Michigan Monday: Likes Steak!

When Michigan was announced as the Big Ten's representative for the Outback Bowl, it seems only the MSU fans were surprised.   Brett McMurphy predicted this match-up of Michigan vs. South Carolina in Tampa weeks ago. 


Why are MSU fans so mad?  Well, its a process and you will have to follow the long path on this one.

1. OSU beat Wisconsin in the Big Ten Championship by two field goals
2. The College Playoff committee picked Alabama over OSU for the final 4
3. Which means the Big Ten went from the Playoffs to the New Year Day Bowls
4. The Big Ten Champ can't go to the Orange Bowl and if a BIG 10 team is selected to play in the Orange they lose their spot in the Citrus Bowl, which would go to the ACC.
5. Wisconsin is picked for the Orange Bowl (be careful there is an Orange Bowl Curse!)
6. Which pushed MSU out of the Citrus Bowl spot and pushed ND in
7. The next best Big Ten Bowl is the Outback
8. The Outback picks Michigan which pushes MSU to the Holiday against WSU.

MSU fans feel they should be in the Outback on New Years Day not the late night Holiday Bowl in California.


Couple thoughts why:  The Holiday Bowl matches two ranked teams, the Outback has a match-up of two un-ranked teams.   MSU historically doesn't travel well and Michigan does.   Michigan brings a ton more TV viewers.   That is why. 

• Guess what?  Michigan seems to be back in the Shea Patterson lottery again.   Sam Webb reported last week at this time, that they weren't interested.  He has retracted that take and now says Michigan is.   He is visiting this weekend.   Ole Miss got hit with two years of a bowl ban, which would not make Shea immediately eligible.   It seems Shea wants and needs to be eligible next year if he is going to transfer. 

• Jimmy said a few things on the Outback tele-conference: 

-Peters has been cleared and will be the #1 QB in bowl practice
-Jimmy is still leaning on keeping the medical redshirt on Tarik Black if he is healthy


Couple tips if traveling to Tampa for the Outback:

• Tickets are either $170 or $80 for the game.  The 2nd tier is not real high, the third tier is. 
• Hotels:

1. Best place to stay is in Clearwater on one of the nations best beaches.  That is still 45 minutes or so away from the stadium.  Hotel will be pretty big $$$$$
2. Tampa really has two hotels districts in the Downtown/Bay or at the Airport.  

Downtown/Bay is nice but not a ton going on down there.   There is a Westin and Embassy Suites.
The Airport has a lot of hotels and will be your best bet on price.   There is a really nice Westin near the airport that is on a little lake that you can rent wave runners, etc. 


If your traveling with kids, your not too far from Disney if you want to take a day at the park (if you stay in Tampa).  Tampa also has a decent theme park in Bush Gardens and your not far from Lego Land either.