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Paul Finebaum: Michigan has toughest remaining schedule among playoff contenders
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ESPN college football analyst and radio personality Paul Finebaum made his weekly appearance on SportsCenter Saturday morning and was asked a tough question: of the handful of College Football Playoff contenders remaining, which team has the toughest schedule?
His answer wasn’t Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Georgia, or Oklahoma.
“Notre Dame has some tough games, but Michigan is my pick here because of one game in particular,” Finebaum said. “When you have to go to Ohio State on the final Saturday of the regular season, you’ve got a lot to do. I realize Ohio State is down and the Urban Meyer controversy continues to rage, but can Michigan negotiate that? They’ve had a charmed season since the Notre Dame loss and people are praising Jim Harbaugh and no longer worrying about his future, but until he can beat Michigan for the first time, Michigan fans will not rest easily.”
Michigan enters its Week 11 matchup with Rutgers at No. 4 in the playoff rankings; Ohio State stands at No. 10 with a difficult road test at Michigan State. If the latter can find a way to win, it’s likely that we’ll be looking at two 10-1, top-10 teams in one of the greatest rivalries competing for an appearance in the Big Ten title game and then a bid to the playoffs on Nov. 24.
You can bet a dollar that College GameDay would be in Columbus for that one, too.
Tyler has covered college football on a freelance basis since 2010. In addition to Saturday Football, his work has been featured on ESPN Radio, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, Cox Media Group, Athlon Sports, and more.