Michigan Football: Championship Week Rooting Guide
By Matt Snyder
The Michigan football team could sneak into the College Football Playoff if a few results bounce their way during Championship Week. Here’s who Michigan fans should root for.
The Michigan football team was ranked fifth when this week’s College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday night. That means they’re out of the national championship race if chalk holds, but it doesn’t completely rule them out of consideration if an upset or two occurs this weekend.
Alabama and Ohio State look like locks to make the playoff at this point. The Crimson Tide are the only undefeated team in contention (sorry, Western Michigan) and could very likely survive an SEC Championship Game loss to Florida.
The Buckeyes, who failed to qualify for the Big Ten Championship game due to a tiebreaker loss to Penn State, have wrapped up their regular season. Being the number two team in the rankings, they’d have to be jumped by three teams to fall out. FiveThirtyEight gives them a 92% chance of making the semifinals, and even that seems a bit low.
That leaves two spots in some manner of doubt. What needs to happen for the Michigan Wolverines to claim one of those positions?