Michigan football is enjoying its second bye week of the season during Week 11, which is ahead of a three-game stretch to close the regular season.
Even though the Wolverines are ranked No. 21 right now, the belief among Michigan football fans is that if the Wolverines win out, and beat Ohio State, the team will make it with a 10-2 finish.
However, that might not be a guarantee. It's hard to see the Wolverines getting left out if they do beat Ohio State, that might be the best win of the season, yet some other teams could have an argument.
One of them is USC. The Trojans defeated Northwestern to improve to 7-2. They still have to play games against Iowa and Oregon. Michigan needs to the Trojans to lose one of those games, because a 10-2 team with a win over Oregon, and Michigan, would have a strong argument against Michigan, even if the Wolverines beat Ohio State.
Michigan football rooting interests for Week 11
While Michigan fans should want Oregon to beat USC, it wouldn't be a bad thing if Iowa knocked off Oregon this weekend. The Hawkeyes are ranked 20th. A win would knock Oregon from the top 10.
The perfect scenario for Michigan is for Iowa to upset Oregon, then Oregon beats USC, and USC ends up beating Iowa.
Michigan fans should cheer for that exact scenario above. U-M fans also need to cheer for Washington to keep winning. The Huskies have a favorable schedule, so there's a decent chance they are 9-2 going into the final week of the regular season, which means a game against Oregon.
If Washington wins that game, Oregon would be at least 10-2, the same with Washington. Michigan if it won out, would also be 10-2, with a tiebreaking win over the Huskies.
In that scenario, not only would Michigan make the playoff, it would earn a trip to the Big Ten title game. Michigan probably controls its own destiny for the most part, but if these things happened, it would guarantee a playoff berth, as long as the Wolverines beat Ohio State.