November 9th, 2021 at 10:12 PM ^
Harbaugh yesterday telling the media that the B1G admitted to him they messed-up the Hutchinson TD call very likely had an effect on the committee picking UM over MSU. Thank you Harbaugh for standing up for your team!
Now you know why Bo constantly bitched about refs every chance he got...because it works. Makes the media and pollsters look back at the bad calls, and effects how they vote.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:14 PM ^
I was sure the committee would move Michigan to #6...I thought that MSU would drop to #8-behind OK. Clearly the committee has no intention of finding reason to include OK or anyone else from the Weak 12.
I am curious what all those on this board who declared that MSU would absolutely remain above Michigan and some even contending that Michigan would somehow drop to #9...well no, actually, I don't want to hear what they have to say.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:20 PM ^
OSU is behind Oregon because of a H2H matchup in Week 2, but MSU is behind us and they just beat us. Seems inconsistent from the CFP committee, but I'll take it.
Let the pundits complain. Hopefully, the team will see it and set to prove them wrong this weekend.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:38 PM ^
I don't necessarily think it's inconsistent to reward a head-to-head win for the road team but not for a 3-4 point head-to-head win for a home team. Point spreads generally give 3-4 points to a home team, so such a margin implies the teams are about even. It's why we use the caveat "on a neutral field" so often.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:21 PM ^
UM was only the top-ten team to beat it's spread. Sparty was favored by 3, but lost by 11. Michigan was either going to move up a spot, or stay at the same spot. No chance UM was going to drop in tonight's poll.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:24 PM ^
I’ve become such a bitter person that my first thought was, they are putting us ahead of MSU so they can set a precedent that head to head results aren’t that important and it will allow them to leapfrog OSU over Oregon.
If OU goes undefeated, they will get in and there’s a chance the #4 spot will come down to Oregon and either Michigan or OSU. If it’s osu, they will jump Oregon…but let’s hope that doesn’t happen.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:26 PM ^
Michigan was just given a golden opportunity. Would be nice to see them cash it in for once.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:46 PM ^
Huh, this really in the grand scheme of things besides laughing at MSU doesn't mean anything for UM. They are already were given the chance by Sparty losing to Purdue, win out and you are in barring MSU somehow winning out. That was the case before these rankings even came out.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:28 PM ^
Thoughts and prayers, Sparty.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:32 PM ^
Two thoughts
- Talk about disrespect. Undefeated Oklahoma sitting at #8 lol
- Purdue plays #4 osu this weekend. They've already beaten #2 and #3. Just saying. I'm a big Purdue football fan this weekend.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:51 PM ^
Screw your conference and you don't get smiles from the CFP committee.
November 10th, 2021 at 10:48 AM ^
Purdue beating OSU does nothing to help Michigan. It actually hurts UM because it makes MSU"s loss look better. In addition, if OSU loses to Pudue and UM, at 9-3 they would be ranked outside the top 10, possibly 15-20 range which would weaken UM's resume.
November 10th, 2021 at 10:58 AM ^
Oklahoma's schedule is really backloaded, and they've looked like crap against a lot of mediocre teams. But if they win out, they're in.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:34 PM ^
Yeah, Harbaugh has not gotten us over the hump, but this is the 3rd November in the last 6 years he has had us in the Top 6 of the CFP rankings. In the last 6 years, current top 10 teams ranked in the top 6:
Georgia: 4
Alabama: 6
Oregon: 2
Ohio St: 6
Cincinnati: 1
Michigan: 3
MSU: 1
Oklahoma: 3
Notre Dame: 3
November 9th, 2021 at 11:28 PM ^
Fox showed Harbaugh's record before and after November 1 and it's startling. We give him crap for not beating OSU, but there's a lot more schools than OSU beating us in November and beyond.
November 10th, 2021 at 8:06 AM ^
Except that stat lacks some context.
If you remove last year (not a regular November to be honest), he's 15-11 after November 1st and 14-7 in just the month of November.
He's 1-9 against OSU and in bowls which means they're 14-2 against everyone else.
The only two losses are at Iowa in 2016 and at Wisconsin in 2017.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:34 PM ^
I mean it’s hilarious but the idea that the committee should just pick the best teams and ignore games is a horse shit system that devalues the games in favor of perception. If the roles were reversed Michigan fans would be losing their shit. The committee is also logically inconsistent because nobody thinks Oregon is a better team than osu. Having a better ‘loss’ shouldn’t be enough to overcome head to head from a week ago
November 9th, 2021 at 10:54 PM ^
Then Purdue should be ranked above Michigan State, I guess.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:19 PM ^
And Penn St should be ranked higher than Auburn.
.....but I think they really should be.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:44 PM ^
Or, and I know this is crazy, using to head to head as a tiebreaker between two 8-1 teams ranked next to each other is different than just saying a team can't be ranked over a team they lost to.
Its not complicated. No ranking should have MSU below Michigan while also having Oregon above OSU. Either you say its just a power ranking and the actual outcome of individual games largely don't matter, or they do matter. Doing both is a bad system.
November 10th, 2021 at 12:51 AM ^
What if we beat MSU then lost to an unranked team from Indiana by 11? Id have to consider that as a hell of a blemish. If you think about it it REALLY doesnt matter at all. Here is why.
It ONLY matters if both teams win out (all future loses and you are out). Then MSU goes to the conference final and gets another data point and of course goes onto the playoff. Any deviation from that and all this means nothing. So MSU holds the final vote in their hands.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:24 PM ^
Osu looked great winning this week at Nebraska. If NU doesn't miss 2 field goals osu potentially loses.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:55 PM ^
The roles wouldn't be reversed,lol. You want to point me to the last time UM benefited the way Sparty did from officiating in a big game? UM outgained MSU by a good margin and the officiating swung the game a large degree. It's not hard to comprehend why the general consensus outside of East Lansing is that UM is the better team. Oregon went on the road against OSU and the officials did not impact that game. Can you really not see the difference? It's not just a black and white, head to head win or loss, there are differences between the two. Clearly that is what the committee is saying. And honestly who the frick cares, it's irrelevant. If either UM or MSU win out they are in period.
November 10th, 2021 at 8:26 AM ^
I honestly cannot think of a game in which UM benefited from calls to the level that MSU did two weeks ago. I can remember a lot of calls that went Michigan's way over the years, but so many, so big, so egregious, in just one game? Nope. I've been following Michigan football since Denny Franklin was running around, and I cannot remember any such game.
It's happened against Michigan at least twice, though - 2016 and 2021.
November 10th, 2021 at 12:49 AM ^
Losing to Purdue? Come on.
November 24th, 2021 at 7:17 AM ^
Exactly
November 10th, 2021 at 8:41 AM ^
Or college football could embraces unified standards and hire full time officials and UM would’ve won 11 days ago.
November 10th, 2021 at 9:06 AM ^
Really going to die on this hill aren't ya?
Most of our fanbase is savvy enough to look at the schedule and realize all of this is moot and will be solved over the next 3 weeks. MSU will exit this discussion entirely on Saturday, the fact the committee ranked them below us before that is all the commentary you need on what happened in our game in East Lansing.
Michigan need not be concerned with any of the rankings at this time, win the games that remain and everything else will take care of itself.
November 9th, 2021 at 10:49 PM ^
Relative positions between UM, MSU, and OSU, remain unimportant.
The CFP committee is committed to one playoff spot guaranteed for a single loss Big Ten winner over Cincy, Oregon, Oklahoma, and ND is all that matters.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:01 PM ^
I think they’re preparing for a “break glass in case of emergency” situation for two Big Ten teams.
Think of this scenario:
-MSU wins out (including BTCG)
-UM wins out
-Oklahoma loses 1 (or 2)/doesn’t win Big 12
-Oregon loses 1/doesn’t win PAC 12
-Alabama loses in the SECCG
You’re left with Georgia, MSU, then who else? UM at 1 loss gets in, and they’d have to pick from Bama, Oklahoma and Oregon, or take their poison and take Cincy. The least feasible part of this is MSU and UM beating OSU, but there are several scenarios where two B1G teams are there.
November 9th, 2021 at 11:35 PM ^
Could happen.
But won't happen.
November 10th, 2021 at 8:42 AM ^
I think oSU drops one more. In a perfect world it’s the Game and we play Minnesota in the B1G Championship for the Jug and the B1G championship.
November 10th, 2021 at 12:21 AM ^
The rankings mean nothing at this point, and it all means nothing if Michigan loses to Penn St. this weekend…but for now it’s amusing as hell to see how mad the Michigan haters are
November 10th, 2021 at 6:29 AM ^
Sure is a lot of hate in this world...
November 10th, 2021 at 1:09 AM ^
This is my least favorite part of sportz. This doesn’t matter at all.
November 10th, 2021 at 2:05 AM ^
Other CFP Poll observations:
- Purdue and UTSA enter the CFP Poll for the first time since the poll’s inception in 2014. Purdue is the 11th B1G team to be ranked in the poll. Illinois, Maryland and Rutgers have yet to crack the poll.
- Ohio State moved into the Top 4 and has been there for 12 of the last 13 polls.
- Penn State’s 6-3 record includes victories over #17 Auburn and #18 Wisconsin. Those teams along with Purdue, Utah and Arkansas make it five 6-3 teams in the CFP Poll that aren’t Penn State.
- Michigan has been ranked sixth in the poll one other time -- the final poll of 2016.
November 24th, 2021 at 7:18 AM ^
Interesting
November 10th, 2021 at 6:49 AM ^
The committee agrees with what many saw in that game. MSU was the beneficiary of many calls and Michigan didn't get any calls. 0-6 - Having said that, just win and at the end of the next 3 games, we have a chance to have a very special season!
Go Blue!
November 10th, 2021 at 9:29 AM ^
We lost to a highly ranked MSU team on the road. MSU lost to an unranked Purdue. It shouldn't be that hard to figure out. Who you lose to and when you lose to them always have been a deciding factor in college rankings.
November 10th, 2021 at 9:58 AM ^
I'm curious what we would have been ranked had we beaten MSU. I'd think we'd have had to of been #2.
That said, we still had an opportunity to beat MSU and didn't. Yes we got jobbed on several calls, and it sucks that Michigan always has to outplay the other team and the ref, but we didn't.
Good news is our fate is in our hands. All of the goals are on the table. We just need to win out. I feel the best I've felt about our team against PSU and OSU in awhile.
November 10th, 2021 at 12:00 PM ^
I’m confused. Does this whining make MSU’s program look weak?
November 10th, 2021 at 1:18 PM ^
They would say no, since their way of whining about it is to say "we don't whine about this" over and over and over
November 10th, 2021 at 12:22 PM ^
The committee is taking into consideration the officiating from the UM/MSU game perhaps, but they are also probably considering that MSU has been massively outgained in many games this year, despite being able to pull out wins.
November 12th, 2021 at 9:12 AM ^
Just more evidence that UM was jobbed out of a win against Sparty. It's amazing that NO ONE mentioned the conference talking about the refs making mistakes in the game for more than five minutes. It's bullshit, but we are still in an excellent position to control our own destiny.