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Paul Finebaum, Heather Dinich explain why Michigan ‘is in trouble’ following initial CFP Rankings
By Michael Daly
Published:
Paul Finebaum and Heather Dinich explained why Michigan could have trouble reaching the College Football Playoff in December.
The problem will likely be out of Michigan’s control on the field. In the initial Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday, Michigan was ranked No. 5. Based on the early rankings, the selection committee did not view Michigan as a Playoff team.
In an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, Finebaum and Dinich discussed Michigan’s uphill battle with qualifying for the Playoff. Finebaum explained what Michigan will have to do to reach the Playoff:
“It looked to me like Michigan is in trouble unless they beat Ohio State because their nonconference schedule was dinged up by the Committee,” Finebaum said.
Even with an undefeated record, Michigan was unable to crack the top 4. Michigan was 1 spot behind No. 4 Clemson. Clemson is also undefeated, but some people believed that Michigan should have made the top 4 instead.
When Get Up host Mike Greenberg asked Dinich if Michigan was in trouble with the initial rankings, here’s what she said:
“Yes, and selection committee chair Boo Corrigan talked about that because he was asked directly how much separation is there between Ohio State and Michigan. He said not much but he did reference that strength of schedule,” Dinich said. “Of the top-15 teams, Michigan has the worst schedule strength of anyone, they’re 79th in the country… They’ve gotta beat the Buckeyes or bust.”
Michigan will likely need to win out and beat Ohio State in 3 weeks to make the Playoff. Michigan will be on the road against Rutgers on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET.