- We can start off at home, as Maize n Brew's own bowl prognosticator, Pete, has the Wolverines slotted to play in the Gator Bowl, which looks to be one of the likely destinations.
- Over at Off Tackle Empire, they agree with that. The feeling there is that Michigan would match up well with Georgia in the Gator Bowl, providing a good game between two traditional powers with strong fan bases.
- Jason Kirkof SB Nation has Michigan going to the Buffalo Wild Wings Bowl against Texas. This game not only pits two of college football's traditional blue-bloods against each other, but would also add the intrigue of Michigan facing its former defensive coordinator, Greg 'GERG' Robinson.
- ESPN also thinks Michigan is Gator Bowl bound against Georgia.
- CBS Sports agrees.
- On that same note, SB Nation's Team Speed Kills also has a UM-UGA matchup predicted, on the basis of, duh:
Georgia then goes to the Gator Bowl to face Michigan, which doesn't really change that much from last time. I thought about putting Minnesota there, but I think the Georgia vs. Michigan game would probably draw more eyeballs and perhaps sell more tickets.
- For the record, Texas blog Burnt Orange Nation thinks that the Longhorns take on Nebraska and not Michigan in the Buffalo Wild Wings bowl. That makes a certain amount of sense, as that matchup would be a big draw given the history between the teams.
So as of now there is a near consensus that Michigan will play Georgia in the Gator Bowl on January 1st, 2014. It isn't a bad matchup. Georgia is 8-4 overall and 5-3 in conference. Whereas Michigan's conference title aspirations were derailed by youth on the interior of the line, Georgia's problems grew out of injuries to skill players of all varieties. There was the early injury to Todd Gurley, followed by an injury to Keith Marshall which robbed the team of most of its rushing attack. Georgia also lost three receivers during the year including number one wideout Malcom Mitchell, who hurt his knee celebrating a Todd Gurley touchdown five plays into the season. Michael Bennett and Justin Scott-Wesley were later knocked out. Oh yeah, and quarterback Aaron Murray tore his ACL.
So yeah, Michigan has had relatively good luck.
The only thing left that can really shake up Michigan's proposed bowl matchup is a shakeup at the top. I don't know if you've heard, but the Big Ten and SEC have important games this weekend which could determine who goes to the BCS Championship game. These bowl predictions rest on the status quo (Ohio State going to the BCS title game). An OSU loss to MSU and an SEC team moving up in the pecking order could alter the layout.
We will know more this weekend, but all signs point to the Dawgs in Florida on New Year's Day.