Where Does Michigan Finish?

Submitted by raleighwood on
If everything is "chalk"....can Michigan finish the season at #2? All of this is based on Michigan winning. Penn State (#5) and Washington (#4) would both clearly fall behind Michigan if they lose. Assuming OSU beats Clemson by more than an FG (not likely....but possible), then Clemson falls behind Michigan, too. That leaves OSU vs Bama. I'd contend that if OSU loses by more than seven (likely), then they'd fall past Michigan leaving the Wolverines at #2. This factors in the fact that Michigan lost to OSU in double OT on the road (with other dubious elements). This season seems similar to 1985 to me (generational defense, losing close game at Iowa, Harbaugh....) and Michigan finished #2 then. I'm looking for a repeat. Thoughts?
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uminks

December 27th, 2016 at 11:50 PM ^

and PSU loses we'll end up at number 5 or 4. We'll need one of the playoffs teams to be just blown out of the water. I think Alabama will lay a whipping on Washington, may be 40-13, so I think we can jump Washington. Still sad that we could not beat IA or OSU.  We had a good chance at beating both teams. We should be playing for the NC!

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ATC

December 28th, 2016 at 4:06 AM ^

We finished 1....... A.C. Spark plug..........Butch Woolfolk......Kurt Becker....... There's a reason the media works as "media".........can't work elsewhere (90 percent of the time)

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Rh22

December 28th, 2016 at 6:40 AM ^

If we win, I'd guess #3 if OSU finishes #2 (beats Clemson) or #4 if OSU finishes #3 (loses to Clemson)....of course assuming Alabama #1.

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henrynick20

December 28th, 2016 at 7:06 AM ^

Maybe 4th if a playoff team gets castrated. There is absolutely no chance a playoff team wins a first round playoff game and then falls behind Michigan. I'd love to move higher but top 5 is top 5 if they can get it, as others have said, without the playoff it's all the same up there. To recruits, fans, and the team. The goal was a national championship. Any number other than 1 next to their name will be mildly disappointing. P.S. I hate Iowa.

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ak47

December 28th, 2016 at 7:50 AM ^

You don't punish teams for playing an extra game so 3 would be the highest. And I'm sure there is some hesistancy to move a team above the top 4 post bowl games so I wouldn't be shocked if we topped out at 5. And really anything other than #1 is meaningless at the end of the year

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MotownGoBlue

December 28th, 2016 at 9:13 AM ^

2. I'm not sure if we're better than Alabama. PS - Cam Akers is heading to FSU, which is good news, considering the Bucknuts were in contention for his services (unless we face the Noles again in the near future). It's a toss-up between Najee and Cam for the best 2017 HS RB, imo.

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DrMantisToboggan

December 28th, 2016 at 9:28 AM ^

Akers is really really good, but I think Najee's running style is going to make him a better back going forward. I actually think Akers would have been a better fit for OSU's run game than FSU's, and I think he would do well under Taggart at Oregon too. With Najee, I don't think it matters where goes. If he is on a pro style team with a decent offensive line he is going to finish top 3 in the Heisman voting at some point.



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M-Dog

December 28th, 2016 at 8:59 AM ^

We would have to smoke FSU, and OSU would have to smoke Clemson and make it to the NC and then lose big.

It actually could happen.  It's not chalk though.

If everything goes to chalk - the favorites all win close to the spread - we would finish 3rd.

We would jump Washington and Clemson because they would have the same number of losses as us.  But they would end with a loss and we would end with a quality win wich always seems to matter.  Plus, there is a lot of sentiment that Michigan should have been in the CFP and this would be a way they would acknowledge that.

PSU will get thumped by USC and have one more loss than us, so we will easily jump them.

 

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mickblue

December 28th, 2016 at 9:13 AM ^

Helps our ranking going into next season.

That is where our focus should be.

Losing 2 of our last 3 was what cost us the most.

We need to get over it.

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M-Dog

December 28th, 2016 at 9:21 AM ^

We could finish 3rd in the polls and 3rd in recruiting.

Who would not have taken that deal as the results of Harbaugh's 2nd year at Michigan?

We would have gone bonkers with that scenario.

 

 

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goblueram

December 28th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^

First off, I think Michigan is easily one of the top 4 teams in the country.  Accordingly, they could very well finish in the top 4.  

However, I really think that the 4 playoff participants should be locked into #1 through 4.  They were deemed to be the best 4 teams, and losing to each other shouldn't knock any of them below the non-contenders.

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M-Dog

December 28th, 2016 at 9:32 AM ^

I don't agree with that at all.  

It''s an educated guess who is in the top 4.  Once all the games are played, you have another significant piece of information you didn't have before.  

They may have guessed wrong.  It happens.  

Why perpetuate it?

Did anybody think MSU was really a top 4 team last year when all the games were over?

 

 

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goblueram

December 28th, 2016 at 10:33 AM ^

So I'm guessing you would view the bowl games as a 13th/14th regular season game or data point leading up to a final poll?  Whereas I view the bowls as a postseason/playoff that finalizes a champion and the ranking of teams within the tier they earned during the regular season.

Basically the entire season is played to determine the 4 best teams, so those teams now get to battle it out for #1 through 4, no poll required (except maybe determining 3 vs. 4 from semifinal losers).  Then the bowl games are the traditional postseason that lead to polls ranking the teams from 5 onward.

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uminks

December 28th, 2016 at 1:10 PM ^

Michigan is probably the 2nd best team in the country. On a neutral field we would probably have won the semi-final game and would be the only team to give Alabama a good game. So we are #6 stuck outside of the playoffs. This will happen in the future due to weak conferences and some teams playing cupcakes in their non-conference schedule, aka Washington. Until the playoffs are expanded we will not know the true national championship but I expect Alabama to win out and they are the best team in the country this season.

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MgoBlueprint

December 28th, 2016 at 11:18 AM ^

I agree to a certain degree. If the committee chose the best four teams, then they should be locked in barring an embarrassing loss.

However, we lost to the number two team in a hostile environment on the final play and dropped out of the top four. I think that precedent should make the 2-4 spots fair game.



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DrMantisToboggan

December 28th, 2016 at 9:24 AM ^

If we win by double digits, and Washington and PSU both lose decidedly, we will certainly get to 4th. If OSU beats Clemson by double digits we could maybe get to 3rd. I don't see any situation in which we get to 2nd.



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