Much of the buzz in college football this week has been about the Michigan football program. But it hasn't been because of the Wolverines' dominating performances on the field this year, which have allowed them to go 8-0. Or maybe it has?

Due to recent sign-stealing allegations involving a staff member, now known as Connor Stalions, the Wolverines are under fire. The ramifications of these allegations have yet to be determined, however, they are endless in speculation, with no timetable available on an eventual verdict from the NCAA and their rulings on the matter. That, as most of us who follow college football know, could be a lifetime from now, when little to no remnants of this 2023 team or the ones presumably involved in this scandal previously will have anything to do with it, including head coach Jim Harbaugh himself.

But what about in the present?

How will the CFP committee look at Michigan?

The Wolverines are on a bye this week, so media pundits and ill-willed fandom will have to wait another week before they spew their hatred or make further assumptions about how much intel Michigan had on a 2-5 Purdue team and others. However, there is something very important upcoming that could have massive intrigue into the current Michigan football scandal. That is the first College Football Playoff (CFP) poll, which will be announced on Tuesday, October 31.

Michigan is currently ranked No. 2 in both the AP and Coaches Polls, but none of that will really matter come Tuesday when the CFP poll is released, which is what determines which four teams enter into the playoff to vie for the college football national championship. Could Michigan be dropped out of the top 4 to prove a point?

Remember, this isn't the days of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) where essentially a computer, although imperfect in its own right, was without bias and decided on who the best teams in the country were. The CFP poll has a massive human element to it, or maybe even better said, human error to it. Of course, human error is what has made college football so divisively intriguing all along, given that this is a sport that has shown to have no real, leading governing body to which we can trust to give fair rulings or even adequately determine the best of its competition.

The selection process, according to the CFP site, seems just as muddled as it ever was, really. For the CFP, things like championships won, strength of schedule, head-to-head competition, and comparative outcomes of common opponents are used to determine the best teams. Even by this method of selection, subjectiveness and bias could easily occur. Because at what point are committee members looking at team logos and eventual television ratings over win-loss records and such? For a committee member looking at Michigan's logo with Jim Harbaugh's name next to it, it could garner nothing but disdain, much like it has to fans and pundits all around college football.

That's why Tuesday's selection outcome is must-see, thanks to Michigan and Harbaugh now. How heavily will these allegations be used against them in determining their ranking? What's even worse is that the committee could have a somewhat valid argument to keep them out of the top 4 if that is indeed what ends up happening.

The CFP committee has a good argument to leave Michigan football out of top-4

Michigan hasn't faced a single ranked opponent as of yet this season. They've outscored their opponents 325 to 47. They won't face a ranked opponent until presumably current No. 10 Penn State on November 11.

Does anyone think, with the current situation at hand, that the committee wouldn't then rule against Michigan football in this matter, with the back-pocket excuse of, ‘Hey, you haven't played anyone'? This is Michigan's national spotlight this season, the present allegations and even the former NCAA rule-breaking dating back to 2020 that led to Harbaugh being suspended for the first four games of the season by his own university.

This is still a Michigan football team that is considered one of, if not the best, in the entire country. But each member of the CFP committee could be diligently, if not abhorrently, looking at Harbaugh and Michigan and see that even as good as this Wolverines team seems to be, their recognition is coming from all the wrong ways. That's a sign that's not hard to decipher.