2023 NCAA College Football-Hail to the Victors!!!

[lonestar]

Well that was one hell of a game.

[TAC]

This Rose bowl game is building that vibe to be one for the ages... I just can feel it. Unfortunately I couldn't give two shits for either team.

I have it on, so I'm watching, but I'm listening to music. Are all of the important players playing? I think I saw a couple of games in the last few days where large swaths of kids were sitting out.

Oh yeah, this one's and tonight's are for the title, they're putting it all on the line here.


The Fla St team had like 20 players sitting out, they were the team that got left out of the playoffs even though they went undefeated in a major conference.

Oh, were they the #4 team? I saw the seeds of today's games and saw that it was 1 vs 5 and 2 vs 3. I was like...where's #4?

Yup... Fla St went undefeated and ended up #4 in the AP Poll, but the Bowl Committee uses the bullshit excuse of trying to make the best matchups/pick the best teams to ensure the SEC has a team in the mix and decided since Fla didn't have their starting QB they wouldn't be a good matchup and that Bama would be the better team. Granted earlier in the season Bama already got beat soundly by #3 Texas. Fla ran the table and won their division, they overcame all tasks in their way.

When it came time for their game against a very, very strong GA team, Fla players decided to boycott the game, hence the huge blowout.

yeah, that's the game I had on the other night.

[Cool Chris]

I just realized it's after midnight at the Sugar Bowl with half of the 4th quarter left to go. Who is watching this on the East Coast?

And where you at TempusVox? Let's go Huskies!!

[jammindude]

That game was WAAAAAAAAAAYYY closer than it needed to be.

Doing the handoff thing in an attempt to run more clock ended up almost costing them the game...and since it cost us our starting running back, it probably cost us the national championship.

What a bone headed move. 

[Podaar]

Yeah, stubborn conservatism in football is one of the dumbest of coaching diseases. It afflicts them all. You would think that either the head coach or the OC realizes what kind of football got them there. Sure, keep it on the ground, but do a jet sweep to Odunze or Polk... a play action keeper by Penix to test the edge of the line...anything but straight between the tackles.

[hefdaddy42]

For the first time in recorded history, I was rooting for Alabama, and then THAT was the last play they ran.  Holy crap.

Both games were fantastic.  Michigan vs. Washington for the title should be a great matchup.

[lonestar]

I went to bed after the UW field goal.... wtf happened 

[cramx3]

Who is watching this on the East Coast?

I fell asleep shortly after the 3rd started. Honestly, what a moronic thing to have that game start so late.  I kind of get it because the Rose Bowl has a 5pm start time east coast, but man, that just sucked that I couldn't stay up for it. The Michigan/Bama game was a good one.

I guess if Michigan wins the whole thing, I should be happy for the Big 10 (who basically choked this bowl season, but also, mostly choked all year) and I can personally say I got to see the National Champions play in person this year... but I'm finding it really hard to root for them. 

Washington seems so much more likeable

[emtee]

Very entertaining Rose Bowl! Michigan is my team so I'm ecstatic but they were making too many uncharacteristic mistakes. I think the nerves, the spotlight and those weeks in between games all had impacts.

Agree with the BS start time of the 2nd game. I can't stay up until after midnight. I have to get up at 3:30 am.

[lonestar]

Who is watching this on the East Coast?

I fell asleep shortly after the 3rd started. Honestly, what a moronic thing to have that game start so late.  I kind of get it because the Rose Bowl has a 5pm start time east coast, but man, that just sucked that I couldn't stay up for it. The Michigan/Bama game was a good one.

I guess if Michigan wins the whole thing, I should be happy for the Big 10 (who basically choked this bowl season, but also, mostly choked all year) and I can personally say I got to see the National Champions play in person this year... but I'm finding it really hard to root for them. 

Washington seems so much more likeable

UW is almost a big 10 team anyways....

[Cool Chris]

The buzz here in western WA is off the charts! I graduated from there, but have no allegiance to the school. I generally don't care what their sports teams do. But I recognize how huge this win would be.

The local analysis is that after years of being good but unable to beat OSU, UM rebuilt their team to beat the OSU teams of 2020-2022, which shares similarities to this UW team. But they haven't faced an offense anywhere near the caliber of this year's Huskies, and if Penix gets them out big early, there's no way UM is going to be able to score enough to keep up. If their O-line keeps UM away from Penix, the Wolverines could be in for a long night. If they keep him off the field and limit them to <10 drives, it will be a close game. And as much as I ever hate to say this, special teams could play an important factor. Either UW wins 31-13, or UM wins 20-17.

[lonestar]

I'd imagine the whole of the Pac 12 is team UW tomorrow, can't think of a better swan song for the conference than a national title.

[Cool Chris]

I can't imagine a scenario where Oregon and WSU fans root for UW. They may be rooting against UM, but not for UW.

[Podaar]

I'm team Dawg for sure...today!

[cramx3]

These games are always so hard to predict.  I think Michigan might be better on paper and have the stronger defense.  But Penix brings something you can't account for easily.   Fun fact, a Penix lead Indiana team beat Michigan in 2020.  And these two teams play again next year, albeit in the Big 10.  You just don't really see that often, although next year both teams are going to be very different.

I'm going to pick Michigan here, something like 28 to 24. I'm not going to be upset if Washington wins though. Not sure if I will be actively rooting for anyone, just hopefully a good game as these are so hit or miss.

[hefdaddy42]

My pick is Washington, 27-20.

[DragonAttack]

Even though I grew up in Michigan and watched those epic Bo-Woody games and all that followed, I'll probably only check out the last half hour or so tonight.  I've just never been a fan of the semis or finals.  I guess the little kid in me misses the old bowl format, or I'm just worn out on too much football at this time of year.

I mean, Michigan beat Ohio State.  That's a 'woot and a half'.  Then had to play a Big Ten title game again (snore).  Won a Rose Bowl!  That's a couple of 'woots', but now there's tonight......

Prediction:  Penix and crew could put on a hurt as bad as TCU administered to the Wolverines last year.  I feel like the Huskies have three Marvin Harrison, Jr. type receivers.  If it's only a one score game near the end, I like their chances of late game heroics. 

Oh, and I still have nightmares of Warren Moon

Observation:  the almost disastrous botched fair catch by Michigan with forty some seconds left in the game last week.  I'll never understand why college and pro teams do this (obviously done more often at the end of the first half).  There's always that chance of muffing it.  Or, even if your opponent only has two TOs left, an incompletion means punting, where you risk allowing a FG and injury.  Let the ball end up at the 2 or 3 yard line, take a couple of knees, and move on.

[lonestar]

I'm glad that the final Pac 12 game is against Michigan, it's very fitting and harken back to decades of epic Rose Bowl matchups.

[cramx3]

Observation:  the almost disastrous botched fair catch by Michigan with forty some seconds left in the game last week.  I'll never understand why college and pro teams do this (obviously done more often at the end of the first half).  There's always that chance of muffing it.  Or, even if your opponent only has two TOs left, an incompletion means punting, where you risk allowing a FG and injury.  Let the ball end up at the 2 or 3 yard line, take a couple of knees, and move on.

Agreed, or maybe you get lucky and it bounces in the end zone, but attempting to make the fair catch is quite dumb at that point in the game.  It was a risk that almost cost them the game.  That guy is so lucky he isn't the one still being talked about 

[Dr. DTVT]

For the love of god don't let Michigan win.

[lonestar]

Michigan looking really, really good so far. Hope Penix fires up soon.

[Cool Chris]

Not the start I expected for either team.

[lonestar]

No shit... UW is on their heels hard. They need a big turnover or something to get some momentum.

[Dr. DTVT]

The PAC-12 ran a commercial?   

[hefdaddy42]

Not sure why Michigan went for it on that fourth down.

[lonestar]

The PAC-12 ran a commercial?   

Did they really? Must've been in the pisser

[Cool Chris]

Either UW wins 31-13, or UM wins 20-17.

I accidentally swapped the teams in my predictions, so I was actually only off by a field goal. 

[lightningbolt]

Michigan really manhandled Washington upfront.  300+ rushing yards and maintained consistent pressure on Washington's QB/little running game for UW.  I thought Michigan should have been up real big at halftime, but they lost the plot for a bit and let Washington back in the game until the 4th quarter.  They were clearly the better team tonight.

The MVP on offense is from nearby (Fauquier County, VA), so that is cool.

[jammindude]

Michigan won handedly. They are the clear national champions here. But I can't help but wonder what things might've been like if the Huskies had been healthy. Penix was obviously not 100%, and in the 4th quarter, I doubt he was even 50%. In fact, once we were down two TDs with still 5-6 minutes to play, I think they should have pulled him. His throwing hand was effed up and he was holding his side...he was doing more harm than good at that point.  Seriously, why not send in the backup at that stage?

[emtee]

What an unbelievable season. I will probably never get to experience another one like it. Icing on the cake was I got to see this team in person this year. Congrats to my Wolverines!

National champions.

[Dr. DTVT]

Extra credit to the Michigan cheating staff.  No doubt the team on the field had the talent to win the title, but I think every non-Michigan fan is going seeing a tarnished trophy forever.  Enjoy the taint, embrace the taint.

[lonestar]

What an unbelievable season. I will probably never get to experience another one like it. Icing on the cake was I got to see this team in person this year. Congrats to my Wolverines!

National champions.

Extra credit to the Michigan cheating staff.  No doubt the team on the field had the talent to win the title, but I think every non-Michigan fan is going seeing a tarnished trophy forever.  Enjoy the taint, embrace the taint.

I love how completely opposite these two comments are. 


Two takeaways for me from this one that I think decided the game, and that were mentioned already. Michigan defense, especially the secondary that put Penix into a panic mode on nearly every play, and Penix's obvious injury that made him miss half his passes by a few feet decided this game. I think a healthy Penix, able to make the ones he missed (two of which would've easily been 7 points) and we'd be talking a completely different outcome. No matter, UM was the better team yesterday, and unlike FSU, they'll reap the rewards for going undefeated.

[cramx3]

Seems to me that Penix was injured because of how good that Michigan D was. My point, if he was healthy, he might have gotten hurt again in another game because Michigan's defense is so damn good. They played to limit him and succeeded. Also that Michigan running game is really strong. They are a smash mouth football team and showed it.

I like how PSU played Michigan tougher  but seriously, the coolest part of them winning is that I got to see them play in person this year. As much as I hate them and I do believe what they did was cheating, they did have a really good team that in some way, I was a part of this season.

And with that I will share my YouTube short of yelling at them and causing them to use a time out this season  https://youtube.com/shorts/aZ9fjk9-nkQ?si=30P-D-shNakeMFaZ

[hefdaddy42]

Extra credit to the Michigan cheating staff.  No doubt the team on the field had the talent to win the title, but I think every non-Michigan fan is going seeing a tarnished trophy forever.  Enjoy the taint, embrace the taint.

I fucking hate Michigan, but I don't view this as tainted in any way.

They decidedly won the line of scrimmage, on both sides of the ball, which was of course their key to victory.

Hats off to the Wolverines, but it doesn't make up for losing to Appalachian State in 2007.  GO APP!  #Mountaineers

[DragonAttack]

It was cute at the presser, where Jim Harbaugh said he'll now be able to sit at 'the adult table' at family gatherings,  referencing his father's and brother's accomplishments.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/8wmIiFuQMmk