Michael Ventre

Michigan must feel like the fellow who senses that his girlfriend is set to break up with him, but she hesitates, waits, ponders … and then breaks up with him. Not only does it hurt, but it took two weeks longer than it should have.

Just about everybody outside of Ann Arbor had a sneaking suspicion that the Wolverines would be passed over for the BCS title game. The appetite for a rematch just wasn’t there. Ohio State versus Michigan? The country saw that show already. The sequel is never as good as the original.

But the Wolverines shouldn’t pout, because they didn’t deserve to go. Neither does Florida for that matter. The word “deserve” has no place in the land of the one-loss teams. Ohio State offered an unassailable argument. The contestants in line to face the Buckeyes each had a blemish on their record, and because of that they left themselves at the mercy of the system.

After USC took itself out of competition by inexplicably rolling over like submissive pups against UCLA, it came down to Michigan and Florida. The Gators not only took care of business, but they played two games — victories over Florida State and Arkansas in the SEC title game — while Michigan sat home, anxiously awaiting the election returns.

Michigan did nothing wrong. Florida just did a little bit more right in the eyes of the voters.

The Wolverines should understand that there is no playoff system, and there might never be if proponents fail to prove to university presidents that there is more money to be made that way than the current system. In the realm of college football, university presidents simply understand money.

The Wolverines also should understand that the Ohio State game is their national championship game. They will never gain a berth in the BCS title game unless they beat Ohio State. This season was the best shot the Wolverines had at losing to their archrivals and yet still gaining a BCS title berth. And it didn’t happen. They played well against the Buckeyes in their annual regular-season finale. They took it down to the wire. Such a stirring performance was still not enough.

So the Wolverines should make a mental note to themselves on this topic: Beat Ohio State. It won’t absolutely guarantee a place in the BCS title game, but it’s a deal-breaker if they lose.

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The Wolverines also should be mindful of their schedule. As long as they end their season in the middle of November, and other contenders continue to play the Saturday after and the Saturday after that, they’ll be at a disadvantage with voters in the human polls.

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Florida was able to showcase its talents up until December 2, two weeks after Michigan exited the stage. It’s like candidates in a tight Senate race where one of them wraps up his campaign while the other one keeps going for another two weeks. And it’s really like a political campaign when you have a coach like the Gators’ Urban Meyer whining to the media every chance he gets about what a travesty it will be if his team is passed over while denigrating the competition in the process. He’s like a human attack ad — and he’s not alone.