Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later, right? Michigan had the nation's longest streak of consecutive bowl games at 33. Now, though, it's come to an end. Bizarro Purdue vanished today, as the Boilermakers returned to form by scoring 48 points and still needing a last-minute touchdown to win. The victory is just Purdue's third of the season, though their bowl hopes are still theoretically alive.Michigan's, though, are dead. The loss was their seventh of the season, thus guaranteeing there's no bowl for the Wolverines this season. It'll be their first year home for the holidays since 1975.
I mean, think about that. 1975. The Ford administration. Leisure suits. Plaid golf pants. The first year of Saturday Night Live. Cars about the size of battleships.
Rich Rodriguez was twelve years old in 1975. Joe Paterno had only been coaching Penn State for nine years in 1975.
There's always a certain amount of schadenfreude when one of the traditional powers finally gets their comeuppance, but please, a moment of silence for one of the more impressive accomplishments in college football history.
While I'm sure there are plenty of maize-and-blue clad partisans who want to park a U-Haul outside RichRod's house, they shouldn't miss the signs of hope.
