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    Michigan’s Playoff Chances: Even With a Win Over Ohio State, Here’s Why Wolverines Are Not In Contention

    The Wolverines knocked off the Buckeyes in dramatic fashion, continuing their recent dominance in The Game. However, Michigan is certainly not playoff-bound.

    The Michigan Wolverines have owned The Game against the Ohio State Buckeyes in recent years. Thanks in large part to their overall roster construction and gameplay, the No. 2 ranked Buckeyes were no match for the Wolverines in Week 14.

    Enjoy the celebrating, Wolverine fans, because even with that victory over the No. 2 team in the country, Michigan is far from a College Football Playoff team in 2024.

    CFN CFB Playoff Predictor
    College Football Network’s College Football Playoff Predictor is a tool that allows you to play out various weekly scenarios to see how the CFP picture changes with each scenario.

    Will Michigan Make the College Football Playoffs?

    To be as clear as I can, no. The Wolverines are so far out of the college football playoff picture that even a win over the No. 2 ranked Buckeyes can’t make up for the ground they lost this season.

    Michigan finishes the season with a 7-5 record and will be headed to one of the Big Ten-affiliated bowl games. Sure, notching a win against Ohio State likely helps that bowl game increase in prestige, but the win against Ohio State is more for ego, recruiting, portal gain, and momentum going forward than it ever was for postseason aspirations.

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    However, when you boil it all down, the call for Michigan to make the playoffs isn’t all that unjustified. Just look at (most of) their losses this year:

    • No. 3 Texas
    • No. 22 Illinois
    • No. 1 Oregon
    • No. 8 Indiana

    If you take out that loss to Washington — even if the Huskies were also in the National Championship a year ago — their resume stacks up with some of the other multi-loss teams in the playoff hunt.

    But it’s just far too unlikely that a team with a lackluster offense like the Wolverines would make the playoffs, even with that win against Ohio State.

    So, Wolverines — relish in the win. Enjoy it. Savor it. Go back and watch the tape again. It’s the highlight of the 2024 season.

    A season of change. A season of rebuilding. A season of transition.

    And a season in which you still dominated the Buckeyes.

    Even pepper spray shouldn’t stop your celebrating.

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