Michigan Football: The miracle scenario Wolverines need to win East

Michigan football is a long shot to win the Big Ten East, even if it wins out, but, here is a look at one possible way the Wolverines could win the East.

Despite two losses and little hope of winning the Big Ten East, Michigan football still has plenty to play for down the stretch.

The Wolverines, especially guys like Shea Patterson, can change their legacy at Michigan with three more wins and one big one over Ohio State. This stretch will define how he’s remembered and it will give UM a chance to change the narrative.

However, even if Michigan football wins out, it’s not likely that the Wolverines will win the Big Ten East. The loss to Penn State made that a terribly difficult uphill climb, particularly since the Nittany Lions still haven’t lost.

But this weekend provides the best chance to Penn State to lose a game before they head to Ohio State and that’s essential to the Wolverines prospects.

Yet, even if Penn State loses this weekend at undefeated Minnesota, Michigan football would still need a ton of help in that scenario to win the Big Ten East, namely another loss from Penn State and a loss to Ohio State.

That’s when you reason how it’s not very plausible. The Buckeyes host Maryland this week and take on Rutgers next week, before hosting Penn State. That’s a game Ohio State could lose, but if Penn State still only has one loss, it wouldn’t matter for Michigan football. Second is still the best it could do.

Thus, Michigan football fans have to hope for some sort of miracle and after looking at the different schedules, this is most likely, even though it’s an unlikely scenario.

First, Penn State would need to lose to Minnesota this Saturday, which wouldn’t be that far-fetched. The Golden Gophers have been impressive this season and at home, it should be a close game at the very least.

But if Minnesota can win, then UM will have slightly more hope. We know Penn State isn’t losing to Rutgers in the final game of the season, yet, Indiana is better than people expect and if the Nittany Lions fall to the Gophers, the next domino is the Hoosiers pulling an upset.

It’s not likely because it’s in Happy Valley and if Penn State happened to lose at Minnesota, it’s hard to see them losing again, however, it wouldn’t be the first curious loss under James Franklin.

Of course, even if Penn State lost back-to-back games, a lot would still need to happen.

Michigan fans would need to go from cheering against Penn State to rooting for them against Ohio State. That matchup the week before the Buckeyes come to Ann Arbor seems like the only chance of Ohio State losing a game before Michigan.

So to recap, in order for Michigan football to have a chance at winning the East on the last weekend, not even to control its own destiny, it needs Penn State to lose two straight games to Minnesota and Indiana, then turn around and win in Columbus.

So it’s accurate to say it’s 99.9 percent not going to happen. There is still plenty to play for — a Big Ten East title just likely isn’t one of them.