Rematch Looks Unlikely
If you hear someone say today, “Michigan is still #2 in the BCS! Rematch time”
Ignore them.
After seeing the polls today, it is clear to me that Michigan will need a small miracle to get in the game with OSU.
The ball is now clearly in USC’s court. They are #2 in the coach poll but still #3 in the BCS. The #2 Coach Poll rank is *huge*. They passed Michigan. With a win over ND, who is another top 5 or 6 BCS team, they will leap over Michigan if they win out based on SoS. Top 5 BCS wins earn big BCS points; it’s why the computers have loved UM from the get go. The computers have loved Michigan all year, in fact they were rated #1 before Saturday so it’s not a shock they didn’t fall to #3.
If USC wins out — they’re in. This is almost a slam dunk because they are #2 in the USA Today poll.
If they lose and Florida wins out by beating Arkansas, Florida is most likely in, especially if Arkansas beats LSU. If you don’t want a rematch, pull for Arkansas to beat the Tigers on Friday.
It’s too early to predict a rematch. A LOT of poll shifting is going to go down over the next week or so. Every 1-loss team with a shot plays another top 5 team which is going to do wonders for their BCS rank. I don’t think Michigan has a shot unless all sorts of bizarre stuff goes down.
Being #2 at his moment is meaningless, there is a lot of KEY games left to play.
I think UM is Rose Bowl Bound.
November 19th, 2006 at 9:20 pm
Rematches suck - especially between rivals.
First of all, it waters down the rivalry. When FSU had to play UF for the NC, it was the second bowl game between the 2 schools in 4 years. Nobody wants to see 2 teams play that often - no matter how good the 2 teams are. And it also makes the regular season irrelevant.
And as much as I hated the rematch between the Noles and Gators, at least it was the only option that season. That is not the case this year. As you pointed out, unless the last few weeks are very weird - like USC beating ND and losing to UCLA, or Arkansas losing to LSU and beating UF, there will be an alternative.
The one thing the NCAA wants to avoid is making the regular season irrelevant. The only reason fans put up with the out of conference mismatches to start the season is because of games like OSU-UT and OSU-Mich. We see those games as elimination matches.
November 20th, 2006 at 9:30 pm
“The only reason fans put up with the out of conference mismatches to start the season…”
That doesn’t have to be the case. Check out the Trojans schedule