College Football Playoff: How a 16-team bracket would play out

2. Clemson vs. 7. Michigan

For all of the negative talk that we’ve heard about the Michigan Wolverines following their crushing loss to Ohio State, it’s worth noting that, if not for a lack of game-planning or a complete collapse in all three phases of the game midway through the contest, Michigan was in a position to still compete with Ohio State. Simply put, this is the most complete team that Jim Harbaugh has had since coming to Ann Arbor and, on the right day, they should be able to compete with anyone.

Anyone indeed does include the second-ranked Clemson Tigers. Though they went through the regular season and the ACC Championship Game with a perfect record, they had far from the perfect season. Both Texas A&M and Syracuse gave Dabo Swinney’s team all that they could handle and, especially in the case of the latter, had every chance to actually pull off the upset.

With the prowess of Michigan’s defense, I believe that they could cause some problems for Trevor Lawrence and Clemson, getting into the face of the true freshmen in an already high-pressure situation and making him feel the heat even more. Thus, the Tigers certainly wouldn’t go off on the Wolverines like the Buckeyes did.

At the end of the day, however, I just don’t have enough faith in Shea Patterson and the Michigan offense against this Clemson defense. Though they have put together some nice showings this season, they haven’t been consistent enough to think that they can have real success against the Tigers. Subsequently, it’s Lawrence and Clemson that advance.

Prediction: Clemson 28, Michigan 18