26 so Michigan would essentially have an extra month of practice

26, so Michigan would essentially have an extra month of practice. For a young and developing team, that extra practice time would be invaluable. Tate Forcier and a few others left high school early to enroll in January and participate in spring practice.But most, including quarterback Denard Robinson, arrived just in time for fall camp on Aug 10 and opened the season against Western Michigan on Sept 5. Much of Rodriguezs system was installed in fall practice to get ready for the season.During game weeks, the practices are spent working on getting ready for that weeks opponent and fine-tuning certain details. Various players miss practices every week because of injury, stinting their learning ability and practice time.

Thats why many times a team can look quite different in a bowl game than it did during the regular season, because that month of practice serves as another fall camp.Injured players get healthy, new plays and schemes are installed and practiced until they become second nature, and confidence is gained while the losses of the season are forgotten Look no further than Michigan in 2007, for example. The team, in Lloyd Carrs final season, sputtered to an 8-4 regular season record. It endured a humiliating home loss to Appalachian State, a blowout at the hands of Oregon, and got shut down by Ohio State. It left Michigan fans wondering what could have been had Michigan played that way all season and also excited about the future of that style of offense once Rodriguez was hired. And while Rodriguezs offense has shown great promise and flashes of brilliance at times this season, its still plagued by inexperience. A bowl game and the extra month of practice time would do wonders for this young and developing team. In addition to the extra practice time, making it to a bowl game will give Michigan exposure on a national stage during the holidays at a time when everybody is watching, and a chance to finish on a high note heading into the offseason. Nobody wants to endure eight months of misery like what followed Michigans 3-9 season a year ago.

The second reason Saturdays game is so important is that beating Ohio State would help with recruiting. Michigan has quite a few visitors coming to Ann Arbor for official visits.A chance to see Michigan beat its major rival in the Big House on the final week of the season would go a long way toward helping a recruit tip the scales in Michigans favor. Eight of Michigans 24 commitments in the 2007 class were in attendance for the Michigan-Ohio State game in the Big House that year.And while Michigan didnt win that game, it wasnt quite in the dire situation it is in now with a need for talent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. If Michigan lays an egg against Ohio State and boos rain down from the stands, the attending recruits wont have as good an experience as if Michigan pulls off the big win. Some of the visitors expected to be in attendance on Saturday include: Chula Vista, Calif.