THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 6 2006
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 6. 2006
SPORTS
5B
Rose Bowl not much of a consolation for Michigan
After being ranked No. 2 behind Ohio State for weeks, the Michigan Wolverines took a sudden dip to No. 3 the day before the National Championship matchup was announced. Matt Singer wrote in Monday's The Michigan Daily that going to Pasadena for the Rose Bowl won't be much of a consolation prize.
Michigan fans watched nervously as the Wolves came close to reaching the championship game. However, a media push swayed the votes away from Michigan and toward Florida instead, putting Michigan back in third place and bound for the Rose Row.
Well, that does it.
Another trip to Pasadena's not the end of the world, I guess.
But this stings. It really stings.
On this spring, a timely Ming's.
One week ago today, Michigan
sat comfortably at No. 3 in the Bowl
 championship Series rankings.
But on Saturday, we all were glued to our television screens. We all held our breath in the desperate hope that the Bruins would somehow beat the mighty Trojians, punching Michigan's ticket to Glendale, Ariz. We all felt our hearts race as Karl Dorrell's squad hung tight with Pete Carroll's crew.
No one seriously thought that UCLA would knock off of a heavily-favored Southern Cal squad, reopening the door for Michigan's national title hopes.
Then, with an absurdly acrobatic game-clinching interception by UCLA linebacker Eric McNeal, Wolverine nation's wildest dreams appeared to come true.
Horns honked. People screamed. Joy rejoined in Ann Arbor.
later.
But at the Georgia Dome, events were unfolding that would put everyone here in a much more somber mood less than 24 hours
Florida, a team which rested two spots below Michigan in the BCS Standings when the Wolverines stopped playing two weeks ago, was taking on Arkansas in the Southeastern Conference Championship game.
Conventional wisdom stated that Michigan would remain ahead of Florida, as long as the Gators didn't completely destroy the Razorbacks
Associated Press
Conventional wisdom was wrong.
Florida didn't crush Arkansas. The Gators didn't even outplay them. But as the final minutes of the thrilling, but sloppy, matchup wound down, a new line of thinking came to the forefront of the college football world.
CBS announcer Gary Danielson fired the first salvos. And powerful salvos they were. The SEC's color commentator stated "it's hard
to win a championship" at least five times, a not-so-subtle dig at Michigan's failure to lock up the Big Ten title against consensus No. 1 Ohio State on the Buckeyes' home turf.
Indeed, for Florida, winning a championship was hard. The Gators squad that failed to beat its last four Division I-A opponents — all unranked — by more than a touchdown looked shell-shocked as Arkansas stormed past them in the third quarter.
Associated Press
The Florida Gators are heading to the BCS championship game. Some argue that their placement is undeserved and a result of luck. Others say that they seized every possible opportunity and fought their way to the championship.
oddly unique.
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Fat chance.
when the Rose Bowl — long the Wolverines' ultimate goal — is the consolation prize. And I have a feeling that when it's all said and done, Michigan will end up in its rightful place as the No. 2 team in the country.
But for now, with all the exhilation, frustration and crushing disappointment of the past 36 hours, it's hard for me to get excited for the "Granddaddy of Them All."
By mid-afternoon Sunday, Florida's wave of public backing had become a tsuanni. Voters, who for weeks had consistently picked the Wolverines over the Gators, suddenly reversed their positions.
Then, Arkansas punt returner Reggie Fish attempted to field a punt over his shoulder on a dead sprint at his own three-yard line. Inevitably, he muffed the kick, Florida recovered it, and the entire course of history was altered.
Florida have jumped Michigan to take over the No. 3 spot in the polls?
"I think any team that wins our league with
I know,
"suffer" is a
strong word
one loss should have the chance to play for the national championship" Slive said.
From there, Florida's National Championship momentum continued to build. Television analysts who previously ignored the Gators as a national title contender began arguing that Florida "deserved a shot" against Ohio State after Michigan "blew" its chance.
Shive — who, by the way, just happens to be the SEC commissioner — checked his impartiality at the door to argue for his conference's Gators.
on ESPN's SportsCenter Saturday night. Immediately after hearing Carr's classy statement, Florida coach Urban Meyer shamelessly continued his weeks-long push to get Florida into the National Championship.
the second-best team in the country took a back seat to avoiding an "unfair" Michigan-Ohio State rematch.
Instead, the voters let the media's jabbering and Meyer's whining get into their heads. For dozens of poll voters, figuring out who really was
Even the BCS coordinator Mike
Were these voters blown away by Florida's inconsistent-at-best performance over Arkansas? If Southern Cal had won, would
We all held our breath in the desperate hope that the Bruins would somehow beat the mighty Trojans, punching Michigan's ticket to Glendale, Ariz
With Florida's hype swelling, Michigan coach Lloyd Carr took the high road, declining the opportunity to campaign for the Wolverines