2011 Bowl Games: Michigan Will Finish Improbable Season with Sugar Bowl Win

The Michigan Wolverines have had an improbably quick rise from the doldrums of the Big Ten standings, and they will finish off their epic year with a huge win over Virginia Tech in the 2012 Sugar Bowl.

The stage is big, the matchup works and this isn't the same Michigan team that you got used to with Rich Rodriguez at the helm.

Simply put, Michigan was a joke in the Rich-Rod era.

They were over-hyped, overrated and couldn't beat a team with half a pulse and the resemblance of a real defense.

Of course they looked good for the first part of the season when they were playing "cupcakes", but they notoriously fell apart when they hit the meat of the Big Ten schedule, and Rodriguez's 6-8 Big Ten is the harshest proof of that statement.

When new head coach Brady Hoke came into the program many, including myself, felt that it was going to take some time to change the culture of the program, as well as implement a system that could work in the Big Ten.

Hoke came in and immediately changed the culture of the football team though, and instead of crumbling under the pressure of the Big Ten season, they rose to the occasion more often than not.

The Wolverines finished the season at 10-2, with their only losses coming to rival Michigan State and Iowa, and according to Stewart Mandel of Sports Illustrated on his twitter, Michigan will officially square off with Virginia Tech in the Sugar Bowl:

To go from laughing-stock of the Big Ten schedule to a BCS Bowl game is quite a turnaround, and the Wolverines have shown that they are quite worthy of the bid.

They will come into this game averaging 195.5 passing yards and an astonishing 239.8 yards per game on the ground.

Denard Robinson was once again the catalyst of the offense with 1,958 yards and 18 touchdowns through the air, as well as 1,117 yards and 16 touchdowns on the ground, but he was just a small part of the now-balanced Michigan offense.

Sophomore running back Fitzgerald Toussaint finished the year with 931 (1,011) yards and seven touchdowns and added the resemblance of a power running game to the once gimmicky offense.

Most impressive was Michigan's defense though, which was putrid under Rodriguez. 

The Wolverines hired former Baltimore Ravens' defensive coordinator Greg Mattison and he turned the once anemic defense all the way around. Michigan only allowed 17.2 points per game, which is seventh best in the nation, and is arguably the biggest change on this Michigan team.

It's been an improbable year and a huge turnaround for the Wolverines, but they are poised to finish it off with a huge win against the Virginia Tech Hokies in the 2012 Sugar Bowl.