Would you rather beat OSU or make he CFP?

(A) We're not doing the latter if we don't do the former (B) this is some little brother mindset crap.  Do I want to beat Ohio?  Obviously.  But our team's goal isn't "beat that one guy we don't like", it's "win Big Ten and National titles".  Beating OSU is a stepping stone, a necessary step in that process, but the goal is and always should be compete for a National Title.  

A Big10 title would mean more to me than a playoff birth at this point.  I don’t care how the math and the schedules break down, in general a Big10 title would be a bigger deal to me. 

Playoff, srsly.  But We need to do the latter first in order to get there in 2018 so I guess as we speak maybe I'd rather beat Ohio St.

How about we beat PSU first?

We ain't beating Bama. Give me an OSU win and the Big Ten Championship so we can get the monkey off our back.

These threads are getting worse and worse.

And anyone saying they are too scared to play Bama and would rather not make the playoff is a fucking idiot. 

False dichotomy.  We don't make the the playoff without beating OSU.

Again,  what's with all the non-news opinions.

Would you rather wear OSU boxers or Michigan State briefs?  

Can't do the latter without doing the former.

This is a revenge tour.  Not enough revenge if we don't beat 'An Ohio State University'.

Don't see how we could lose to them and make the CFP.  So, rather beat them and have something weird happen that causes us to not make the CFP  

beating OSU fuck playing bama. I don’t want that smoke.

The answer to any reasonably rational Mich football related either or question  is BEAT OHIO ST.

Beating OSU

I'd argue the question needs a little refinement.

I am guessing you mean something like...

1. Beat Penn State, Rutgers, and Indiana, lose to Ohio State and win the B1G championship since Ohio State loses another game and the head to head doesn't matter, and make the CFP because of our tough schedule with quality wins.

2. Lose to Penn State, beat Rutgers, Indiana, and Ohio State...then lose or not make B1G championship game?

That's a tough one. It would be really nice to call ourselves B1G champions again, but going 2-1 against rivals is pretty great too. If you're adding in a national championship win I'm going with that one for sure.

Remember one of the other Harbaugh knocks is "he has never won anything". Super bowl runner up and no national championships. A B1G championship takes that one away.

Yes!

WTF OP?

It's not an either/or situation. (I think you didn't ask your question clearly.)

Running the table (which includes beating OSU) en route to winning the Big Ten Championship with a 12-1 record qualifies us for the playoff.
 

Beating OSU always comes first, but realistically I doubt we can get to the CFP without beating them anyway so it's really not much of a choice.

I don't accept the question.  The answer is obviously both.

But I will say that OSU is the most important game on the schedule.  Must win.

Playoff, if they're not mutually exclusive. But we literally cannot make the playoff without beating OSU most years, especially this year. 

As the kids say, why can't it be both? 

Both.   I am greedy and we are due. 

Besides, if we do not beat OSU, we are not going to the playoff.  

Well Marcus Ray declared 3-loss Purdue as the outright best team in the B1G so either way it doesn't matter bc they get an auto-bid to the championship and are unbeatable giant killers. 

I'd take the win over Ohio State.

There's too much subjectivity involved in the CFP selection process to get too invested in it at this point.

But a win over Ohio State and the likely B1G East title that implies?  Yeah, that sounds good.

We've just had the best two-week run since, I don't know, at least the Carr era.

I don't think it's a terrible question. At least to an old-timer conditioned to equate success with Rose Bowl trips and National Championships were more media constructions.

For most of my life, beating Ohio State meant more Rose Bowl. Bo vs. Woody. Life itself. I can't divest myself of that.

Now we have a split Big Ten where we're somehow lumped with Maryland and Rutgers, but not Minnesota, Wisconsin or Iowa (and with the eight-game conference schedule, each will visit Ann Arbor once every seven years), and a conference championship that seems to do more harm than good. And then this bizarre playoff, which penalizes the most competitive conferences while giving Central Florida even more reason to pointlessly woof.

It would be interesting to see if this defense could stop Alabama, but if it can't, that's something that won't make this season any less interesting. Losing to Ohio State would mean 2018, as nice as the last couple of weeks have been, has still left a lot of unfinished business.

So while I'm inclined to say "let's enjoy this for the moment, focus on good practices and Penn State," the answer is really an easy one for me: beat OSU. I think this will always be the right answer.

That’s easy! BEAT OSU! Seriously our only focus should be Penn St and OSU at this moment. 

This is an easy choice - beat OSU now, beat OSU always.  The CFP is icing.

If I could only pick one, yes, beat Ohio State and break the seal.

Also, Rose Bowl over the Playoff, as well as anywhere else Michigan could go. Rematch with the Wazzu or Washington. 

The Cotton Bowl is not literally the last place I would want Michigan to play, but playing for JFK-hating middle-aged Texas oilmen in an industrial park in suburban Dallas-Fort Worth is a pale substitute for arroyo seco and the pageantry of the Rose Bowl.

Beat OSU.  Worry about the rest later.  

OSU is a great team and we have not won at CBUS since the Clinton Administration.  Pump the breaks.  

if they accomplish the first (beating osu), they'll be a lock for the 2nd... but if I had to choose ONLY one, it'd be beating osu at the shoe

Fuck that, I want both. But if you have to choose, then beat OSU and let the CFP fall where it may; we don't make the CFP unless we beat OSU anyway...

Beat OSU... not even close.

As has been said, one is required to achieve the other, but I think more in line with the spirit of the question:

if we’re going to the playoff with a chance to win it all, then playoff is more important. 

If in this hypothetical it’s either beat osu and get screwed out of a playoff spot, or lose to osu and go to the playoff and definitely lose in the semi, then beating osu is more important.

You’re not getting one without the other, but if I had to pick one, make the CFP.

If they won a title after that, who among us would honestly care? You think Bama cares that they lost to Auburn last year?

All of the above. 

Both. 

Errr-thang.

I want it all AmorAll Benz and endless papes.

The amount of chaos that would have to happen for UofM to get to the playoff at 2 losses would probably be fun to see, in a sadistic way. But IMO this team deserves the win after all they've been through.

In order to go to the CFP they need to beat OSU so gotta beat OSU