THE Michigan Wolverines came in third place the initial edition of the 2023 College Football Playoff rankings Tuesday evening.
And they did it, despite their highly publicized sign-stealing scandal that has become the talk of college football over the past two weeks and has the Wolverines under investigation by the NCAA.
However, according to College Football Playoff Committee Boo Corrigan, the scandal is not a CFP problem, but an NCAA problem.
“We really view this as an NCAA issue, not a CFP issue,” Corrigan said on ESPN. “At this point, as we look at this, we want to make sure we have not just the top four teams but the top 25 teams, right.
Connor Stallions standing next to Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines against Ohio State
Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch-USA TODAY NETWORK
And to make this even stranger, it appears the issue was never discussed by the committee in the first place.
“Our job, in our opinion, is to rank teams and follow our protocols,” Corrigan said. “As we went through it, it wasn’t part of any of the discussions that took place during our time together.”
Based on these criteria, the Committee probably has a relatively decent top four ranking.
The Buckeyes have the best resume in college football this past weekend, which earned them the top spot.while Michigan and the Georgia Bulldogs have faced relatively soft schedules thus far.
Meanwhile, Florida State picked up a win over LSU, but didn’t have much of a challenge outside of that either.
So for now, if Michigan’s opponents want to keep the Wolverines out of the playoffs, they’ll have to beat them on the field.
As for the rest, Michigan will face the toughest No. 1 strength of schedule in the country, with matchups against Purdue, No. 9 Penn State, 5-3 Maryland and finishing with the Buckeyes on November 25.
