State and Michigan just switch spots if Michigan wins? If Michigan wins on the road, why should Ohio State get another shot at a neutral site? That seems silly, especially when there are other one-loss teams that we don’t know how they would fair against Michigan.
And Jeff, try googling for “number one versus number two”. I think you’ll like the result.
By Bobby on Nov 18, 2006 at 8:19 am
Well Jeff. I assume you’ve watched the game by now. Time to weigh in!
By Adam on Nov 19, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Alright, I just wrote a new post about the game. The link is in the comment directly preceding this one.
By jjk on Nov 19, 2006 at 8:52 pm