What No. 2 CFP ranking means for Michigan football

Michigan football moved up to No. 2 in the College Football Playoff rankings and here’s what that means for the Wolverines. 

I know some Michigan football fans were hoping the Wolverines would move into the No. 1 spot following their win over Ohio State.

However, despite the fact that it’s the best win in college football, as well as the fact that Michigan is the only team with two top-10 wins, including one on the road, the committee was always going to keep Georgia No. 1 and it’s hard to argue.

The Bulldogs have done nothing to suggest they won’t claim a third consecutive national championship. Still, Michigan football moved up to No. 2. Ohio State dropped to No. 6 behind Washington, Florida State, and Oregon.

It’s significant to me that Ohio State is ahead of Alabama and Texas. But it’s hard to see a path for OSU in the playoff. The best-case scenario might be for Georgia to beat Alabama, Michigan to win, and Florida State to lose.

If that scenario, Georgia and Michigan would be in, along with the Pac-12 champion. Ohio State and Texas, assuming they win the Big 12 title game, would be the debate for No. 4.

And based on this week’s ranking, I think Ohio State would get the nod. Conference championships are a tiebreaker, but, that’s only if the committee views the teams evenly. Texas doesn’t get moved above Ohio State just because it has a conference title.

I do think the win over Alabama, plus the Big 12 title is a persuasive argument, but we’ll see how that plays out.

That means a playoff rematch with Ohio State isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility. This ranking also makes me think there’s a chance Michigan football could make it with a loss.

How Michigan football could make the playoff with a loss

If Georgia wins and Florida State is upset by Louisville, Michigan is definitely in. Then, you’d be looking at UGA, the Pac-12 champion, then Michigan, Ohio State, and Texas. Washington is already ranked behind Michigan and the Huskies losing to Oregon won’t change that in my opinion.

Ohio State is also ranked behind Michigan, which has the head-to-head advantage. The Wolverines still compare favorably to Texas and I’m not convinced a one-loss Michigan team doesn’t get in over a one-loss Texas team, but in that scenario, Michigan will be in either way, because there’s no way Texas and Ohio State would get in, but not Michigan.

Even if Florida State and Georgia win, — plus we’ll assume Oregon is the Pac-12 champ since they are the favorite, you’d still have a final choice of Michigan and Texas (one-loss Big-12 champ).

The Penn State and Alabama wins would be similar in that situation (both 10-2 on the road) and Michigan would still have the best win after that over Ohio State.

Beating Oklahoma State twice doesn’t overcome Ohio State in my opinion. It will be close though. The worst-case scenario is if Michigan and Georgia both lose. That would be chaos.

More than anything, Michigan just needs to win, then it won’t have to worry about anything but trying to get the best seed possible.