One thing that escapes those two comments is that a loss to Appalachain State doesn't do anything to Michigan's Rose Bowl chances. If Michigan runs the table from this point forward and finishes 11-1, then they go on to play in the Rose Bowl which before the BCS was the ultimate prize for Big 10 teams. The ultimate prize was to win the Big 10 conference and then play and win the Rose Bowl. Those two goals are still firmly attainable for the Maize & Blue.

The BCS Championship is out of reach, but realistically, I'm not sure Michigan was going to play for it anyway. Obviously if you were going to lose a game and be denied the BCS Championship, it'd be easier to swallow if it was a loss to Penn State or Ohio State, but it's not all lost for Michigan and there is still plenty to root for within the confines of a Big Ten Championship.

So the bigger question is: When did conference championships become meaningless?

The conference championship will become meaningless at the point when Michigan makes that game after losing to App State. Although Ohio State Fans etc. are obviously rolling around about this loss- the reality is it's a huge blow to the Big 10, especially if Michigan comes out on top.

I see what you are saying. It's a monumental blow to the Big 10 when you think about it, but if Michigan comes back and beats Oregon, Penn State, Notre Dame, Wisconsin and Ohio State to finish 11-1 and then gets to the Rose Bowl, the real test would be who they play. If USC runs the table, the Pac 10 would have first dibs on who they take and then it would be interesting to see who Michigan is paired up with.

If it's a team like Texas, LSU, Oklahoma, Florida or a West Virginia or Louisville and Michigan wins the Rose, the 34-32 loss would still be horrible, but how horrible could it be then when you are looking at 12-1 with those kinds of wins and a Rose Bowl victory?

Right now the loss looks awful, but if in mid-January Michigan is 12-1 with a Rose Bowl victory, time would have made that loss look a whole lot more like an aberration than essential truth.

If anything, I think this serves two purposes for major college football programs:

1. EVERY WEEK MATTERS! This is obviously why college football is the very best sport on the planet. There has to be a sense of urgency to every game you play otherwise you find yourself in a spot like Michigan. The same could be said of Tennessee and Florida State who all of a sudden find themselves on the outside looking in.

2. The name on the jersey matters. The final score was 34-32, but from my vantage point, Michigan simply didn't take the game as serious as if the jersey said "IOWA" or "OHIO STATE". That could be 20/20 vision, but you are talking about a top-5 team getting ready to play a D1AA team at home. Those guys seriously can't be thinking 100% focused on App State no matter how many D1AA championships they win or how much Carr coaches them up to not take their opponents lightly. This of course is human nature in athletics.

At the end of the day, it was a brutal, mind blowing loss, but on shear talent alone, Michigan is still a top-10 program. It wouldn't be surprising to see them at 12-1 at the end of the season and then how would that affect the thinking?

I'm with Savant on this one.

The people talking about Michigan finishing the rest of the year undefeated are the same people who thought they should have had the rematch with ohio state to determine the bcs championship. when will the big ten pac-10 homers learn?

now we see oregon state getting whipped by cincinati! your conferences suck.

This is just another 8-4 Michigan season, They have no chance of running off a 11 win streak...when will you big ten homers learn that you perpetueally over rate this crappy coach and crappy team... they sucked last year when they barely beat Vanderbilt and they suck this year...