Big Ten Teams Make Bowl Plans, But Where Will Michigan Be Bowling?

Well it appears that all seven bowl-eligible Big Ten football teams will indeed be bowling this winter as we identified in the Big Ten Bowls post yesterday. But the big question is where will Michigan be spending there days in early January. Last Saturday I posed the question How can the loser of this game NOT be #2? on the Big Ten Fans football forum.

With USC currently #3 in the BCS behind Michigan at #2, but only percentage points behind, the talking heads of college football are saying that if #3 USC defeats #6 Notre Dame on Saturday night they will jump Michigan into the #2 spot. But let's take a look at Michigan and USC:

- Michigan's only loss on the season was to #1 Ohio State by a score of 42-39. USC's only loss was to a solid Oregon State team that is 7-4 on the season. While Oregon State (OSU) is a strong team this OSU is not in the same class as the clear-cut #1 OSU from Columbus.

- As #3 USC prepares for #6 Notre Dame, remember that Michigan played the Irish earlier this year and thumped them 47-21 in South Bend. While this game will be a road game for Notre Dame, anything less than a 26-point blowout win by USC will, at least in my mind, not be enough for USC to deserve to surpass Michigan.

So I think it is clear where I stand on this topic. Heck, if Notre Dame can pull off the mild upset this may not even be an issue. But when you compare these two teams side by side I think that the Big Ten does indeed have the two best teams in the nation in 2006.

Michael Shull, a native of Ohio, has been a fan of Big Ten football for over 25 years. Shull grew up following both Ohio State and Michigan very closely as well as the 6 Ohio MAC schools. Shull is a guest writer for both BigTen-fans.com and the highly-respected MAC sports fan site VanDelaySports.com.

The Glory Years of the Green and White Michigan State University Football Teams - Part 1

Time has a way of evaporating history. I am told that much of history would never have been recorded in the Dark Ages had it not been for the painstaking effort of Catholic monks who recorded what others would not.

Thankfully, Michigan State University has done a remarkable job of recording its storied football history since 1896, more than 110 seasons with some stellar performances among its many coaches and players.

Here are the Spartan coaches who rank among the best:

Chester Brewer 1903 to 1910 - The Defensive Genius

Brewer, a 4-sport star at Wisconsin, knew a thing or two about how to play defense. In 8 years he went 54-10-6, throw out the ties and his 54-10 winning record was an astounding 84%. That is impressive enough, even more impressive was the fact that among his 54 victories were 43 shutouts, making 79% of his victories shutouts.

In 1904 he had 6 straight shutout victories while going 8-1. Among his 6 ties were 4 scoreless (0-0) ties. Two other facts about Brewer shine very brightly, 1) He NEVER lost a home game in 8 years, and 2) He only lost 10 games in 8 years. In 1904 he had a 104-0 rout of Hillsdale, but his greatest moments were a 0-0 tie against Fielding Yost's 1908 Michigan team and a 17-0 shutout over Notre Dame in 1910.

John Macklin 1911 to 1915 - The Pacesetter with a String of Firsts

Macklin, an outstanding athlete at Pennsylvania, succeeded Chester Brewer. He went 29-5 in 5 seasons for an 85% winning percentage, and ran the table in 1913 with a 7-0 mark that included Michigan State's first victory over Michigan, a 12-7 win at Michigan.

Among Macklin's other greatest moments were a 6-3 upset against Penn State in 1914; another 24-0 away victory over Michigan in 1915; and a 35-20 victory over Ohio State in 1912, the first achieved by a MAC team against a Big Ten team.

Jim Crowley 1929 to 1932 - One of Notre Dame's Immortal Four Horsemen

After several years of mediocrity, Crowley restored Michigan State to national prominence by going 22-8-3 (a 73% won-loss percentage) with 4 winning seasons and one win short of a perfect season with a 7-1 record his final year. Crowley's teams had a pair of 0-0 ties against Michigan in 1930 and 1931 which broke Michigan State's 14-game losing streak to Michigan.

Crowley was one of Knute Rockne's Four Horsemen during Notre Dame's glory years made famous by legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice. Crowley would go on to become head coach at Fordham in 1933 and create the "Seven Blocks of Granite" that included legendary Green Bay Packer Coach Vince Lombardi.

From Notre Dame's Four Horsemen to Michigan State to Fordham's Seven Blocks of Granite and the Green Bay Packer's Vince Lombardi is a pretty good legacy created by the man known as "Sleepy Jim" Crowley.

Charlie Bachman 1933 to 1946 - He Brought in Notre Dame's Winning System

Bachman followed Jim Crowley and brought with him Notre Dame's system and managed to log 10 winning seasons in 13 years with a 70-34-10 record (a 67% won-loss percentage). There was no football in 1943 due to World War II.

Bachman was a teammate of Knute Rockne and a Notre Dame alumnus like Crowley. He led the Spartans to a 8-1 mark in his second season, including a 16-0 victory over Michigan, the school' s first outright win in 19 years; it would be the first of 4 consecutive wins against Michigan that Bachman's teams would accomplish. After posting another 8-1 season in 1937 Michigan State received its first bid to a postseason bowl game, the 1938 Orange Bowl.

(Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of a 2-Part Series.)

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Ed Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate, delight and motivate you the reader.

Read my other Spartan articles on MSU football, including "Dantonio Finally Arrives on the Big 10 Stage as Head Coach at Michigan State", "Michigan State Slams UAB 55-18 in Mark Dantonio"s Coaching Debut" and "College Football - Evaluating Three First-Year Coaches: Saban, Erickson and Dantonio".

Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html

2008 Michigan State Football Highlights

Highlights from the 2008 season of Michigan State Football Download High Quality MP4 - tinyurl.com Download iPhone version - tinyurl.com



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Rz54nfzZ3Y&hl=en

Michigan Wolverines Football 2009

Michigan football hype video for the upcoming season that I made. GO BLUE! Music: ACDC - For Those About to Rock



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5Olok-oWNM&hl=en

The Glory Years of the Green and White Michigan State University Football Teams - Part 2

"Biggie" Munn 1947 to 1953 - Two National Championships and the Best Winning Percentage Ever

Clarence "Biggie" Munn was an All-American at Minnesota before replacing Charlie Bachman. Despite getting waxed 55-0 by Michigan in his debut, he quickly logged a 7-2 record in his first of 7 seasons. By 1950 Munn had the Spartan program in the Top 10 nationally with an 8-1 campaign that included victories over No. 3-ranked Michigan and Notre Dame.

He would put together back-to-back 9-0 seasons in 1951 and 1952 to go 18-0 and win two National Championships as well as National Coach of the Year Honors in 1952, beating 3 nationally-ranked opponents-Penn State, Purdue and Notre Dame.

In 1953 he would go 9-1, beat UCLA 28-20 in the Rose Bowl and push his 3-year regular season record to 27-1 and his 4-year mark to 35-2 (a 94% won-loss record).

Munn ran Michigan State's unbeaten streak to 28 games before losing to Purdue 6-0 in 1953. In 7 seasons, his overall record would be 54-9-2 (an 85+% won-loss record, the best ever at Michigan State) and he would produce 18 All-Americans, including the great two-way tackle Don Coleman.

Following his coaching career, the legendary Biggie Munn would serve as MSU's Athletic Director for 18 years, building the Spartans into a nationally prominent program. He was voted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1959.

"Duffy" Daugherty 1954 to 1972 - MSU's Most Popular Coach Wins Two National Championships

Hugh "Duffy" Daugherty became one of the nation's most popular coaches in the history of college football during his 19-year career as the Spartans' mentor. Daugherty was famous for his wit, personality and wisdom.

He became a great interview for sportswriters, coming up with quotes such as, "Football isn't a contact sport, it's a collision sport. Dancing is a contact sport" and "A tie is like kissing your sister" and "When you are playing for the national championship, it's not a matter of life and death. It's more important than that."

He was a guard and captain of his Syracuse football team, was an assistant coach to Biggie Munn when Munn coached Syracuse before coming to Michigan State, and followed Munn as his line coach. After being part of Munn's 2 national championship teams, he became head coach.

Daugherty's 1955 team went 9-1 and beat UCLA 17-14 in the Rose Bowl. His greatest teams came in 1965 and 1966 when he went 19-1-1, won 2 Big Ten titles outright and 2 National Championships. His only defeat during the 2 years was a 14-12 loss to UCLA in the 1966 Rose Bowl. He will be forever remembered for his monumental 10-10 tie in the 1966 "Game of the Century" when the No. 2-ranked Spartans faced the No. 1-ranked Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

No less than 8 of the players from the 1966 team were chosen in the NFL draft, including defensive end Bubba Smith, linebacker George Webster, halfback Clint Jones, flanker Gene Washington, offensive lineman Jeff Richardson, defensive backs Jim Summers and Charlie Thornhill, and kicker Dick Kenney. Daugherty produced 29 All-Americans.

Daugherty's overall record during 19 years was 109-65-5 (a 63% won-loss percentage).

He was named National Coach of the Year in both 1955 and 1965, and was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1984.

After the 26-year run of Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty with 4 National Championships, the Michigan State football program pretty much went into the dumper.

It is true that after Daugherty, George Perles in 1987 would take the 9-2-1 Spartans to their first Rose Bowl appearance in 21 years, beating Southern California 20-17 to finish No. 8 nationally. Perles was the defensive line coach and defensive coordinator of the Pittsburgh Steelers "Steel Curtain" defense that led to Super Bowl titles in 1974, 1975, 1978 and 1979.

Despite turning around the MSU football program temporarily, Perles could not even sniff at the success of Biggie Munn and Duffy Daugherty. Since 1987 nothing much has really taken Michigan State back to the national prominence it enjoyed under Munn and Daugherty.

Michigan State's football fortunes are now in the hands of Mark Dantonio, the former defensive coordinator for Ohio State's 2002 National Championship team.

(Editor's Note: This is Part 2 of a 2-Part Series.)

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Ed Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate, delight and motivate you the reader.

Read my other Spartan articles on MSU football, including "Dantonio Finally Arrives on the Big 10 Stage as Head Coach at Michigan State", "Michigan State Slams UAB 55-18 in Mark Dantonio"s Coaching Debut" and "College Football - Evaluating Three First-Year Coaches: Saban, Erickson and Dantonio".

Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html

The Glory Years of the Green and White Michigan State University Football Teams - Part 1

Time has a way of evaporating history. I am told that much of history would never have been recorded in the Dark Ages had it not been for the painstaking effort of Catholic monks who recorded what others would not.

Thankfully, Michigan State University has done a remarkable job of recording its storied football history since 1896, more than 110 seasons with some stellar performances among its many coaches and players.

Here are the Spartan coaches who rank among the best:

Chester Brewer 1903 to 1910 - The Defensive Genius

Brewer, a 4-sport star at Wisconsin, knew a thing or two about how to play defense. In 8 years he went 54-10-6, throw out the ties and his 54-10 winning record was an astounding 84%. That is impressive enough, even more impressive was the fact that among his 54 victories were 43 shutouts, making 79% of his victories shutouts.

In 1904 he had 6 straight shutout victories while going 8-1. Among his 6 ties were 4 scoreless (0-0) ties. Two other facts about Brewer shine very brightly, 1) He NEVER lost a home game in 8 years, and 2) He only lost 10 games in 8 years. In 1904 he had a 104-0 rout of Hillsdale, but his greatest moments were a 0-0 tie against Fielding Yost's 1908 Michigan team and a 17-0 shutout over Notre Dame in 1910.

John Macklin 1911 to 1915 - The Pacesetter with a String of Firsts

Macklin, an outstanding athlete at Pennsylvania, succeeded Chester Brewer. He went 29-5 in 5 seasons for an 85% winning percentage, and ran the table in 1913 with a 7-0 mark that included Michigan State's first victory over Michigan, a 12-7 win at Michigan.

Among Macklin's other greatest moments were a 6-3 upset against Penn State in 1914; another 24-0 away victory over Michigan in 1915; and a 35-20 victory over Ohio State in 1912, the first achieved by a MAC team against a Big Ten team.

Jim Crowley 1929 to 1932 - One of Notre Dame's Immortal Four Horsemen

After several years of mediocrity, Crowley restored Michigan State to national prominence by going 22-8-3 (a 73% won-loss percentage) with 4 winning seasons and one win short of a perfect season with a 7-1 record his final year. Crowley's teams had a pair of 0-0 ties against Michigan in 1930 and 1931 which broke Michigan State's 14-game losing streak to Michigan.

Crowley was one of Knute Rockne's Four Horsemen during Notre Dame's glory years made famous by legendary sportswriter Grantland Rice. Crowley would go on to become head coach at Fordham in 1933 and create the "Seven Blocks of Granite" that included legendary Green Bay Packer Coach Vince Lombardi.

From Notre Dame's Four Horsemen to Michigan State to Fordham's Seven Blocks of Granite and the Green Bay Packer's Vince Lombardi is a pretty good legacy created by the man known as "Sleepy Jim" Crowley.

Charlie Bachman 1933 to 1946 - He Brought in Notre Dame's Winning System

Bachman followed Jim Crowley and brought with him Notre Dame's system and managed to log 10 winning seasons in 13 years with a 70-34-10 record (a 67% won-loss percentage). There was no football in 1943 due to World War II.

Bachman was a teammate of Knute Rockne and a Notre Dame alumnus like Crowley. He led the Spartans to a 8-1 mark in his second season, including a 16-0 victory over Michigan, the school' s first outright win in 19 years; it would be the first of 4 consecutive wins against Michigan that Bachman's teams would accomplish. After posting another 8-1 season in 1937 Michigan State received its first bid to a postseason bowl game, the 1938 Orange Bowl.

(Editor's Note: This is Part 1 of a 2-Part Series.)

Copyright © 2007 Ed Bagley

Ed Bagley's Blog Publishes Original Articles with Analysis and Commentary on 5 Subjects: Sports, Movie Reviews, Lessons in Life, Jobs and Careers, and Internet Marketing. My intention is to inform, educate, delight and motivate you the reader.

Read my other Spartan articles on MSU football, including "Dantonio Finally Arrives on the Big 10 Stage as Head Coach at Michigan State", "Michigan State Slams UAB 55-18 in Mark Dantonio"s Coaching Debut" and "College Football - Evaluating Three First-Year Coaches: Saban, Erickson and Dantonio".

Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html

College Football - AP's Top 25 Welcomes North Carolina, Michigan State, Pittsburgh and Ball State

College Football's 6th week saw the AP pollsters kick Wisconsin, Fresno State, Oregon and Connecticut out of its Top 25 list and welcome in North Carolina (4-1) at 22, Michigan State (5-1-) at 23, Pittsburgh (4-1) at 24 and unbeaten Ball State (6-0) at 25.

No. 18 Wisconsin, which had risen to No. 8 in the 3rd week, fell the hardest, losing at home to No. 14 Ohio State 20-17. The Buckeyes true freshman quarterback Terrelle Pryor scored on an 11-yard run with 68 seconds left to snap Wisconsin's 16-game home winning streak. When it counted, the Badgers could not stop Pryor to preserve their lead and also could not contain Chris "Beanie" Wells' 168 rushing yards.

No. 22 Fresno State got bushwhacked at home by unranked Hawaii in overtime 32-29. Hawaii capitalized on the Bulldogs' 6 turnovers and 3 missed field goals. The pineapple brigade of Hawaiian Warriors had lost 3 of their first 4 games and apparently were not willing to stop their winning tradition despite being on the road.

No. 23 Oregon had to travel to No. 9 Southern California, fresh off its 27-21 upset loss to the Oregon State Beavers in Corvallis. The Trojans were in no mood to entertain another loss to an Oregon team and took it out on the Ducks 44-10.

No. 24 Connecticut was unbeaten at 5-0 before heading to unbeaten and unranked North Carolina. The Tar Heels saw opportunity coming and dispatched the Huskies by taking a 17-3 halftime lead before polishing them off 38-12.

Michigan State led Iowa 16-6 after three quarters and hung on with some great defensive stops in the 4th quarter to outlast the Hawkeyes, 16-13. After losing its opener on the road to California by a touchdown, the Spartans have now reeled off 5 consecutive victories.

Visiting Pittsburgh put some heartache on No. 10 South Florida on its home turf, leading 17-10 at the half and winning 26-21. Dave Wannstedt's Panthers were every bit the match for the South Florida Bulls, which suffered their first loss of the season.

Ball State picked up its 6th straight victory by shutting out Toledo 31-0 in a road game. Toledo's Rockets hung tough in the first half, trailing 3-0, but the Cardinals stopped messing around and scored 4 touchdowns in the second half to put an exclamation point on their win.

No. 19 Vanderbilt continues to impress in the tough Southeastern Conference, picking up its 5th straight victory at home to remain undefeated by upsetting No. 13 Auburn, 14-13. The Commodores are the only undefeated team in the SEC's East Division, ahead of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Kentucky and Tennessee. Vanderbilt is 3-0 in the SEC for the first time in 58 years (1950) and 5-0 overall for the first time in 65 years (1943).

Vanderbilt's Mackenzi Adams came off the bench and threw for 153 yards and 2 touchdowns to lead the Commodores to victory over Auburn for the first time in their last 14 games against the Tigers. News flash: Vanderbilt is no longer a pushover.

Among the top 16 of 22 teams that won besides Southern Cal, Ohio State and Vanderbilt were:

No. 1 Oklahoma won on the road over Baylor 49-17. The Sooners scored 4 TDs in the opening quarter and then added a TD in each of the succeeding quarters. No. 2 Alabama won at home over unranked Kentucky 17-14. Alabama's Glen Coffee rushed for 218 yards and Leigh Tiffin kicked a 24-yard field goal with 2:12 left as the Crimson Tide hung on to give the Wildcats their first loss.

No. 4 Missouri traveled to unranked Nebraska and gave the Cornhuskers a horse whipping 52-17. The win was Missouri's first at Nebraska in 30 years. The Tigers' Chase Daniel threw for 3 TDs and Derrick Washington rushed for 139 yards and 3 TDs. Don't get too excited yet; Nebraska's 3 wins have come over lame opponents. No. 5 Texas traveled to Colorado and torched the Buffaloes 38-14. No. 6 Penn State beat Purdue on the road 20-6.

No. 7 Texas Tech rolled past unranked Kansas State on the road, 58-28, after leading 38-14 at the half. BYU (Brigham Young) beat unranked, in-state rival Utah State 34-14 on the road. No. 12 Florida ripped apart Arkansas 38-7 on the road. No. 15 Utah just eased past Oregon State 31-28 at home.

No. 16 Kansas was down 20-0 at the half and just got by unranked Iowa State 35-33 on the road. Jayhawk fans must sense that Kansas is not that good after gimmie wins against Florida International, Louisiana Tech and 1-AA Sam Houston State and a narrow 3-point win over a South Florida team on the downslide.

No. 17 Boise State kept winning by stomping Louisiana Tech 38-3 at home. No. 20 Virginia Tech picked up a 20-13 win at home against a losing, 1-AA Western Kentucky team. The Hokies also have a signature win over 1-AA Furman; let's get serious with the scheduling, guys. No. 21 Oklahoma State downed Texas A&M 56-28 at home.

No. 3 LSU (Louisiana State), No. 11 Georgia and No. 25 Wake Forest were idle this week.

Twelve of the AP Top 25 teams from week 5 remain undefeated. They are Oklahoma, Alabama, LSU, Missouri, Texas, Penn State, Texas Tech, BYU, Utah, Boise State, Vanderbilt and Oklahoma State.

Three other teams among the 119 1-A competitors remain undefeated-Ball State at 6-0 and Northwestern and Tulsa at 5-0. Alabama and Penn State are the only other two unbeaten teams at 6-0.

At least two of these 15 unbeaten teams will lose in college football's week 7 as Oklahoma State (5-0) travels to Missouri (5-0), and Texas (5-0) travels to Oklahoma (5-0).

Three other unbeatens had better strap their helmets on tight because 4-0 LSU travels to 4-1 Florida, 5-0 Northwestern hosts 5-1 Michigan State, and 6-0 Penn State travels to an angry 3-2 Wisconsin team that is not used to losing at home. Two other key games pit 4-1 Notre Dame at 4-1 North Carolina, and 5-1 Minnesota at 3-2 Illinois (any team that can beat Michigan now can beat Minnesota).

Copyright © 2008 Ed Bagley

Read my other detailed, knowledgeable, interesting articles on college football, including:

"So Who Are the Current Worst Players in Division 1-A Football in the Nation?"

"4 AP Top 25 Teams Have Some Proving to Do-Missouri, Texas Tech, South Florida and Kansas"

"College Football - Week 5: 9 AP Top 25 Teams Lose, 6 to Unranked Teams, No. 1 USC, No. 3 Georgia & No. 4 Florida All Lose"

"College Football - Week 4: 14 Teams Suffer Their First Defeat - Auburn, East Carolina, Oregon & Florida State All Lose"

"College Football - Week 3: Let There Be No Doubt: USC Crushes Ohio State 35-3 and Is Clearly No. 1"

"College Football - Week 2: East Carolina Smacks West Virginia, Upsets Its 3rd Straight Ranked Team"

"College Football - Week 1: No. 24 Alabama Stuns No. 9 Clemson, East Carolina Upsets No. 17 Virginia Tech"

"College Football - Preseason - Only 5 Games Highlight First Week, 29 Others Must Win Their Opener"

Find my Blog at:
http://www.edbagleyblog.com
http://www.edbagleyblog.com/Sports.html