Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Michigan downs Ohio State
Michigan’s emphatic victory over Ohio State will shake up the College Football Playoff rankings and put the Wolverines in line for some first-place votes.
Ohio State was a sizable favorite over Michigan despite sitting just one place ahead of them in the College Football Playoff rankings. The Wolverines proved it was a mistake to doubt them by wallopping their rivals.
Now, it’s Michigan who controls the Big Ten title race. They’ll face the winner of the Big Ten West in the conference championship game with the expectation of clinching a place in the College Football Playoff.
It’s not just a question of a Top 4 place anymore either. That 45-23 victory over Ohio State could give more than few voters an argument to put the Wolverines ahead of the Georgia Bulldogs.
Projected College Football Playoff rankings after Michigan downs Ohio State
- Georgia (beat Georgia Tech, 37-14)
- Michigan (beat Ohio State, 45-23)
- TCU (plays Iowa State)
- USC (plays Notre Dame)
- LSU (plays Texas A&M)
- Ohio State (lost to Michigan, 45-23)
- Alabama (plays Auburn)
- Oregon (plays Oregon State)
- Tennessee (plays Vanderbilt)
- Penn State (plays Michigan State)
For now, we’re going to assume Georgia will stay at No. 1. They started slowly against Georgia State but ultimately pulled away for a comfortable win.
Michigan will move up to No. 2 with quite the gap ahead of TCU at No. 3.
A tighter battle between the Buckeyes and Wolverines might have opened the door for a double-dose of Big Ten in the Top 5. However, a dominant showing in the second half by Michigan will do the likes of USC and LSU a favor.
USC and LSU are big winners of Michigan’s victory over Ohio State
The No. 4 spot will be up for grabs between the Trojans and Tigers. LSU opened the weekend ranked ahead of USC on the strength of impressive wins over Alabama and Ole Miss. Their game against Texas A&M won’t exactly give them the chance to show off while that Ole Miss win looks less stellar given the Rebels loss to Mississippi State.
Meanwhile, USC has a chance to impress against Notre Dame at the Coliseum. A win may indeed put them over the Tigers come Tuesday.
As for Ohio State, there actually isn’t that much room to fall. They’ll likely land right in front of two-loss Alabama at No. 6. However, with no conference title game appearance on tap, their College Football Playoff hopes are done unless TCU, USC and LSU stumble.
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