Morgantown to Ann Arbor is like . . .

Seriously, I've been to both towns, and I think there's a reason successful West Virginia coaches are happy to eat million dollar out-clauses in order to skip town for the school of another economically washed-out state, that is, Michigan. Specifically, Morgantown makes Ann Arbor look like Shangri La. Like Bali Ha'i (the island full of hot Polynesian women in "South Pacific"). Like Paradise City. And I'm not saying Ann Arbor is all that great. To be plain, Morgantown is not a nice place. It's ugly and charmless. It's populated by crazy hillbillies/rednecks. The WVU stadium looks like a Travelodge. The town's redeeming features are a monorail that mostly serves as a monument to Federal pork barrel spending (Yea, Robert Byrd!), its proximity to Pittsburgh, and a Chic-Fil-A that's in a foodcourt at a crappy mall.

Now, I'm sure Michigan and Rodriguez will probably be a fine match. He has a solid record and runs an interesting offense and defense, which'll be a change for Michigan. But like Beilein, he's won at relatively unconventional places through unconventional tactics-- the question will be, will his tactics work at a very, very conventional place where he can get highly touted conventional kids? Or will he just change tactics and become more conventional? Anyhow, I'm not too worried about a guy who's built up his fame by winning the crappiest and smallest BCS conference. Also, I have got to pass along his myspace page. The comments (and the unintentional comedy) from jilted WVU fans are priceless.

Also, relating back to Wisconsin football, the Tennessee offensive coordinator, David Cutcliffe, has just accepted the head coaching position at Duke. While I certainly can't condone anyone accepting such a god-awful job, I do hope that this proves to be something of a distraction for Tennessee in their preparation for the bowl game. In fact, Cutcliffe had a press conference announcing himself as the new Dukie head coach last Saturday. At the same time, Doeren, Hankwitz and Chyrst will probably be busy game-planning. And there's talk that Cutcliffe is going to steal several Tennessee assistants, and a report that Tennessee's wide receivers coach has been offered a coordinator position at Baylor. Looks like distraction central over in Knoxville. Given the Badgers' injury problems going into the game (maybe no Hill, no Henry, no Chapman, no Swan, no Langford), they can use all they help they can get.