After sitting through a pointless 30-minute debate on whether Oklahoma State or Alabama should play for the National Championship against LSU, ESPN finally revealed where our beloved Michigan Wolverines would be playing for a bowl game.  Most of us anticipated playing in the Sugar Bowl but we certainly didn’t anticipate the opponent we would be matched up with: #13 Michigan vs. #11 Virginia Tech

Some might question why Michigan is in a BCS bowl. We can make the case, though, that our last loss came back in week 9 (not this past Saturday Sparty) and we handily beat a strong Nebraska team in week 11.  Michigan showed why it deserved a spot in a BCS bowl down the stretch with strong defense and a high scoring offense.

Virginia Tech was the sleepier team the whole season.  They had an 11-1 record prior to their conference championship game but might not have deserved the #11 ranking.  They lost this past Saturday to a Clemson team that had an up-and-down season, and did so by a significant four touchdowns. There were teams that most likely deserved Virginia Tech’s spot more based on performance.  Boise State had another strong season, with its only loss coming on a missed field goal against TCU.  Though instead of a BCS bowl, Boise is stuck with a spot in the Maaco Bowl in Las Vegas.

Also the Big 12 officials are making a case for their teams to make a BCS Bowl. Only Oklahoma State was represented from the conference while Kansas State (a top ten team) and Baylor (with a Heisman candidate QB and big wins throughout season) were left out.  Boise is the more deserving team based on performance along with Kansas State. I believe that here, revenue becomes a skewing factor, as with many of the BCS decisions.  They would rather fill seats than match up the better teams.

I look forward to seeing how Michigan performs against the Hokies, though I can’t help but  lament over the obvious case that has been made that money is taking over in college football. There needs to be a new system.

[Cough] …playoffs [cough].

By: Chris Swift

(Photo by Anthony Gattine under a Creative Commons license)

1 Comment

• Brandon Klein says:

  December 8, 2011 at 10:55 am

  I think the team that was most snubbed is Kansas State–their only two losses came to Oklahoma and Oklahoma State.

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