[southbymidwest]

Originally Posted by wareagle93

Who would have thought OSU and Michigan would be in these positions a year ago? Wow.

I think Michigan has a legit shot at winning their bcs game (if they get a bid) provided they get the right matchup-Houston, Clemson (if they win the ACC title game) or one of the Big East Teams.

I don't think they'd have much of a chance against Oklahoma/Oklahoma State or Georgia (if they win the SEC Title Game), particularly one of the Oklahoma's. UM's secondary was awful against a below-average passing quarterback, and if it wasn't for him overthrowing 2-3 receivers that were 15+ yards behind the UM secondary, osu would have won. Just imagine what Justin Blackmon would do against that secondary, good lord. Landry Jones and Brandon Weeden would be licking their chops.

Regardless, I think Michigan is on the verge of being back. They are upping their OOC scheduling (Alabama next year) and Brady Hoke, and his staff, imo, have done the best coaching job in the country. The work they've done with that defense, which really does not have any guys who will be stars and/or contributors down the road in the NFL (outside of Roh and Mike Martin) has been unbelievable. Great coaching job, all-around. They've also taken the pressure off of Denard on offense. Last year, the word "offense" did not exist in their vocabulary. It was almost all Denard. They've done a good job adding an extra dimension in the running game with the running backs, to take the pressure off of him.

Their recruiting is picking up, too. It wouldn't surprise me if Michigan won their side of the Big Ten next year, they have a lot coming back. Hoke is locking up blue-chipper after blue-chipper, it sounds like a very exciting time to be a Michigan fan!


As for OSU, I think it's a great hire, but I think it will take a year or so for OSU to be immediate Big Ten contenders.

They still have quite a few kinks to work out, which will require time (Rome wasn't built in a day), but I think they'll get a HUGE boost in recruiting. Good luck to schools recruiting in the midwest or more specifically, the state of Ohio. Urban could very well build an impenetrable fence around the state, to a degree like he did at Florida.

It'll be interesting to see if there is a re-match for the title game, as experts like Brad Edwards claim there is a 90% chance of that happening. Let's see how this final week plays out!

I agree with a lot of your post, but I think OSU will be in the hunt next year, for a number of reasons, but my post would go 2 pages if i enumerated them. Also, you are right, Urban is a ferocious recruiter, that is one of the reasons BGSU hired him way back when, when he was an assistant coach at Notre Dame. Hoke at Michigan may have been able to get some Ohio kids this year, but hopefully not so many next year, except maybe in Toledo. Or the ones that Urban doesn't see fitting into the program.