<p>
[quote]
So just outside that stadium, a lot of people will be rooting for Michigan.
[/quote]
Now, if we could convince them to root for Michigan <em>INSIDE</em> that stadium! ;)</p>
<p>It has been easy for us to get tickets this year. I think it'll be fun (especially with the Rose Parade). I received an e-mail the very night the standings were announced. The more difficult task was getting plane tickets as we'll be on another trip right before we go to Los Angeles. We won't be leaving from Michigan. Honestly, I still can't believe I'm going.</p>
<p>^Yeah, we got the e-mail that night as well. This time, you can order up to 8 tickets through the Alum Association so they must have corrected the issues from the '04 fiasco. Make sure you bring some warm clothes just in case. SoCal had a cold snap when we were there. Temps were barely in the 40's at kick-off. Thank goodness we had come from a cold climate and had jackets, gloves, hats, etc...it was freezing! :eek:</p>
<p>You know what, I think I may end up going. I really don't want to, but the family wants to make a "vacation" out of it.</p>
<p>YOU ALL SHOULD GO!!! lol...only reason I'm not is cause I'm comin back from England that same day and will arrive in Detroit at like 1pm...oh if we only made the national championship..I woulda skipped school to see that lol</p>
<p>I'm boycotting all the BCS games because, while I don't know what the "C" stands for, I know what the "BS" stands for.</p>
<p>A few more noteworthy points... Florida beat South Carolina, an unranked team, by 1 point (not just Tennessee)... and Michigan beat Wisconsin, a higher ranked team than Florida LOST to... and UM, Ohio State, and ND were the only teams that beat Penn State and they didn't end up in the top 25. The SEC conference is way, way overrated.</p>
<p>Should Lloyd Carr be fired?</p>
<p>The results thus far seem to indicate college football has been "analyzed" with lots of BS.
:)</p>
<p>Message from a (slightly) obnoxious Gator fan: all this talk about Florida being "unworthy", the SEC being "overrated", Michigan being "cheated", expressing "disgust" with the BCS "politics".....well, you all are looking a bit silly today.</p>
<p>Sorry, had to vent. Gators a very deserving number 1. 'Nuff Sed.</p>
<p>I still do think Michigan got cheated. People were voting on who they wanted in the national championship game, not who the 2nd best team clearly was. IMO Michigan and OSU both lost because of their 8+ week layoff while Florida and USC both played the last week.</p>
<p>I personally underestimated Florida and USC. They are both worthy teams. I agree that being off for so long definitely slowed Michigan and OSU down. I think Michigan and OSU must postpone their annual grudge match to the first Saturday of December on an annual basis until there comes a time that a twelfth Big 10 team joins the league and a conference championship is played. </p>
<p>In my opinion, Florida, Michigan, OSU and USC, along with LSU and a couple more teams are all very good and could have won on any given day. That's why I think the current system is flawed. I think a playoff is the only way to go.</p>
<p>Exactly. All the powerhouses like Michigan, USC, Florida, Ohio State, LSU, and hell even Boise State could all beat one another on any given day. Determining who is best by one game is quite ridiculous. </p>
<p>My method of choice is a double-elimination tournament similar to college baseball. Two brackets of 4 teams each, 2-losses and you're out. That may be unrealistic because a team could play as many as five games, but personally I think that is the best method.</p>
<p>They don't even do double elimination in the NFL. Plus, it would take a lot of the suspense out of it. Also, it would definitely cut into basketball season then (right now it's just bowl games.) Not only would this cut into sales, but you have to be considerate to guys like Julius Peppers who actually play football and basketball. (I would've mentioned Greg Paulus, as well, who plays QB for Duke football and also starts in basketball, but let's face it, Duke football isn't going to the final four anytime soon.)</p>
<p>I know it's not practical but that doesn't mean it wouldn't lead to a more accurate national champion. College is different from the NFL in that in college there are about 8-10 teams in any given year that are extremely good and if they all played each other, each team would finish around .500. This really doesn't exist in the NFL, where you have maybe two or three elite teams and the rest in the playoffs are just pretty good. </p>
<p>So the most accurate way is to play as many games as possible. A double elimination does that much better than a simple tournament. However I realize that, one, it isn't practical in college football because of the time frame and money issues, and two, probably isn't practical in any type of football because of the number of games that would have to be played. Just my little idea of a better system.</p>
<p>Michigan is ranked behind Wisconsin in the final rankings?</p>
<p>Ridiculous.</p>
<p>Well, Wisconsin did finish 12-1. Ok, so they played a much easier schedule (no OSU, no USC and no Notre Dame), and of course, they lost to us by 2 TDs, but Wisconsin took care of business and we didn't.</p>
<p>Ohio State and Michigan losing in the manner they did was devastating, not only for the individual schools, but for the rivalry and the conference as a whole. It's hard to argue the Big Ten isn't overrated when the pride of the conference can be humiliated in such a fashion.</p>
<p>If there's going to be a playoff, I think they should make it exclusive enough so that a team simply can't afford more than one loss and still get in. Perhaps only four teams are allowed in, with everyone else taking their bowl game as usual. That would give the regular season even more weight, in my opinion, because none of the elite teams would be down and out after their first loss. It would also allow the elite schools a chance to schedule a tough out of conference opponent early in the year, and not risk a completely blown season after only one loss. The mini playoff could start a couple weeks after the regular season, minimizing the downtime before the big bowls. The championship game could be played when it normally is.</p>
<p>The BCS is having trouble choosing the two best teams, but I think it would be much more effective if we only asked it to choose the top four.</p>
<p>Frame, Michigan's loss was ugly, but it was not devastating. Losing by 14 points to USC at the Rose Bowl is not devastating when one considers the atmospheric and weather conditions, the partisan crown (3:1 in favor of the Trojans) and the time off (Michigan's 6 weeks compared to USC's 4 weeks). OSU's loss, now that was devastating!</p>
<p>I think a playoff should have at least 6 teams, preferably 8 teams.</p>
<p>We can agree on the need for (at least) a limited playoff series. Imagine if the pundits on this board got their wish....a Michigan-Ohio State BCS championship game this year...to think!!...that came within a <em>whisker</em> of happening. Now <em>that</em> would have been a travesty.</p>
<p>Rogracer, one cannot seriously think that Florida is better than OSU judging from their bowl games. OSU self-destructed for one reason or another and Florida played one heck of a good game. I personally still think that a Michigan vs OSU rematch would have been fair given the regular season results. But as we all saw, Florida, USC, Wisconsin, LSU and Boise State are all equally as worthy and that is why we need a playoff.</p>
<p>U of M got blown out. The score was kind to the men in the winged helmets. Layoffs and atmosphere matter little to disciplined teams. </p>
<p>As bad as this sounds, having Ohio State dominate their bowl competition the last few years gave Michigan a chance to reclaim credibility on a national stage from within the Big Ten. Now that the elite of the conference (save Wisconsin) have been swept by what many considered to be inferior bowl competition, both Michigan and OSU will have to beat tough out of conference opponents to regain lost respect.</p>
<p>It's been the Big Two Little Nine for years, but now the conference is looking like the Little Ten Mediocre One. Michigan has lost in three strait Rose Bowls, and Ohio State finally dropped a big game hard. This happened on the two largest stages in college football in front of millions. Now that is devastating!</p>
<p>^^^ It was very clear from the beginning of both games that the teams came out flat, and that they would not play to full potential. But even as a Big Ten homer, it's obvious to me that the conference is in serious need of a good bowl outing. Hopefully that will be in January 2008.</p>