It's been the talk of the nation for two weeks now, and deservedly so. Michigan, a perennial powerhouse in the world of college football, lost its first two games of the year in embarrassing fashion despite a preseason No. 5 ranking - one of those games to a Division I-AA opponent and the other a 39-7 spanking by an unranked team.
The immediate effect of these losses has left the entire city of Ann Arbor in shock, shame and uproar, while all across the Midwest, the other Big Ten schools are reveling that the Wolverines sit all alone, dead last in the conference standings.
However, the long-term effect of the Big Ten's preseason frontrunner taking such a major fall to start the season will be interesting and perhaps detrimental to the conference down the line. Two weeks ago, after the loss at home to Appalachian State, there was immediate buzz about whether or not Lloyd Carr's job was on the line because of it. Fortunately, notable sportscasters around the country had their heads screwed on right and realized that one bad loss - albeit one of the most shocking losses in NCAA football history - should not cost a previously-successful head coach his job, especially since it was just the first game of the season.
But after being humiliated at home by Oregon for a second consecutive loss to start the season, Carr has a great deal of reason to worry. Looking back to last year, he is now 0-4 in his last four games and has caused his team to drop so far out of the polls that even Ivy League schools stand a better chance of making the nation's Top-25 next week than the Wolverines do.
That being said, the Wolverines need to get back on track and start winning or Carr will be kicked to the curb, and that makes them dangerous. They are desperate for wins, and they certainly have the tools and talent to come out victorious against any - and possibly every - team left on their schedule, regardless of what the Associated Press polls say. It would be a costly mistake to forget how badly Chad Henne, Mike Hart and Mario Manningham ripped apart defenses last season. All three of them are still on the roster and dying to prove that they can still play like the Rose Bowl-worthy team from a year ago.
Even more discouraging to the rest of the Big Ten, though, should be how much the conference has lost favor in the power rankings. The AP poll has essentially become The SEC Show"" with LSU, Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee and Arkansas all getting Top-25 rankings and Alabama and Auburn both receiving a fair number of votes. The Big East and the Big 12 each have four teams with national rankings and a team on the cusp of making it in. The Pac-10 has two teams in the top eight, another in the Top-25 mix and Washington on the rise.
What does the Big Ten have? Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State. That's it. Iowa and Purdue each received one vote for national rankings - basically negligible. And remember that Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State all have to play each other this season. The chances of any team coming away undefeated in the Big Ten are not that good. If the season plays out on the current trends, the Big Ten will send one team to a BCS bowl game. A sad turn of events from last year, when there was talk of sending two Big Ten schools to the national championship game, despite Michigan's loss to Ohio State.
Now, that's not to say Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State are not good teams. They are good, and they have proven it thus far in the season. Despite the Badgers' tough win last week and drop in the polls, many people around the country still think they can compete for the national championship. Wisconsin, Ohio State and Penn State represent the conference well and are doing their part to keep the Big Ten in the national spotlight.
Nonetheless, Michigan is putting the squeeze on the rest of the teams in the conference. This sorry start is going to make the rest of the season that much tougher for everyone else in the Big Ten.
To express your joy in Michigan's sorrows with Andy, e-mail him at avansistine@wisc.edu.
