The 45-23 victory was the first time Michigan has won in Columbus in 22 years, and knocks Ohio State out of the Big 10 championship game. Michigan seems like a lock for the final four
With three TD’s in the fourth quarter, Michigan knocked their favored opponents down from “THE” Ohio State University to “AN” Ohio State University. Michigan’s star running back was injured and left the game after two short carries, but their sophomore back-up guy, Donovan Edwards, was pretty much unstoppable in the fourth quarter, with touchdown runs of 85 and 75 yards.
- Georgia won easily and seems poised to sail into the finals.
- TCU gave poor, lowly Iowa State a major ass-kicking (62-14), thus moving one step closer to clinching another of the final four slots.
- USC moved to 10-1 by defeating Notre Dame. They seem to be the headed for the fourth spot in the fab four. Their opponent in the conference championship game will be Utah. (Surprise!) That happened because the Oregon loss created a three-way tie for second place, and the anfractuous tie-breaker system worked out in Utah’s favor. The practical consequence is that a USC win is the only hope for the conference to get a team into the fab four. I think we all know that the committee is not going to put in three-loss Utah team over Ohio State or Alabama. By the way, a Utah victory is not far-fetched at all. They have already beaten USC once this year!
- LSU’s spot as the next-in-line was eliminated by their loss to the Aggies in College Station. Clemson’s long-shot chance to make the final four fell off the table after a loss to South Carolina. Oregon’s desperate, hail-mary shot ended with a loss to Oregon State, and that even cost them their spot in the conference championship.
South Carolina was this year’s spoiler team. They had a good, not great, year at 8-4, but they were tremendous in the last two weeks, knocking off Tennessee and Clemson when each was considered a contender for the national championship.
USC and the three undefeated teams (Georgia, Michigan and TCU) all seem to be sure finalists if they win their conference championships.
I think that Georgia is already in the fab four, win or lose in the conference final. If they lose, there will (presumably) be two undefeated teams, and Georgia would be the best team with one loss, giving them a third seed. Michigan has a similar, if slightly weaker case.
On the other hand, USC and TCU wins seem to be the only hope for their respective conferences. If one or both of them should lose, Ohio State and Alabama will probably be the next teams under consideration, with Ohio State first in line because they have but one loss to Alabama’s two.
Here’s how the bookies see the odds of winning the national championship after Saturday’s play:
Georgia 5-8
Michigan 3-1
USC 13-1
TCU 13-1
Ohio State 15-1
Alabama 26-1
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RUTGERS watch: they closed out their season in fine fashion by dropping a 37-0 squeaker to Maryland, following last week’s nail-biting 55-10 loss to Penn State.
Their debating teams are, however, excellent. One of their campuses won the national championship in 2017.
South Carolina also knocked off a ranked Kentucky team earlier in the season.
Who is a worse team: Rutgers or Colorado? Watching the Buffaloes has been torture this season. Colorado State sucks almost as bad also.
U Mass gets the honors
Rutgers isn’t as bad as the legend I have created. Their problem is that every week they are playing Michigan or Penn State or THE Ohio State University. Put them in a mid-level conference and they’d seem perfectly competent.
Same argument applies to Vandy. You look at their results and see losses of 55-0, 56-0 and 55-3, and you think they must be pathetic – until you realize those games are against the teams ranked 1, 6 and 7 in the nation. Take away those games and they are 5-4 with a couple of pretty good wins.
Upon further review, you’re probably right. Hell, if they could beat Georgia (unlikely) they might wind up playing the Up Theres again.
Ryan Day is too straight and narrow to win in Columbus. They need a real criminal like Urban Meyer.
The silver lining for Ohioans here is that we won’t have to watch the THE lay another egg in the BCS since they won’t be there. A truly wretched performance.
I don’t agree with you about their elimination from the BCS. I think if next week produces a loss from USC, THE Ohio State University will get in. Utah would win the PAC-12, but they are not even in the running, so we’d be comparing a one-loss Ohio State to a two loss USC. Obvious edge to THE.
To some extent, the same is true of a TCU loss, although in that case, the committee would be comparing two teams with the same number of losses, so the outcome would not be as certain.
Alabama is still holding out the faint hope for both TCU and USC to lose, which could let them in the door as a fourth seed. (They would have two losses compared to TCU’s one, but the two losses were by one point and three points, and were both to tremendous teams. That gives them a solid case.)