The Wolverine

September 2019

The Wolverine: Covering University of Michigan Football and Sports

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4 THE WOLVERINE SEPTEMBER 2019 ONE MAN'S CFP OPINION Dear The Wolverine, I wanted to share my opinion on the state of college football today. I am a lifetime Michigan man and college football fan, 61 years old. In my opinion, the current College Football Playoff (CFP) system is dam- aging college football as a whole. I understand the desire to want to settle a national championship on the field. Football just makes it more difficult than other sports as you can only play one game per week. I miss the old New Year's Day for college football. It was, to me, the best day of the year. Start out with a little of the Rose Bowl parade followed up by what was about 12 hours of New Year's Day bowl games ending with the Rose Bowl, Orange Bowl and Sugar Bowl. All good matchups with quality teams. Back then you had a successful sea- son if you made a New Year 's Day bowl game. Now it seems all anyone is con- cerned with from training camp on through the season is who is going to make the four-team playoff. It's a shame that we lost the tradition of some of these New Year's Day games. Even now, going to the Rose Bowl can be a disappointment. I miss those traditional matchups in the New Year's Day games. Now only four teams and their fans are happy by making the playoff instead of at least a dozen teams playing on New Year's Day. The pressure to make the playoff is so great, but really unrealis- tic for most football programs. My idea is this: combine the tradi- tions of the bowl games from the past with the current playoff system. Let's expand the playoff to eight teams and have the first round go back to the traditional bowl matchups. Big Ten versus Pac-12 in the Rose Bowl, Big 12 champion to the Orange Bowl, SEC champion to the Sugar Bowl and the ACC winner to the Fiesta Bowl. This way the winners of all five power con- ferences qualify along with three at- large selections. It combines the old traditions with a new playoff system. Looking at last year I believe it would have looked something like this: Rose Bowl — Ohio State vs. Wash- ington Orange Bowl — Oklahoma vs. Notre Dame Sugar Bowl — Alabama vs. Michi- gan Fiesta Bowl — Clemson vs. Georgia Not a bad New Year 's Eve/New Year's Day schedule along with the other New Year's Day games. Conference championships would mean so much more, and tradition in the bowl games would come back. After this first round, the four winners would be seeded into the semifinals. No plan is perfect, and I am sure there are some flaws with this, but the positives outweigh the negatives. Just my thoughts. Thank you. Vince Ueberroth Via the Internet TWO MISTAKES On page 12's By The Numbers of the August 2019 issue of The Wolver- ine, two former Wolverines were in- cluded on The Athletic's 22-member All-1990s Team: Desmond Howard and Charles Woodson. I don't believe the player pictured is Howard or Woodson. If I am not mistaken How- ard's number was 21 and Woodson's number was 2. September 2019 • Vol. 31, No. 2 ISSN 1048-9940 Editor John Borton The Wolverine.com Editor Chris Balas Football Recruiting Writer Brandon Brown Staff Writers Austin Fox Drew Hallett David Allen Managing Editor Ryan Tice Contributing Editor Steve Downey Layout And Design Jeanette Blankenship Chris Miller Contributing Photographers Lon Horwedel Per Kjeldsen Cover Photo Lon Horwedel Publisher Stu Coman Business Manager Linda Autry Marketing/Merchandise Manager Beverly Taylor Director Of Advertising Michelle Delee-Hamilton Customer Service Cathy Jones, Gail Evans The Wolverine is published monthly. A one-year (12 issues) subscription is $56.99. The Wolverine is printed at The Papers in Milford, Ind. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to The Wolverine, P.O. Box 2331, Durham, NC 27702. Periodical postage paid at Durham, NC 27702 and additional offices. For advertising or subscription information, call 1-800-421-7751 or write The Wolverine, P.O. Box 1304, Ann Arbor, MI 48106. The Wolverine is a publication of Coman Publishing Company, 905 W. Main St, Suite 24F, Durham, NC 27701. E-Mail Address: thewolverine@comanpub.com Subscription questions: cjones@comanpub.com Website: www.thewolverine.com Be Heard! Send your letters to: Wolverine Letters • P.O. Box 1304 Ann Arbor, MI 48106 Or email: ryantice@comanpub.com Letters may be edited for clarity or length.   FROM OUR READERS U-M has not been to the Rose Bowl since Jan. 1, 2007, when the Wolverines squared off with the USC Trojans in a 32-18 loss. PHOTO BY WOLVERINE PHOTO

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