Michigan’s Bowl Chances and Potential Opponents

The Michigan Wolverines fine themselves in a good position to go to a bowl game for two reasons.  One they played some fine football.  The second unfortunately is a little less noble.

If Ohio State and Penn State were not banned from post season play we would be discussing which of those teams would be going to one of the various bowl games, but the reality is they are banned from bowl games so there is no point in playing “what-ifs.”

That leaves the Wolverines sitting near the top of the Big 10 division and being looked at as a team to play in a bowl game.  The most likely bowl game they will be playing in is the Capital One Bowl.  The source for this information comes from the Capital One Bowl’s own Twitter fee:

We’ve been posting about B1G scenarios since late yesterday, so we won’t re-hash. Teams in the mix: Nebraska, Northwestern, Michigan.

-November 25

There are also a few rumors swirling that if for some reason Michigan gets over looked for the Capital One Bowl they could very well end up playing in the Outback Bowl.  The only way I can see this happening is if Nebraska falls to Wisconsin and Georgia loses to Alabama.   We then could see a Nebraska versus Georgia Capital One Bowl.  Even this scenario is unlikely and most sports analysts including CBS Sports, Mark Schlabach and Brad Edwards of ESPN and a handful of writers over at Bleacher Report fully expect to see Michigan in the Capital One Bowl. They predict this with good reason.  Nebraska is the favorites according to the book keepers at various betting sights to beat Wisconsin.  Nebraska as a -3 to -3.5 point spread, depending on where you get your information, but everyone seems to agree that Nebraska is the team most likely to walk away Big 10 Champions.

If we assume that Michigan is going to the Capital One Bowl then the question becomes: who will be the opposing team?The most likely candidate is Texas A&M.  A potential Michigan versus Texas A&M Capital One Bowl is a game that is already getting over analyzed and predicted by sports pundits that you would think the announcement of this match up has already been made.

If for one reason or another the team Michigan is likely to face in the Capital One Bowl Georgia, that is if Georgia loses to Alabama.  If Georgia manages to upset Alabama, Georgia will head off to the BCS Championship Game, while Alabama will likely play in a more high profile bowl game other than the Capital One Bowl.  This is also unlikely as the odds of Georgia getting a shot at a more high profile bowl game are still likely even if they lose to Alabama.

The most likely and most exciting prospect for the Capital One Bowl seems to be Texas A&M taking on Michigan.  If this does occur it is going to be a great game and provide some exciting and close call betting.