After the Michigan football team lost to Oklahoma in Week 2, College Football Playoff hopes took a hit. In the new 12-team CFP era, teams like Michigan can likely afford two losses and still make the playoff. Getting that first loss in the second week of the season stung quite a bit, but the Wolverines have bounced back nicely. Their second big test of the year was last weekend at Nebraska, and they handled it well, winning the game 30-27.
The Michigan football team needed a win against the Cornhuskers, and that’s what it got. A loss would’ve meant that the Wolverines would need to win out to have a chance at the CFP, and that would’ve been very difficult. With the win, Michigan’s College Football Playoff hopes are alive.
Fox college football analyst Joel Klatt recently went through contenders and pretenders in the CFP race, and he has Michigan as a contender. Here is why:
“Contender,” Klatt said. “Their schedule makes them a contender. I think that they can get themselves in a position to be a 10-2 team by the end of the year, which would clearly put them on that line to potentially be in the CFP.”
Michigan does have some challenging games left, but they are all winnable. The next contest that is viewed as a big challenge is at USC on October 11th. The other main challenge on the schedule is the regular season finale against Ohio State.
If the Michigan football team beats USC, there is a good chance that the Wolverines are 10-1 going into the Ohio State game. There are also difficult games vs. Washington and at Michigan State after playing the Trojans, but again, those are games that are winnable, and if Michigan wants to be a CFP team, those both need to be victories.
