The "halo" of NCAA football leadership has moved from the University of Michigan to Michigan State University who are now "the leaders and the best."
Michigan State celebrated its first Rose Bowl in 26 years Wednesday by beating Stanford in the game, 24-20. The victory burnished the Big Ten Conference's declining football leadership, which had lost nine of its last 10 Rose Bowls, with the lone win coming from Ohio State over Oregon after the 2009 season.
The Spartans know that a team must win on the biggest stage to build or maintain its reputation. That is a goal that the Rose Bowl itself should heed if it wants to sustain its lofty status as college football launches its first-ever four-team playoff next season.
Today, the Rose Bowl has relinquished its historical pairing only for the coveted spotlight of the championship game. During the poll era, the Rose Bowl often was a de facto title game as the nation's best teams—Southern California, Ohio State, Michigan—met to settle debates of supremacy.
Back in Ann Arbor, Michigan, the continuing decline of Michigan's football supremacy is causing the University of Michigan administration to use Michigan Stadium for non-football events...like yesterday's NFL Winter Classic.
Yesterday, the National Hockey League got the big crowd what they wanted and snowy weather, which added to the drama for Wednesday's Winter Classic game, in which the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Detroit Red Wings in a shootout at Michigan Stadium. The announced crowd of 105,491 would be the largest-ever haul for a hockey game. Roughly 40,000 attendees came from Canada, according to the NFL, a big showing for a visiting team.
Source: The Wall Street Journal, January 2, 2014