Siap, interesting bowl projections with connections to Michigan.

Submitted by poseidon7902 on
ESPN has posted their bowl projections and Hale has Michigan playing Arizona in the holiday bowl while Bonagura has them playing Stanford in the foster farms bowl. Just found the potential connections to coaches and the university intriguing. Obviously winning out puts us in something a little better than those.
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charblue.

November 5th, 2017 at 7:44 PM ^

a New Year's Day bowl unless it completely tanks the final two games because of its ratings and attendance draws. If Michigan goes 10-2, it isn't going to the Foster Farms whatever bowl. I mean I get the appeal to play a school with a former Michigan and Harbaugh coach narrative attached to it. But you only seek that as a marketing scheme when Michigan is only available because of a less than sterling record.

 

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chatster

November 5th, 2017 at 7:52 PM ^

TL:DR Version: Finish 10-2 and Get New Year's Six Bowl; Finish 8-4 and Get "Don Brown Reunion Bowl at Yankee Stadium" OR "Khakis at Levi's --  Harbaugh Back in the Bay Area"
 
Beating Maryland and Wisconsin on the road and Ohio State at home would be a great way for Michigan to end the regular season, even if it wouldn’t mean a trip to the Big Ten championship game.  It would put 10-2 Michigan in line for a New Year’s Six Bowl game.  Considering where MGoBloggers were after the Michigan State and Penn State losses, that would be a great accomplishment.
 
But losing to Wisconsin and Ohio State and finishing 8-4 might bring a strange ending to the bowl season, especially if no Big Ten team goes to the playoffs, only one Big Ten team gets a New Year’s Six bowl game and Wisconsin, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan State, Northwestern and Iowa all finish with at least nine wins.
 
Northwestern has a chance to finish 9-3 on a seven-game wining streak, if they win out against Purdue, Minnesota and Illinois. After yesterday, Iowa might have a chance to beat Wisconsin, Purdue and Nebraska to also finish at 9-3.
 
Falling behind all of those teams in the Big Ten pecking order and having no marquee wins could find Michigan as the seventh choice among Big Ten bowl-eligible teams. Jerry Palm's CBS Sports Bowl Projections currently has a “Don Brown Reunion Match” against Boston College in the Pinstripe Bowl at Yankee Stadium. 
 
The Rose Bowl is a College Football Playoff semifinal, so the Big Ten could be shut out of the Rose Bowl this season.
 
The New Year’s Six Orange Bowl will pick the highest-ranked team from Big Ten, SEC or Notre Dame to play a team from the ACC.  If the Orange Bowl doesn’t take a Big Ten team, then the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl will take a Big Ten team.
 
For argument’s sake, let’s say that Ohio State beats Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game, finishes 11-2, but is ranked behind Notre Dame which also misses the playoffs.  Ohio State would go to the Citrus Bowl.
 
Next up for the Big Ten would be the Outback Bowl. Because the bowl has to take five different teams in six years, Iowa, Wisconsin and Northwestern couldn’t go there, but 10-2 Penn State (having lost to Ohio State and Michigan State) could go to the Outback Bowl against an SEC team.  
 
Then the National Funding Holiday Bowl vs. Pac-12 would need a Big Ten team, but with an agreement for five different teams in six years, Wisconsin wouldn’t be eligible for the Holiday Bowl. Let’s say that 9-3 Michigan State with wins over both Penn State and Michigan would go to the Holiday Bowl.
 
Now comes the TaxSlayer Bowl or Music City Bowl vs. SEC. The ACC and Big Ten share those bowls with each getting three appearances in six years. The Big Ten played in TaxSlayer in 2015 and the Music City in 2016.  Iowa would be ineligible for the TaxSlayer Bowl this season, but 11-2 Wisconsin (with losses to Iowa and Ohio State) would be the logical choice for the TaxSlayer Bowl.
 
Then for the Big Ten comes the New Era Pinstripe Bowl in New York’s Yankee Stadium vs.  an ACC team.  Although it’s not considered official, that bowl would prefer to have eight different teams in eight years, so 9-3 Northwestern probably wouldn’t make it.  So that would leave 8-4 Michigan with no marquee wins and 9-3 Iowa with wins over Ohio State and Wisconsin, the teams that met in the Big Ten championship game.
 
For attendance’s sake, Michigan would be the logical choice to play in the Pinstripe Bowl, but if Iowa gets the bid to go to NYC, then next up for the Big Ten would be the Foster Farms Bowl vs. a Pac-12 team.
 
Northwestern, at 9-3 with wins over both Iowa and Michigan State, might seem like a good choice for the Foster Farms Bowl, but that game is played at Levi’s Stadium, home of the 49ers. If Stanford were the Pac-12 opponent, the bowl committee might be torn between the Academic Bowl (Northwestern) and the Harbaugh Bowl (Michigan).  Whether it’s Stanford or some other Pac-12 team as the opponent, I’d have to think that bringing a Harbaugh-coached team to the San Francisco area would be a no-brainer.

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chatster

November 6th, 2017 at 11:04 AM ^

The non-CFP New Year's Six Bowls this season are the Cotton, Fiesta, Orange and Peach Bowls. If the Big Ten champion doesn't qualify for the Orange Bowl this season, then it would become one of the at-large participants in the Cotton, Fiesta or Peach Bowls. So, an 8-4 Michigan could wind up in the TaxSlayer Bowl or Music City Bowl before it would be relegated to the Pinstripe Bowl or Foster Farms Bowl, unless 9-3 Northwestern were to jump Michigan into one of those bowls.

For attendance sake and publicity sake, either the Music City Bowl in Nashville or the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville, both of which would have an SEC team as the opponent probably would prefer an 8-4 Michigan over a 9-3 Northwestern.

Still, (1) a trip to NYC for the Pinstripe Bowl would give promoters and sponsors the "Don-Brown-Reunion Bowl" if Boston College were the opponent AND it most likely would boost attendance in an area where there are many current and former Michigan students, and (2) the Foster Farms Bowl would give promoters and sponsors the "Harbaugh-Back-in-49ers-Country Bowl" AND possibly boost attendance in an area where there are many current and former Michigan students.  Also, in either of those locations, Michigan's coaches would be able to connect with recruiting targets in New Jersey and California.

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Alton

November 6th, 2017 at 12:11 PM ^

You say "If the Big Ten champion doesn't qualify for the Orange Bowl this season..."

Actually, the Big Ten champion can not qualify for the Orange Bowl.  The Orange Bowl must pick the highest ranked available non-champion from the B1G or SEC, or Notre Dame...and they have the option of not scheduling a regular-season rematch.  If not in the top 4, the Big Ten Champion must go to an "access bowl."  The access bowls are Peach, Cotton, and Fiesta.

Personally, I think the most likely outcome is:  (1) Big Ten champion plays Central Florida in the Peach Bowl, and (2) Because Miami will be the top-ranked ACC team, the Orange Bowl will choose to pass on Notre Dame (to avoid the rematch) and take a Big Ten team as well.

I think that with 2 Big Ten teams in the NY6, Michigan ends up in San Diego.

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Alton

November 6th, 2017 at 1:44 PM ^

Big Ten picks teams in "tiers."  If there is only 1 Big Ten team in the NY6, or 2 teams with 1 in the Orange Bowl, it's distributed this way:

#1 goes to the NY6.

#2 goes to the Orange or the Citrus bowl.

#3 and #4 go to the Outback or Holiday bowls.

#5, #6 and #7 go to the Taxslayer/Music City, Foster Farms, or Pinstripe Bowls.

#8 and #9 go to the Quick Lane or the Armed Forces/Heart of Dallas Bowls.

Michigan at 8-4 would be a 5/6/7 pick, along with Iowa and Northwestern.  Figure guaranteed Foster Farms IF Stanford is the Pac 12 team there.  Pinstripe is most likely otherwise (although nobody cares about the Don Brown/Boston College angle outside of Michigan and Boston College).  Hopefully the Foster Farms comes through, but that's just personal preference.  I would have no desire to see Michigan in the Pinstripe Bowl.

Michigan at 9-3 would likely be a 3/4 pick.

Michigan at 10-2 could possibly sneak into the NY6.

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chatster

November 6th, 2017 at 4:11 PM ^

Agree that the Foster Farms Bowl in the home of the 49ers would be preferable to the Pinstripe Bowl, if Michigan finishes 8-4 with no marquee wins and on a two-game losing streak. Jim Harbaugh and Michigan in the Bay Area would generate publicity for the game, regardless of the opponent, but a Michigan-Stanford bowl game would be very appealing.

As for having Michigan play in the Pinstripe Bowl, it would be within driving distance and reasonably accessible by public transportation from my home, so, for selfish reasons, I wouldn't mind it. Of course, it would be subject to being played in what could be terrible weather conditions.

If the Pinstripe Bowl opponent were Boston College, I think that the Don Brown angle would help at least a little from a publicity standpoint for a game that probably would be considered a terrible consolation for Michigan, but there also might be another angle.  What other college football team would be able to say that they visited the Colosseum in Rome and played a game at Yankee Stadium in the same year?

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fksljj

November 5th, 2017 at 7:57 PM ^

Not really the bowls we were hoping for obviously. Maybe we can get a free bag of foster farms chicken wings, though. I wouldn't complain about that.

 

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Perkis-Size Me

November 5th, 2017 at 8:02 PM ^

How about no to the Arizona matchup?

That’s a game where RichRod would sleep maybe 5-10 hours the whole month of December game planning for us. Not to say that I don’t think we could beat them, but that game would have the makings of RichRod’s whole team rallying around him and playing above their heads in a “let’s win one for coach and get revenge on his former school.”

Nothing to gain by playing it.

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AmayzNblue

November 5th, 2017 at 8:16 PM ^

I would not mind a Music City Bowl appearance as I live in Nashville. The boys would love visiting this city too, but it would mean that we went 8-4, so....no

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Jevablue

November 5th, 2017 at 9:01 PM ^

Whether we get the merely grossly incompetent ONeil officiating crew or the fucking biased idiot Capron fuckstiicks that gifted OSU the game last year and not so coincidentally made bullshit call after bullshit call against M last night, to no avail for the poor gophers. Either of those buffoons get the Wiscy or OSU games and you can bet your whole life savings against Michigan. Bank it.

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LSAClassOf2000

November 5th, 2017 at 9:30 PM ^

Let's see....a bowl thread involving Michigan versus a team coached by Rich Rodriguez? Nope, not doin' it, guys. That thread is on its own. I know better. 

Then again, there is the Foster Farms Bowl, formerly the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl, where I am sad to say there apparently was no macaroni and cheese to be had.

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koolaid

November 5th, 2017 at 9:35 PM ^

I think if two teams from the same conference are selected, they have to not have played each other. Otherwise, what's the point? They've already settled it on the field. If Georgia and Bama play each other already, then one of them should not be in the CFP. If they are both in the playoff then make them face off the first round. Worst title game ever was two SEC teams.

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uminks

November 5th, 2017 at 11:18 PM ^

could turnout to bite WI. Even if  WI wins the B1G undefeated they most likely will not get into the playoffs. Probably OU, Clemson, GA and AL in the playoffs.

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allintime23

November 6th, 2017 at 5:22 AM ^

I project that record aside we’ll play the hottest current team that will give us the most trouble. We’ll play them in their backyard and we’ll be recently depleted due to injury. *see the last 50 years

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chatster

November 6th, 2017 at 11:27 AM ^

Take each of these projections and you'll see that there are five different bowls being picked as Michigan's destination and seven different schools are being projected as Michigan's bowl game opponent. 

CBS Sports projects Michigan vs. Boston College n the Pinstripe Bowl in New York City on December 27. 

Bleacher Report projects Michigan vs. Texas A & M in the TaxSlayer Bowl in Jacksonville on December 30.

Sports Illustrated projects Michigan vs. Mississippi State in the Outback Bowl in Tampa on January 1.

ESPN projects either Michigan vs. Stanford in the Foster Farms Bowl in Santa Clara on December 27 or Michigan vs. Arizona in the Holiday Bowl in San Diego on December 28.

SB Nation projects Michigan vs. LSU in the Outback Bowl in Tampa on January 1.

The Sporting News projects Michigan vs. USC in the Holiday Bowl on December 28. 

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