Rooting Guide: Week 11

Things are looking pretty good for Michigan now.  But the playoff committee has shown they can be a fickle beast.  

 

Week 11 looks pretty "meh" on paper, but who knows when chaos will rear its head?

 

Essential:

 

Michigan beats Rutgers, in non-embarrassing fashion (style points matter, at least 21+ margin of victory should take care of it).

 

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Big Ten Games:

 

Wisconsin @ Penn State

 

We beat both teams, but Penn State is likely to remain ranked tomorrow, and has near guaranteed wins in their final two games (Wisconsin has a tough upcoming matchup @ Purdue).  Penn State winning out is puts them in the top 15ish range for a nice resume win

 

Root For: Penn State

 

Northwestern @ Iowa

 

Northwestern has the division all but locked up.  Even with a loss at Iowa, they would also need to drop one of @ Minnesota or Illinois to blow their lead.  We want them to win out from here so they can at least be a fringe top 25 team for championship week. 

 

Root For: Northwestern

 

Ohio State @ Michigan State

 

You could argue either way here.  MSU win almost certainly locks the division up for Michigan, and makes MSU another ranked win for Michigans resume (assuming they don't blow it the following week @ Nebraska).

 

OSU win essentially guarantees the game to be a top 10 matchup, putting Michigan on the biggest stage Thanksgiving weekend.  A win here probably has the biggest impact at the most crucial time.

 

Root For:  Meteor

 

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Big 12 Games:

 

Oklahoma State @ Oklahoma

 

Oklahoma is one of two of Michigan's biggest threats.  Rooting interest is pretty simple, even if the outcome we want is unlikely.

 

Root For: Oklahoma State

 

TCU @ West Virginia

 

Assuming OU wins out, which looks likely, the next best hope is to diminish their resume.  As of now, WVU and Oklahoma are headed for a collision course of playing each other in consecutive weeks on Thanksgiving weekend and the Big 12 championship game.  A lower ranked WVU probably gives OU that much less of a chance at a quality win

 

Root For:  TCU

 

Texas @ Texas Tech

 

Texas beat OU, which is looking like a worse and worse loss with every Texas loss.  OUs only loss being to an unranked Texas would be huge.

 

Root For:  Texas Tech

 

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SEC Games:

 

Auburn @ Georgia

 

After Oklahoma, Georgia is Michigan's next biggest threat.  If UGA runs the table and knocks off an undefeated Alabama team in a close game, then the debate comes up about 2 SEC teams in the playoffs.  Georgia losing eliminates this possibility

 

Root For: Auburn

 

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Florida State @ Notre Dame

 

This one not all of you may agree with.   But Notre Dame's schedule has worked out terribly from them outside of Michigan. A loss in any of these last 4 game probably puts them behind Michigan, even with the head to head result.  A loss to abysmal FSU would all but guarantee this.  

 

Root For:  Florida State

 

(I'm not even gonna waste time discussing Washington State because they are on the outside looking in).