Chance of Michigan playing in B1G title game

Listening to ESPNs Mike & Mike, talking about the M/sparty game. Then talked about a scenario if all are tied for first end of season. 1st of course M, OSU & MSU have to win the rest of their games. 2nd, OSU beats sparty, M beats OSU. So all 3 teams finish 7-1 in B1G east. According to Mike Greenberg, 1st tie breaker is who is the highest ranked team if 3 teams are tied.

In that scenario, I can't see M would jump ahead of the buckeyes. M is #17, yes I understand M has to take care of business before the OSU game, lets say they do. So M stuns #1 OSU, how hi do they climb? 7th, 8th? higher, lower? How far do the buckeyes fall? Of course a lot depends how the other ranked teams do over the next 6 weeks.

According to MG there is one scenario where the highest ranked team DOES NOT play for B1G title. I believe he said in one of the polls, forget which one, if the teams are separated by 1 spot in the polls the head-to-head winner would play for title. For ex., OSU fell to 6th, M jumped to 7th sparty 10th. Then in this scenario M plays for B1G title. Now if OSU only falls to 5th, M is 8th, sparty is 9th, OSU plays for title.

Have to take time to look this up to confirm if Greeny is correct. Presume he is.

Best case, sparty loses to Nebraska and OSU giving them 2 losses. M beats the buckeyes, head-to-head M goes to title game.

Yes, yes I know still 6 weeks to go a lot of things can/could happen. Hey lets all dream/hope this does happen!!!

I vote for massive sparty arrests (again) with two losses. We win out.

dwoody wrote:

I vote for massive sparty arrests (again) with two losses. We win out.

That is the more likely scenario....

If sparty loses a game (especially to o$u or PSU) then it could happen. Here are the points on how it could happen...


1. MICHIGAN wins out. The key here is for PSU to get back into the rankings by the time we face them, then I could see MICHIGAN entering the o$u game around 7-8 ranking. Then beat a #5 ranked o$u (see my next point) then MICHIGAN could end up the season 7-1 in conference play with a national ranking of #5. Then they would play an undefeated Iowa team in the B1G championship game for a playoff birth.

2. sparty beats #1 o$u but loses the final week to PSU. sparty beats a #1 o$u in columbus and then loses to and unranked PSU in the final week. I would guess that they drop to #7-8 in the national rankings and end up 7-1 in the B1G east. MICHIGAN would have the same conference record (7-1) but a higher national ranking. I'm not sure if sparty would get the nod because of the head to head matchup. anyone know?

3. o$u loses to sparty and drops to #5 and then gets beat by MICHIGAN the following week then that would drop them around #15 nationally and they would miss the B1G championship game with a 7-2 record in the conference.

plus there would need to be some help outside of the conference also. bottom line is that I am not counting on it.

Mike is wrong about the tiebreaker...

The first tiebreaker, assuming all three of us finish 7-1 in conference, the team with the best overall record gets the nod. Presumably that would be OSU and MSU both at 11-1. If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two still tied gets the nod...and in using our same assumptions, that would be OSU as they will have beat MSU.

Here's the breakdown, straight from the conference:

The following procedure will determine the representative from each division in the event of a tie:
(a)    If two teams are tied, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.
(b)   If three or more teams are tied, steps 1 through 7 will be followed until a determination is made.  If only two teams remain tied after any step, the winner of the game between the two tied teams shall be the representative.
1.    The records of the three tied teams will be compared against each other.
2.    The records of the three tied teams will be compared within their division.
3.    The records of the three teams will be compared against the next highest placed teams in their division in order of finish (4, 5, 6, and 7).
4.    The records of the three teams will be compared against all common conference opponents.
5.    The highest ranked team in the first College Football Playoff poll following the completion of Big Ten regular season conference play shall be the representative in the Big Ten Championship Game, unless the two highest ranked tied teams are ranked within one spot of each other in the College Football Playoff poll.  In this case, the head-to-head results of the top two ranked tied teams shall determine the representative in the Big Ten Championship Game.
6.    The team with the best overall winning percentage [excluding exempted games] shall be the representative.
7.    The representative will be chosen by random draw.


In short, the only chance we have is for MSU to lose two games in the next five weeks.

It would have been my preference to play Michigan in Indianapolis. Rudock against his old team, 30th anniversary (today in fact) of the epic 1985 #1-#2 game. Two teams that use tight ends and fullbacks and pound the rock.

Maybe next year.

PSU isn't very good. I think they lose 2 or 3 more games.

Only way UM gets in is if Sparty loses two and UM wins out.

Slim and none.

the artist formally known wrote:

Slim and none.

I wouldn't say "Slim and none", unlikely yes....

sparty plays Indiana Saturday. They look at Indiana as a joke and this is right after a very emotional "win" for them against Big Brother. A let down is likely, and Indiana is a passing offense. I'm not too sure about their defense though.

Sparty losing to Indiana would be too good to be true. I think the Lions karma has leaked all over UofM.