Michigan Football: A bye week rooting guide for Wolverines fans

The Michigan football team is off Saturday with its second bye week of the season and here’s a breakdown of who you should root for this weekend.

For the second time this season, Michigan football fans will have to go without the Wolverines on a  Saturday as UM will be on bye this week.

The Wolverines had a bye week earlier in the season following the win over Army. Now, Michigan football gets a weekend to rest before hosting hated Michigan State next Saturday.

Yet, that doesn’t mean that Michigan fans have to go without football on Saturday as there is actually a pretty nice slate of games on tap.

In fact, there are some games that could have an impact on Michigan, either in the Big Ten race or in the race to try and get into a New Year’s Six Bowl game.

As long as the Wolverines keep winning, they should find themselves in a major bowl, however, here are a few things you should root for and some games you should watch if you are in need of football.

Penn State at Minnesota

This is one Michigan fans should keep a close eye on. Earlier this week, I laid out a miracle scenario for UM to win the Big Ten East and it includes Penn State losing this week and next to Indiana.

So obviously, the Golden Gophers need to give the Wolverines an assist here and take down fourth-ranked Penn State. Minnesota, which is undefeated and No. 18 in the College Football Playoff Rankings, has a lot to prove.

I’m also betting the Gophers will have a huge chip on their shoulder since they are ranked behind a slew of two-loss teams, including Michigan. This is their chance to beat somebody legit and show they are a contender. A win by Minnesota will also give the Wolverines a slightly better, but still not realistic chance of winning the East Division.

Maryland at Ohio State

This game, like Minnesota and Penn State kicks off at 12 EST, but few expect this to be competitive. Certainly, it would be great if Maryland found whatever mojo it had last season against Ohio State when the Terps took them to overtime, but after Michigan football crushed Maryland a week ago, it seems like OSU will do the same.

Chase Young won’t play and that could make a minor difference, but there is no way Maryland will slow down the Buckeye offense. We can dream though. I’d steer clear outside of commercials, except if things are interesting on the scoreboard.

LSU at Alabama

This game actually has nothing to do with Michigan football. The Wolverines aren’t a national title contender so it will have no impact on them. It’s just going to be a great matchup and if you love the sport of college football, you simply have to tune in.

Iowa at Wisconsin

This game starts 30 minutes after LSU vs Alabama (thanks tv people in a sarcastic tone) so watching it will take some maneuvering. Get two TV’s, some sort of stream on, it’s possible to watch two games at once.

And this one actually will impact the Wolverines. Wisconsin is ranked No. 13, one spot ahead of Michigan and if the Badgers keep winning but say don’t reach the Big Ten title game, they would probably get a bowl spot over UM. Maybe even if they lost a tight game to Ohio State or Penn State in Indy.

That head-to-head does play a factor, particularly if teams have the same record and similar resumes. Thus, an Iowa win would help in more ways than one. It would drop Wisconsin in the pecking order and make the Wolverines win over Iowa look even better.

Also, since the Wolverines beat Iowa and each has two losses, it should stay ahead of the Hawkeyes in the rankings. So it’s a win-win all around for UM if Wisconsin goes down in Camp Randall.

At any rate, enjoy the bye week cause we all know what’s up next.