Michigan v. Georgia, Orange Bowl, Miami FL, Friday, 12/31/21, 7:30pm, ESPN/ESPN Video

[froot loops]

The refs are always out to.get.you, the diagnosis is clear projection.

[iam416]

UAT-Georgia will be higher rates than UGA-M. And the CFP did get what they want — the clear two best teams playing gift the title. Well done.

[Tom W]

UAT-Georgia will be higher rates than UGA-M. And the CFP did get what they want — the clear two best teams playing gift the title. Well done.

Maybe, but aren't people getting a little bit sick of seeing yet another sequel from Saban on that otherwise miserable 2nd Monday in January?

Yeah we get it that Alabama is pretty much an NFL team, so let's watch PBS instead.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Well new blood would be nice but clearly these are the two best teams in CFB...by a large margin.

[CGVT]

The game last night was obviously a disappointment, but the result was much what I expected. I've said all year that college football was Georgia, Alabama and then everybody else. That has proven to be true.

[lineygoblue]

Clemson will rejoin that group soon. They quietly won six in a row to end the season, and they won their bowl game.

OSU isn't going away either. They have lots of young talent that is ready to step up, and they have CRD.

The playoffs need to expand in order to make the bowls relevant again. The bell has been rung, and they may as well make the best of it, and include more teams.

[Jeff Buchanan]

Well, that wasn't much fun. I was in attendance at Hardrock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL last night ....... in the M student section. Word to the wise. Don't buy tickets from stub hub there. 4h of enjoying a scattering of nice kids with a larger number of drunk ones acting stupidly and fighting over who actually had the ticket for THAT seat, was going to sit where and with which girl friend. There was a lone UGA fan right in front of me who was being a dick and that nearly produced a fight .....and M got curb stomped. Not a pleasant evening of football at all.

The script went exactly as planned - for UGA. Smart had Bennett throwing the ball out of the gate. It looked like Mike Macdonald and his troops were ill prepared for that instead being manned up for the run. Short screens and out-passes were repeatedly called with M's D looking impotent and incapable of stopping them. That went on interminably with the characteristic Kirby Smart big play dialed up when Bennett got the match-up he wanted. Really brilliant. The second half was brutal with UGA, who thrives on doing just this, got a big lead and sat on it. The final stanza was characterized by endless run and pass plays outside intended to gas M's D. Although not many points were ceded by M, you could see the toll this took.

On balance, M got trounced because they lost the battel in the trenches. Aside from Smart's quick passing game scheme that tended to neutralize M's pass rushing strength, M couldn't get push and that kept Ojabo and Hutchinson from getting close to Bennett. They flashed from time to time but that only allowed Ross or Dax to do some damage. M had zero sacks or pressures on Bennett. M's OL got completely dominated by the best front 7 performance from a CFB team I've seen. From an immovable NT to freakishly fast and smart LB, Jack and Star play, M only managed something like 2.5 sack adjusted ypc on the ground. Either defenders were at the mesh point or just after it on run plays or in Cade's face on pass plays. I had mentioned Smart's "creeper blitz package," which in this game usually involved just 4 rushers and occasionally a 5th on obvious passing downs, wasn't at all well defended by players/schemed by Gattis. 4 sacks, 3 turnovers and under 3ypc tells the story.

Great season with achievements beyond expectations. What amounts to a blow-out loss by a team whose talent levels are in a different universe than M's doesn't spoil it but leaves a bitter taste. The big difference, the thing that sets this season apart, is that M got the osu monkey off it's back and will likely be good in 2022. Ask yourself when was the last time you felt that way?

One side story: will Harbaugh and/or his staff stay? With this remarkable season under his belt, Harbaugh has leverage. Add Mel Tucker being paid stupid money and JH will want parity. With no buy-out in Jim's current and renegotiated contract, NFL teams will come calling after their play-offs, M's regents better be ready to pay up if they want to keep him. There are some camps among the deciders and influencers in all of this that may not want him around and those people had Manuel's ear 18 months ago. If Harbaugh's agent comes to them asking for a $10m contract that will match or exceed whatever NFL team might offer they might just tell Jim to take a hike.

I think Gattis and Macdonald will stay. Neither are ready nor do they have the resume to move to the NFL. A lateral move to another team, even for more money, will not likely sound appealing to either of them. The rest of the staff faces an open season of raiders from elsewhere in CFB. CFB is changing, slower than I'd like - I just want to get there - but the portal, NIL and play-off expansion are upon us. What we knew as a collection of schools and teams that played for them, competing in conferences with conference championships and the road to an NC is slowly ending. I think the transition to a semi-pro college level league with a completely different structure and season ending expanded play-of sort of thing will be fun to watch emerge.

[Fraquar]

Clemson will rejoin that group soon. They quietly won six in a row to end the season, and they won their bowl game.

OSU isn't going away either. They have lots of young talent that is ready to step up, and they have CRD.

The playoffs need to expand in order to make the bowls relevant again. The bell has been rung, and they may as well make the best of it, and include more teams.

Bowls will never become relevant again, and all adding more games to the CFB playoff will do is make them even less relevant than they all ready are.
Case in point - there is no bowl game for the National Championship game - it's more important than all of those Bowl games......
Expanding to 8 means you have 6 games that are little more than stepping stones to a bigger game.
Woohoo, you just won the Cotton Bowl. Big fucking deal, nothing to see here boys, put that trophy in the box - the one we REALLY want we still got 2 more games to win and a lot of work ahead to get.

[lineygoblue]

I think Gattis and Macdonald will stay. Neither are ready nor do they have the resume to move to the NFL. A lateral move to another team, even for more money, will not likely sound appealing to either of them. The rest of the staff faces an open season of raiders from elsewhere in CFB.

I hope the staff stays mostly intact. In spite of last night, I think McDonald is a keeper. Gattis utilized the personnel he was given about as well as could be expected. Sherone Moore brought a new toughness to the OL, and had the guys blocking well. So well that John Madden had to compliment Harbaugh on it. If he noticed it, it was for real. I think Mike Hart had a positive effect on the RB's where they were running harder, and hitting the holes they were assigned. Finally, I hope Harbaugh stays, and if it costs more money to keep him, then pay the man. The whole idea behind reducing his salary this year was to make him put up or get out. He did what he was supposed to do. So, pay the man, if that's what it takes to keep him. I don't think there's a real possibility of him leaving Ann Arbor. He has deep roots there now and I don' t think he wants to leave, or is looking for opportunities to leave. His parents live next door to him and Sarah. He has a special needs son that is attending an excellent school in A2 that meets his needs well. I just don't think Harbaugh would pack up and leave at this point. Money is not a big deal for him. He's given away all of his bonus money.

Recruiting is still not bad, and the roster should be good enough to compete for the conference title next season. MSU comes to town along with PSU, but the "game" will be at the toilet seat, so I wouldn't expect much there. If they can limit their losses, they should get into a NYD bowl.

I had been thinking that CFB would eventually split up and form a super league of about 36 teams. After last night I think the group that eventually splits off will be much smaller than that. I think it could be as small as 12 teams on the short side, and possibly 24 teams on the top side. There just aren't enough teams that can compete with the top 6-7 teams in the country. I'd be fine if Michigan was left out of that group.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Do the bowls before the season...kinda like the old kickoff classic games...then do the 12 or 16 team playoffs and no bowls. They are losers. Kinda like an NIT tourney in hoops. Attendance has been abysmal and continue to get worse.

[iam416]

Bowls will never become relevant again, and all adding more games to the CFB playoff will do is make them even less relevant than they all ready are.
Case in point - there is no bowl game for the National Championship game - it's more important than all of those Bowl games......
Expanding to 8 means you have 6 games that are little more than stepping stones to a bigger game.
Woohoo, you just won the Cotton Bowl. Big fucking deal, nothing to see here boys, put that trophy in the box - the one we REALLY want we still got 2 more games to win and a lot of work ahead to get.

I'm honestly "meh" about the ROSE bowl. It's not a successful season. And it means nothing. I'll watch. Ohio State will probably lose. And I honestly won't care all that much. 25 years ago I was at the Rose Bowl when Ohio State beat Arizona State. It remains one my favorite sporting events I ever attended. I would have never imagined not caring all that much about the Rose Bowl, but here I am.

[CGVT]

I don't give a shit about the Rose Bowl either, at least not this year.

[Fraquar]

I'm honestly "meh" about the ROSE bowl. It's not a successful season. And it means nothing. I'll watch. Ohio State will probably lose. And I honestly won't care all that much. 25 years ago I was at the Rose Bowl when Ohio State beat Arizona State. It remains one my favorite sporting events I ever attended. I would have never imagined not caring all that much about the Rose Bowl, but here I am.

Yep, they are a bygone of another era. Killed off by chasing the money.

[Hannibal]

I don’t think you appreciate the talent gap.

It’s no worse than the talent gap between UGA and Kentucky and Kentucky played them tougher.

34-11 and the game wasn’t nearly as close as the score was ndicates.

[iam416]

That's true. They got smoked. No doubt.