Florida or Michigan?

'06 Football General47

OK, so who should play Ohio State for the BCS Championship?

First some rules:

1) Mandatory Required Reading before responding:

– Dan Wetzel’s thoughts and summary

– Sagarin Rankings

2) No mention of a playoff allowed!

3) Act your age or IQ (whichever is higher) 😉

4) No arguing…state your case and move on.

I’ll go first:

I vote for Florida for the following reasons:

– Michigan did not impress me in their first matchup with OSU.

– I don’t want to see a Big 10 rematch for the BCS championship.

– I think that in a 1 vs 2 format, conference championships should be an important consideration.

– The “numbers” are so close that they are virtually worthless in trying to separate the teams. Thus my vote is far more emotional than logical.

About VaWolf82

Engineer living in Central Va. and senior curmudgeon amongst SFN authors One wife, two kids, one dog, four vehicles on insurance, and four phones on cell plan...looking forward to empty nest status. Graduated 1982

'06 Football General

47 Responses to Florida or Michigan?

  1. Texpack 12/03/2006 at 11:09 AM #

    Florida’s second best win is better than Michigan’s best win. The overall toughness of there schedule is enough better to give them the nod.

  2. ncsumatman 12/03/2006 at 11:12 AM #

    I would also vote for Florida. Their wins over conference foes are impressive. They were dominating Auburn, I think they just packed it in thinking they had it won, but that was still a quality loss.

    They won the SEC, pretty much nuff said. In addition, Michigan had their shot at Goliath, given another, they would probably win (FSU v. UF). I think that’s unfair to both OSU and UF, give Florida their crack at Goliath, and don’t set up OSU for an ambush.

    BUT, Florida being left out could lead to an SEC secession from the NCAA (see LSU’s National Championship being dissed, blemish free Auburn missing the National Championship), and that might be a good thing.

  3. Avid109 12/03/2006 at 11:15 AM #

    I’d go with Florida. Michigan has already had a shot at being in the title game, but they lost it when Ohio State beat them. With Florida and Michigan being essentially equal, why should Michigan get a second chance?

  4. NeverGiveUp 12/03/2006 at 11:16 AM #

    Florida.
    In a system where there is no playoff how can you justify crowning the national championship to a team that did not win their own conference. IMO there is really no debate. It should be a BCS by-law that a team must win their conference championship to play in the national championship game.

  5. CaptainCraptacular 12/03/2006 at 11:19 AM #

    If the argument is used that the regular season IS the playoff, then Michigan was eliminated. Conference Champ OSU vs Conference Champ Florida.

  6. Running Wolf 12/03/2006 at 11:20 AM #

    Florida

  7. MadWolf92 12/03/2006 at 11:29 AM #

    Michigan lost to OSU by 3 *at* OSU. That’s an effective draw. I want to see who’d win on a neutral field. If the numbers come out that Florida goes, so be it, but Michigan’s *record* is clearly better in my book.

    Remember….no arguing. Just state your conclusion and the reasons for it.

  8. tvp 12/03/2006 at 11:35 AM #

    From every perspective numerically, it’s a total draw; even if you go down the list and compare UM’s best win v. UF’s best win, second best to second best, etc., it’s basically even. So I’ll go with Florida because 1) The week-in, week-out grind of the SEC is tougher than the Big Ten and 2) It would be hugely unsatisfying if there was a UM v. tOSU rematch and UM wins by 3…

  9. JimValvano 12/03/2006 at 11:39 AM #

    Florida or Michigan??? Why not include another true one loss team? Why not Oklahoma whose only loss was to the defending national champion Texas? Why not Boise State who holds one thing on all these teams…they are undefeated? Tell me how you can tell a team that finishes a season undefeated that they are not champions? I vote for Boise State…everyone else has a loss except for them and Ohio State. I want to see a battle of the undefeateds.

    With that said…I want to actually answer the question. My vote would go to Florida. The reason doesn’t have to do with the fact I don’t want to see a rematch. Kirk Herbstreit convinced me that point should not be considered…it should be about which team I think is better. To me, it seems that Florida is better. I have tremendous respect for the SEC…furthermore, look at the Big Ten and you will see that you’ve got Ohio State who ended up undefeated, Michigan whose only loss was to Ohio State, and you’ve got a one loss Wisconsin team. This says to me that the Big Ten was weak this season if three teams can go through conference play basically unscathed…nobody has mentioned this point which I think is a strong one. I say if Florida gets their chance…they pull the upset.

  10. NCStateDud92 12/03/2006 at 11:43 AM #

    Florida played in and WON the most difficult conference in america, the SEC. Therefor, they deserve a shot at the NC. Also, JimValvano, Oklahoma lost to Oregon also.

  11. wolfbuff 12/03/2006 at 11:46 AM #

    I was leaning toward Michigan up until last night. Given that the SEC is by far the strongest conference in the land this year and that Florida won when it counted in a high stakes game, they deserve the shot. Michigan had theirs and, though they came close, didn’t get it done. It would be nice if there was a win-win scenario, but there’s not. Some school will be mad either way. But we all knew the rules going into the season. The rankings are as objective as humans can make them. What’s, unfortunately, not fair is that the final rankings have as much to do with the SUBjective thoughts of sportswriters at the beginning of the season. Had Oklahoma started off with a higher ranking, or lost on a different week, we might be including them in this debate.

  12. TNPackFan 12/03/2006 at 11:55 AM #

    Florida, because
    1) Michigan had their chance to beat OSU, and failed.
    2) Florida is 2-0 vs top ten teams and 5-1 vs top 30; Michigan is 0-1 and 3-1.
    3) Florida is a conference champion.

  13. JimValvano 12/03/2006 at 11:59 AM #

    NCStateDud92…Oklahoma did not lose to Oregon. They lost to the officiating crew and the replay booth. Do a little search on the game and see the calls made in the final 3 minutes and then see the repremand handed down by the PAC 10 for the actions of those officials whom were obviously biased. Then take note of all the comments by all sportswriters across the nation that state what a travesty, a sham, and a mockery…a traveshamockery…that the Oklahoma loss to Oregon was.

  14. ncsslim 12/03/2006 at 12:01 PM #

    Florida. This isn’t a game of absolute fairness, it’s about who’s next in line and that should be Florida. Michigan had their shot, USC (with one loss) had their’s, and now it’s time for Florida, period. If Florida had went down yesterday, Michigan would have moved to the front of the line, but that obviously did not happen.

  15. Dan 12/03/2006 at 12:17 PM #

    Florida.

    Scheduling the championship game shouldn’t be about who has a claim to #2. It should be about who has a claim to #1. It has been proven the Michigan is not better than Ohio State, therefore Michigan is not THEE best team and has no claim to #1.

    What we just don’t know yet is whether winning a tough SEC even with one loss makes for a better team than sweeping a rather weak Big 10. That is not to say I’d pick the Gators, just that we haven’t seen it proven on the field yet.

  16. ncsu96 12/03/2006 at 12:23 PM #

    madwolf – for all purposes michigan lost by 10 and was trailing the whole game from what I remember.

    I say florida just b/c the rematch of mich-osu does nothing for me.

  17. BJD95 12/03/2006 at 12:32 PM #

    Michigan. BJD wants chaos and a pissed off SEC.

  18. camo-pack98 12/03/2006 at 12:34 PM #

    you can’t pull that great letter spoof of jed with no information and expect THIS fan-base to be happy…share some details of the post to rescind!

  19. Slader4881 12/03/2006 at 12:36 PM #

    UF-

    -Tougher league
    -Won the conference championship
    -more impressive wins
    -Mich had a chance to play them already and lost – bottom line

    Beano Cook was on ESPN radio last night and said basically that a Mich vs OSU rematch would not draw as much interest from the public as UF would. The public opinion is “been there done that” I agree 100%, win your league 1st then you can play for the NC.

  20. Woof Wolf 12/03/2006 at 12:47 PM #

    Florida

    Their is nothing NATIONAL about a Big Ten rematch. If they wanted that game, it should have been played in Chicago yersterday.

  21. bTHEredterror 12/03/2006 at 12:48 PM #

    Good points SFN, I vote Florida.

    1/ (Already stated) Florida won their Conference (coincidentally the toughest) and Michigan did not (coincidentally not the toughest)

    2/Florida played a tougher schedule, and has more quality wins.

    3/Michigan had their chance and lost. Neutral field or not, if you are a better team locale doesn’t matter. Texas went into OSU last year and beat them.

    4/ Without playing into each other (I hope that doesn’t count as playoff talk), i can’t justify two conference rivals playing for a Nat’l C’Ship.

    5/ Michigan needed 60 minutes to beat a 4-7 Mac team the week before OSU. Not exactly a resume builder.

    I would also say to those who think the Michigan-OSU game was great the first time (I agree it was), the “played ’em once theory” doesn’t just go for Michigan. The Buckeyes would have a better idea about how to attack the Wolverines D, which they essentially dismantled the first time. I believe Florida at least presents a new challenge.

  22. NCSUgator 12/03/2006 at 12:49 PM #

    hmmmm….tough one……I’m going to go with….ummm….well…..uh…..Florida.

  23. #44 17 24 12/03/2006 at 12:56 PM #

    Its got to be Florida. I feel it has to be them for the simple fact that they are conference champs and michigan isnt.

  24. NCStateDud92 12/03/2006 at 12:59 PM #

    JimValvano, The box score says loss, so it is a loss. I watched the game, but OU didn’t win the game. By that logic, NCSU was 6-5 in 2004, but that was not he case.

  25. redfred2 12/03/2006 at 1:02 PM #

    If Florida plays OSU, and OSU walks all over them in a game that isn’t anywhere comparable to the OSU/Michigan game, then what?

    Florida was handed a gift in the endzone yesterday by way of one of the worst plays imaginable. That was in the third quarter and could have changed the tide. Using the above logic, Florida won by three yesterday. Also Florida’s QB position?

    Michigan.

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