

Michigan fans have spent the past few days trying to figure out if their team would get into a BCS bowl and if so, which one? and who would their opponent be?
Before the weekend it looked like the answers were Yes, Sugar, and TCU.
During Saturday it looked like Yes, then Maybe, then possibly No, and then back to Yes again.
And on Sunday before the BCS standings were released it was: Yes, Sugar (maybe Fiesta), and Kansas State (maybe Boise State, maybe West Virginia).
Now the actual answers are in: Yes, they're in. The Sugar Bowl. Against Virginia Tech.
Virginia Tech?
The team that just lost to Clemson by 20+ points for the second time this season?
The question is, why? What do they offer—other than being a southern team—that Kansas State or Boise State doesn't? Do they travel better than Kansas State? (I doubt it). Are TV viewers going to be any more excited about this game than Michigan-Boise State? (Probably less, I would wager).
The worst thing is, if they were going to go "off the board" they should have gone for Baylor, who finished #12 in the BCS standings. Denard Robinson vs. Robert Griffin III? That could have been a classic. Now it's just Michigan against Virginia Tech—exciting for fans of those two teams but not really anyone else. The Wolverines had a good, but not great, season. So did the Hokies.
If the Sugar had chosen Baylor, some (including me) would have complained that they skipped over Kansas State. But at least I would have seen why they did it. There would have been very good reasons: the quarterback matchup, and the fact that Baylor is also pretty close by in Waco, and they are a Southern team, too.
It also would have given the Big 12 two teams in the BCS bowls, which they deserved. Now there are two ACC teams among the ten BCS bowl teams—how ridiculous is that?
The bottom line is, having picked Michigan just for their fan base, their second pick could have been a) Boise State, the fairest pick as far as the standings go, b) Kansas State, the fairest pick for conference representation, or c) Baylor, the best pick for hype and fan interest.
An opportunity missed, and for no good reason.
Normally I get sick of people complaining about the BCS, but it's the secondary bowls—not the national championship game—that make for terrible matchups most of the time. This Sugar Bowl is a perfect example of why the system sucks. I hope the BCS's proposal to get out of the non-championship bowl games comes to pass.
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