IT'S MICHIGAN WEEK

Number 1 vs Number 2

Series        Michigan 57 -- Ohio State 39 -- 6 Ties 

 As Ohio State's head coach Jim Tressel has led the Buckeyes to 4 victories out of the last 5 games he has coached against Michigan. This is seemingly a total turnaround from when John Cooper (2-10-1 vs Michigan) was the head coach for Ohio State. Tressel has one National Championship as the head coach for Ohio State and is poised to for a second. All he has to do is get the Buckeyes to beat Michigan and Ohio State is guaranteed a trip to Glendale, Arizona. Lose this game and it's Michigan who's guaranteed the trip. Just another chapter in the storied rivalry.

The issue is which team will Ohio State play against if the Buckeyes win? Will they get a rematch with Michigan win or lose this week? Or, if Ohio State loses to Michigan, will the Buckeyes miss out on the National Championship game altogether? 

Dennis Dodd, of CBSSportsline.com states in his article titled It's simple: Win your conference before you play for BCS title;

"One team is going to lose. Which means one team is not going to win the Big Ten title. But could play for the national championship."

        This is true. But it's not like this kind of thing hasn't happened before.  

Dennis Dodd explains in one example from the same article;

"Nebraska lose by 26 to Colorado in its final regular-season game in 2001. The scarred 'Skers didn't even win their own division but played for the national championship."

There is a lot of animosity over Ohio State and Michigan playing in the National Championship game against each other. Some, like Dennis Dodd, feel a team should win their conference. Others simply don't like the idea of two teams from the same conference being represented. Some just don't like the idea because it's two teams from a conference that their favorite team(s) aren't affiliated with.

Dennis Dodd explains it like this "The only outrage seems to be that for the first time two teams from one conference (Big Ten) would play for the BCS title. It's kind of like Microsoft playing a charity pickup basketball game between corporate execs where all the proceeds go to -- Microsoft."

There are those of us who believe that since we're stuck with the BCS then the best two teams should play for the National Championship regardless of what conference those two teams are affiliated with or whether both teams won a conference title. If you don't believe this way then undefeateds Boise State and/or Rutgers should play for the National Title since each is likely to win their conference and be undefeated. Yet, neither team is better than Ohio State, Michigan, Southern California, Florida, Notre Dame, and possibly others like Wisconsin, Arkansas, or LSU.

Gregg Doyel said it best in his CBSSportsline.com article titled Michigan-Ohio State on Saturday should only be Part I when he stated "Whether you or me or anyone wants to see a Michigan-Ohio State rematch is irrelevant. Given the way this season has played out, a competitive game on Saturday between Michigan and Ohio State must produce a BCS title game sequel. Seems clear to me anyway. Lots of poll-influencing media members aren't seeing it that way. They're looking at Saturday's Michigan-OSU game as an elimination contest. It's illogical and unfair."

The only true measuring sticks of figuring which teams are the best is to look at team records, stats, and who they played since every team doesn't play every team. "To find the best one-loss team in college football, don't look at when they got beat. Look at who beat 'em.", said by Gregg Doyel.

Therefore, if Ohio State wins then Michigan would be the most deserving one loss team since the Wolverines beat Notre Dame and Wisconsin. If Michigan wins then Ohio State would be the most deserving one loss team since they beat Texas and their only loss would be to the number 2 team at game time.

 

BCS Poll	Conference				Overall					Home		Away
Team	W	L	PF	PA	W	L	PF	PA	Str	W	L	W	L
1  Ohio St.	7	0	263	53	11	0	394	86	Won 11	6	0	5	0
2  Michigan	7	0	174	62	11	0	323	133	Won 11	7	0	4	0
3  USC	6	1	210	109	8	1	288	133	Won 2	4	0	4	1
4  Florida	7	1	178	126	9	1	254	133	Won 3	7	0	2	1
5  Notre Dame	0	0	0	0	9	1	324	216	Won 7	5	1	4	0
6  Rutgers	4	0	94	68	9	0	262	98	Won 9	5	0	4	0
7  Arkansas	6	0	167	89	9	1	308	156	Won 9	6	1	3	0
8  W Virginia	3	1	154	96	8	1	362	157	Won 1	5	0	3	1
9  Wisconsin	7	1	245	116	10	1	328	140	Won 7	6	0	4	1
10 Louisville	3	1	120	92	8	1	340	150	Lost 1	4	0	4	1
11 LSU	4	2	166	85	8	2	343	104	Won 4	7	0	1	2

The following table shows key losses and key wins.

1 Ohio State				Sep 9 Sep 23	@Texas Penn St.	Won 24-7 Won 28-6
2 Michigan				Sep 16 Sep 23 Oct 14	@Notre Dame Wisconsin @Penn St.	Won 47-21 Won 27-13 Won 17-10
3 USC	Oct 28	@Oregon St.	Lost 31-33	Sep 2 Sep 16 Nov 11	@Arkansas Nebraska Oregon	Won 50-14 Won 28-10 Won 35-10
4 Florida	Oct 14	@Auburn	Lost 17-27	Sep 16 Oct 7	@Tennessee LSU	Won 21-20