Playing the scenario game...

So maybe you're a little down that the Sweatervest and his ilk are right back at the top of the BCS rankings this year despite their losses on both sides of the ball. Well, you shouldn't be, but it might be happening.

With that in mind, HSR Correspondent Dave checks in with three best case scenarios for the remaining games on Michigan schedule this season. I have to say, they warmed my cockles.

1) 9-2 Michigan beats 11-0 aOSU, knocks aOSU out of the MNC and the Rose Bowl. Mike Hart runs for 250 yards in the game. Off to the Rose Bowl, where they gut out a rematch victory over Oregon while overcoming the Heisman curse. Coach Carr retires and _____ (insert your favorite candidate here) is quickly hired for the 2008 season.

2) Michigan stumbles down the stretch and is 7-4 or 6-5 going into the big game, but manages to beat aOSU. The Alamo Bowl never felt so good. Meanwhile, aOSU goes to the Rose Bowl, where they lose 40-7 to Oregon.

3) Michigan loses to AP #1 aOSU, but, when the final BCS standings are announced, it's AP #2 Boston College v. AP #3 Arizona State for the MNC. (Replace one of those teams with South Florida if you like. But not Kansas or Hawai'i.) Jerry Palm runs the computers, goes on ESPN, and says that if Michigan hadn't lost to Appalachian State, aOSU's strength of schedule would have been enough to make the MNC. "The horror" is suddenly transformed into "the irony." We taunt aOSU fans by saying we planned it all along.