I didn’t note this at the end of the regular season, because it seemed so absurd at the time, but after seeing Michigan pummel Florida in Orlando, one has to wonder now. If Hart and Henne had been healthy in November, could Michigan have gone to the BCS Championship Game? And if so, would they have done better than the Buckeyes did last night?

I know, App State, but hear me out.

Yes, they had two losses, but they were early season losses. Particularly this season, they can be recovered from. Which is worse, losing the first game (barely) to App State, or losing badly to Stanford mid-season?

Before the Wisconsin game, Michigan was ranked 21st in the BCS. Had they beaten Wisconsin, they probably would have ridden up to the second ten, if not top ten. If they beat #5 Ohio State, then they’d certainly end up in the top five, since they only had two losses–their first of the year–and then finished off their season with ten straight wins. After all, on the same day, several teams ahead of them would have lost. With the last losses on the last day of regular season, and with one of the longest win streaks in college football at that point, they could easily have been poised to rise to the top as Ohio State did.

Which would have been amusing, since it would have meant two two-loss teams in the NC game.