Well, well, well, after a season in which Michigan started off with National Title hopes, only to start 3-3, I don’t think that The Alamo Bowl is that sorry of a destination – we are probably lucky to be in a bowl at all. Michigan fans, however, don’t seem to agree. According to the Michigan Daily, The University has sold only about 5,000 tickets to the bowl, including a dismal 150 student tickets. For last year’s Rose Bowl, 35,000 tickets were sold through the athletic department, including 2,000 student tickets.
Why the discrepancy? Well, it should be obvious that the Alamo Bowl is nowhere near as prestigious as the Rose Bowl. Especially coming off a disappointing season (which began with high expectations), this means that few people care to see the Wolverines in action live one more time. I know that fans may be embarrassed to be out of a New Year’s Day Bowl for the first time since the 1995 season (Lloyd’s first at Michigan), but they should still have some support for their team (a situation that seems to be a little too prevalent, but that’s for another day).
Another reason fans feel let down by the Alamo Bowl is the fact that Iowa is going to the Outback Bowl (a Jan. 2 bowl, since New Year’s is on a Sunday this year). The Wolverines had an identical 7-4 record to the Hawkeyes, including a head-to-head victory. This was despite facing a significantly more difficult schedule than Iowa. Iowa was picked for the Outback Bowl even though they do not appear (at least on paper) to be as good a team as Michigan. Because of this, Michigan fans feel cheated out of the Outback Bowl. However, the ability of a team to draw traveling fans to a bowl game is taken into account, and as the Alamo Bowl clearly shows, if we aren’t in a BCS bowl, the fans aren’t a-comin’.
I, for one, will be attending the Alamo Bowl, and sitting proudly in the student section. Hey, at least I get to see the team win in person this year (something that season ticket holders didn’t get to see a whole lot of). So, if you’re planning on visiting the Alamo Bowl, good for you. If you still need to get tickets, here’s where you can get them.
That’s all for now, next time I’ll actually get in to a little analysis of the game itself.
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