Playoff Path Just Got a Lot Clearer

Indiana gashed us up the middle. Notice they didn't try off tackle left or right. When we started trying to key in on the middle runs, they'd trap us inside and run around the edge, but that's a direct result of not being able to stop the middle. The pass D was still very good.

that were for good for us..HOWEVER.....if our defense plays like it has lately we wont beat Penn State...What has happened? The defense has regressed after starting off so Hot...on the other hand the Offense has exploded....Penn State game on the road is HUGE..we have to get our early season swagger back...Having said all that who wouldve thunk we be in this position? Its made watching all the other big games fun again because We have a rooting interest...I hope we throw the kitchen sink at Penn St because this is not going to be easy

During Michigan's spring and fall training camps, when there was news that prospects for the defensive line looked to be so good that Brady Pallante, Henry Poggi and Tom Strobel were being moved to the offensive unit and Ondre Pipkins wouldn't be missed, who could've predicted that the season would come to a close without Mario Ojemudia, Bryan Mone and Ryan Glasgow being available for the defensive line?

What if Clemson loses to UNC in the ACC Championship game?

They've had some close games to some mediocre teams. And UNC is playing lights out right now. Good chance that UNC beats them in the ACC Title game, which I'm pretty sure is held in North Carolina. That said, it's all for naut if we can't find a way to shore up our NT and linebackers issues.

a somewhat stronger shot at getting to the playoff do exist.

BUT the middle of our defense has been exposed.  The losses of Glasgow and Ojemudia are HUGE and by Playoff time, Bama will be number 1, we would get in at No. 4 and that matchup would be horrific.

I'm no 'puppy dogs and rainbows' guy, we have to face the truth, if we qualified for it we probably get curb stomped.  Derrick Henry would run for 300 yards and Jake Rudock would be running for his life all night.  With no running game, the Bama defense would blitz the hell out of Rudock and targeting calls wouldn't happen in the Playoffs.

 It would be an epic beating like a red-headed stepchild that just burned the house down just to see if it would work.

We don't need that.  I think that going to the Rose Bowl and beating Stanford would be much better for the program than going to the playoffs and losing out of the gate.  I'm not saying we would be beat Stanford, but at least we would have a shot at it.

To be brutally honest, this team isn't beating Bama, not yet.  It would be three times worse than the last time and uglier than when ND got shellacked by the Tide.

Heck, being realistic I don't see how we keep Elliot in check in two weeks.  Winning out is going to be tough, doable, but tough.  Yesterday was an eye-opener for this injured defense.

I'm not a doomsday guy, just being realistic.  We're better than we thought we might be, but we're not there yet.

Haha. That isn't all that needs to happen. I could easily see multiple teams from same conference, pac12 team ahead of us, etc. let's talk in two weeks

I'm not sure it is a given a two loss Michigan gets in over one loss OSU even if the one OSU loss is to Michigan. But, if you except that as a premise, the path for Michigan or OSU to the playoffs is similar. OSU beats MSU, win the game, win the B1G championship game. Michigan odds are lower due to outside influences because, michigan also needs ND to lose or chaos in Big 12.

What I find amusing are the people who say we have no chance to get to the playoffs and even if we did we would get destroyed. I am sure OSU was saying the same thing last year when they barely beat a mediocre Penn State team in OT and gave up 28 points to a Michigan team who struggled to make first downs all year. Or when their starting heisman candidate QB went down before the B1G championship game. The fact is they had elite coaches that get their team in a right frame of mind to win each game. We also have those similar elite coaches and right now we are positioning ourselves as well as we can to make a run at something no one thought was possible at the beginning of the season. Go Blue!

It's a good thing you're not on any committees then.

Cue Jim Mora...

I don't see it. Even if Mich wins out by beating highly ranked OSU & Iowa; they still have 2 ranked but not super-high losses & 2 super-close shaves against teams with poor records. (Those two teams are better than their records, but no one is going to credit that.) So a one loss Big 12 and undefeated American (if any survive?). Possibly 2 from ACC or from Big12 believe it or not before UM in committee's eyes. Also 2-loss SEC or ND (because that schedule was oh so tuff /s) will in before UM by the committee in that scenario.

You can't say the pac 12 is out but say a two loss Michigan is in the conversation. I suspect in three weeks we will be talking about several two loss teams for the playoffs.

We will be 12, at best, after this week. I just want us to win games. Not even thinking about the playoff.

A hypothetical 11-2 B10 champ Michigan jumps 11-1, defending national champion OSU?

If the CFP is supposed to be about getting the 4 best college teams into a playoff then there is no way we belong there. The only Big Ten team that might is Ohio State (haven't watched an Iowa game so I can't speak of them) and the jury is still out on them. We're a much better team than we have been in several years (including our 11 win season under Hoke) but we are not back yet. We're good again, not great. To get on here and say anything else makes this board look like RCMB. Let's just enjoy our progress and be thankful that our seniors are getting the wins on their way out.