Michigan Upset alert: Wolverines trail Indiana Hoosiers 7-3 at half

The No. 3 Michigan Wolverines are on upset alert again in Week 12. They trail the Indiana Hoosiers, 7-3, at halftime in Ann Arbor.

The No. 3 Michigan Wolverines are seeing their 2017 College Football Playoff hopes slip through their fingers in a matter of weeks. Michigan was previously undefeated before falling on the road in Iowa City to the Iowa Hawkeyes on a last-second field goal in Week 11.

Now, Michigan trails the Big Ten East rival Indiana Hoosiers 7-3 at halftime at home in Ann Arbor in Week 12. The Wolverines may control their own Big Ten Championship and College Football Playoff destiny, but this team may not be able to hang on at season’s end.

Michigan had been a defense-first football team under head coach Jim Harbaugh, leaning on superstar linebacker Jabrill Peppers. Now that the Wolverines’ less-than-stellar offense is without starting quarterback Wilton Speight, Michigan may not be able to score enough points to even get to Indianapolis. A trip to Tampa might now be out of the question.

While Michigan has the head-to-head tiebreaker with the Penn State Nittany Lions in the Big Ten East, a second Big Ten loss would certainly knock the Wolverines out of the division race. Saturday at home against Indiana was supposed to be the easier of the two remaining Big Ten games for Michigan, but that may not be the case.

Michigan still has a date with the arch rival Ohio State Buckeyes next weekend. Ohio State hung on to beat the lowly Michigan State Spartans by a point in East Lansing on Saturday afternoon. If Michigan falls to either Indiana or Ohio State, it would presumably be Penn State that would win the Big Ten East.

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The Nittany Lions’ only Big Ten loss is to Michigan, but has two very winnable division games left on the slate: the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and Michigan State. Both of those teams aren’t going bowling this holiday season.