Ohio State and Michigan played a classic game Saturday, a double-overtime thriller that will be talked about for years to come whenever this storied rivalry is brought up.
Well, unless the Buckeyes and Wolverines meet again this season. But good thing that will never happen, right?
It turns out after Tuesday night's reveal of the latest College Football Playoff rankings, however, a potential rematch is not that crazy of a thought. It'd take some upsets occurring this weekend, but Ohio State–Michigan part two is not out of the question just yet.
If Washington and Clemson lose, seems like you could be looking at Ohio State-Michigan again in Arizona.
— Nick Baumgardner (@nickbaumgardner) November 30, 2016
The Wolverines finished the regular-season 10-2 and came in at No. 5 in Tuesday's rankings. CFP committee chair Kirby Hocutt repeatedly said the gap between Michigan and No. 4 Washington was "razor thin" and that the committee spent almost two hours on those two teams alone.
But the Wolverines are done with chances to improve their already-strong resume. The Huskies, meanwhile, play Colorado in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night. Should the Buffaloes win that game, things begin to get very interesting for Michigan.
A Colorado victory puts the selection committee in a tough spot. Michigan played the Buffaloes way back in September and won the game, 45-28. Even if Colorado wins its conference title, it's hard to see it jumping the Wolverines being that Michigan's resume is stronger and it has the head-to-head win.
The Wolverines also have victories over both Big Ten championship game participants — No. 7 Penn State and sixth-ranked Wisconsin — so again, whoever wins will have a hard time jumping Michigan even after the conference title. That means the Wolverines could slide into the No. 4 spot if Colorado upsets Washington for the Pac-12 title.
Michigan sneaking in as the No. 4 seed likely doesn't mean a rematch with Ohio State, though. Unless something crazy happens, Alabama is going to be the No. 1 overall seed, so if the Wolverines finish fourth they're going to Atlanta to play the Crimson Tide in the Peach Bowl.
What would need to happen for Michigan to potentially play Ohio State again — in addition to Colorado beating Washington — is for Virginia Tech to upset Clemson in the ACC championship game. The Tigers are heavy favorites, but stranger things have happened before in this crazy college football world.
So, losses by Clemson and Washington this weekend could have the selection committee's top-four teams looking like so:
- 1. Alabama
- 2. Ohio State
- 3. Michigan
- 4. Penn State–Wisconsin winner? Clemson, possibly? Colorado? Oklahoma?
It's impossible to predict results at this point, of course, but the general consensus after Ohio State knocked off Michigan in double overtime last Saturday was that the Wolverines were essentially eliminated from the College Football Playoff.
After they came in fifth in the recent rankings, however, it doesn't appear that way. Michigan's three wins over teams playing for conference championships this weekend could be huge when it's time to make the final selections on Sunday.
All of this is a moot point if Washington or Clemson handles business this weekend, of course, but if you're an Ohio State fan hoping to watch your favorite team have a chance to knock off Michigan for a second time in one season, you might want to root for the Hokies and Buffaloes this weekend.
If those two upsets occur, things could get awfully interesting.
