The Sugar Bowl drew some major scorn around college football when it chose
Michigan and Virginia Tech to face off the night of Jan. 3 in New Orleans. There
were a few reasons for this criticism: Michigan didn’t even win its own division
in the Big Ten, while Virginia Tech was crushed in the ACC title game and didn’t
beat a team that is currently ranked. Plus two other available teams, Kansas
State and Boise State, both were ranked higher in the BCS standings. But bowl
choices aren’t really about matching the best teams but drawing the most fans
and best ratings. Michigan is a 3-point betting favorite.
Get all your college football odds at Bovada’s online
sportsbook.
No. 11 Virginia Tech (11-2) had won seven in a
row before running into Clemson in the ACC Championship. And the Hokies were
solid favorites in that one but lost 38-10. The Tigers became the only team to
beat Virginia Tech twice in the same season. Clemson also beat the Hokies 23-3
in Blacksburg, Va., on Oct. 1. The Hokies have a terrific dual-threat QB in
Logan Thomas and one of the nation’s leading rushers in
David Wilson, but both struggled in the ACC title game. Thomas
had two picks and a fumble and Wilson, the ACC Player of the Year, had 32 yards
on 11 carries. The Hokies will bring the No. 8 scoring defense into this
game.
No. 13 Michigan (10-2) had a resurgent season under first-year
coach Brady Hoke, capped by a 40-34 victory over Ohio State that ended a
seven-year losing streak to the Wolverines' biggest rival. Michigan is of course
centered around incomparable QB Denard Robinson, who threw for
2,056 yards and 18 scores and led the team in rushing with 1,163 yards and 16
TDs. Behind Robinson and RB Fitzgerald Toussaint (1,011 yards,
9 TDs), Michigan ranked ninth in the nation in rushing and scored 28 points or
more in its 10 wins. But the biggest reason for the Wolverines’ surge this year
was on defense. Under first-year coordinator Greg Mattison, the
U-M defense improved from 110th nationally last season to 18th this
year.
This is the second Sugar Bowl for Michigan and fourth for Virginia
Tech. Schools that are currently in the Big Ten have posted a 2-7 all-time mark
in Sugar Bowl action, while ACC teams have registered a 14-10 mark. Michigan and
Virginia Tech have never played each other. It’s only the fifth game ever
against a current Big Ten team for the Hokies, and three of the previous ones
were against Nebraska when it was in the Big 12.
THE STAGE IS SET: Bet the bowls now at
Bovada!
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