Reasons why Michigan should be playing in Glendale, not Florida:

June 19, 2008 Note: This is a post that originally appeared on Golden's Football Rankings and is reporduced here for posterity.

-Florida 21 FSU 14, Wake Forest 30 Florida State 0
-Even if the SEC is the nation’s toughest conference, that does not give the champion an automatic birth in the title game.
-If you switched the schedule so that Florida played at OSU and Michigan played at Auburn, Michigan would be 12-0, Florida would still be 12-1
-If the computer polls still considered margin of victory, Michigan would be ahead of Florida in all of the computer polls.
-If the Gators go to Glendale, they should surrender their 1996 championship. After all, they got a back-to-back rematch, after losing on the road by 3 points.
-Michigan beat Vanderbilt handily, whereas Florida struggled with the Commodores. Michigan had more rushing yards (254-125), more total yards (381-344). More first downs (20-18), gave up less rushing yards (69-114), less passing yards (95-275), less total yards (164-389), and less first downs (9-19). Michigan was never in danger against Vandy and led the whole game. Florida barely escaped with their lives. Ask the Vandy fans which team they think is better.

Michigan is the Better Team!!! -- Rematch, conference strength, past history, none of that matters. The best two teams should play in the championship game. Period. That’s why the BCS was created. In all the arguments about this game, none of the Florida backers are saying that the Gators are a better team, because they aren’t. Everyone who has seen both teams in person will tell you that Michigan is the better team. Michigan trailed for all of 8 minutes all season before playing OSU, against the 3rd toughest schedule in the country. Florida played a slightly tougher schedule, but struggled at many points, and easily could have lost 4 or 5 games. Vegas has Michigan as a touchdown favorite in a game between the two on a neutral field.


An OSU / Florida game would be a travesty (and a bloodbath). It would mean that voters were voting to engineer a matchup, not voting who they think are the best two teams. How many SEC coaches are going to drop Michigan below #3 to influence the outcome (Hello Phil Fulmer!)? It would mean that politics, media, and $$ matter more than the games on the field. It would mean that once again, the BCS (due mostly to the human component) has failed to bring satisfaction to the nation’s college football fans.