Tracking the College Football Playoff

It doesn’t take long the week of an Ohio State-Michigan game to hear someone call it “the greatest rivalry in all of sports”. The Tigers have a 10-1 record heading into the regular season finale against SC on Saturday. Teacher vs. pupil. Dear friends and fierce competitors, their legacies are linked.

If Ohio State beats Michigan on Saturday, then Penn State can advance to the conference title game by beating Michigan State. It’s very humbling and I thank Ohio State for it. MI is No. 3 in the country, and Ohio State is No. 2. After Loving finished with 19 on 6-of-12 shooting, Jackson State coach Wayne Brent was asked if Loving looked different than the player he had studied on film. Though Michigan is averaging 42.3 points and 451.1 yards per game, they have scored just 33 points in their last two games combined as QB Wilton Speight is injured with a collarbone issue. Several of the Top 10 teams play in-state rivals and that always makes things interesting.

If Ohio State triumphs, does it belong in the College Football Playoff even without a conference championship on its resume? But does Oklahoma State deserve to be ranked with the two-loss teams at all, especially fifth among those teams? “… I think there has been great improvement by our young players and that’s usually the case because with young players, the learning curve is maybe more drastic”. But after trailing early, Penn State rolled to a 45-12 win, shutting down that avenue to the playoffs for OSU.

The committee’s final determination will come December 4, the day after the conference championship games, but this week’s results could thin the candidates.

They were gruff and uncompromising.

Whether or not the Badgers need this win to clinch the Big Ten West, they know for sure that they need it to maintain any chance to reach the playoff.

“They never talked to each other during the season”, said Bruce Madej, the longtime former sports information director at MI.

The Game is set up to be a gem. “But this is one unlike any other”, Barrett said.

Growing up in Ashtabula, Ohio, the northeast part of the state, Meyer and his family were unabashed Buckeyes fans.

The South Carolina Gamecocks upset the #4 Clemson Tigers.

“I believe in our coaches, and I believe in this team”, he said.

“Having done it, I don’t recommend it, ” Harbaugh said. I met him a few times. They did that for two games, using him against Northwestern and not using him against Nebraska.

Researchers say they have been surprised by the effects of music from Ohio State’s marching band. IN has recorded 15 sacks and 52 tackles for loss over the last five games.

“He is one of Bo’s boys”, Madej said.

“When I got here, you see things like the Mirror Lake jump, the gold trousers and things like that and you hear about all these things”, said the junior defensive end.

After 112 games between the two teams, including the last 99 years in a row and 77 Big Ten championships between them, no reminders of the importance of this game are necessary for Ohio State or MI. Ohio State, Michigan, Wisconsin and Penn State fill out the remainder of the first 7 teams.

Times have certainly changed for the Michigan State football team and coach Mark Dantonio.

On to the ACC: Louisville beat Kentucky to finish 10-2, Clemson lose to SC and Virginia Tech in the ACC title game to finish 10-3, while the Hokies beat Virginia before the title game, finishing as ACC champs and 10-3. However, I think the Huskies are up to the challenge.

In typical Harbaugh fashion, he did not reminisce this week.

James, though, said it was just a coincidence that the cleats came out this week. “Getting ready for the actual game”. SC (6-5), 7:30 p.m. Saturday on ESPN: Clemson likely needs to beat the Gamecocks and win the ACC Championship game to make the playoff. “With the records being what they are on both sides, it does intensify it a little bit more”. They are not close but clearly admire each other’s work.

If the thought of a Wolverines’ win in Columbus – unlikely without their starting quarterback but still possible – is a comedown for PSU, it shouldn’t be.

Each week during the season, visit “The Huddle” for the latest in college football news, notes, conversation and opinion. No. 3 MI (10-1), noon Saturday on ABC: A MI win sends the Wolverines to the Big Ten Championship game, where they could clinch a playoff berth by beating Wisconsin or Nebraska.

Either scenario ends in a quarterback advantage for Ohio State.

Just about everything that really counts.

“We don’t like them, and they don’t like us”, quarterback J.T. Barrett said in a statement.

There was Earle Bruce’s final game where he was carried out of Ohio Stadium a victor and Bo’s debut victory in the series over a heavily favored Ohio State team.

Last week: 5-1. Overall: 47-22. The Wolverines have only surrendered 10.9 points per game to the Buckeyes’ 13.0 and have given up only 245.6 yards per game to Ohio State’s 280.8.

Ohio State: H-B Curtis Samuel. Mike Weber is from [Michigan].

Peppers just might be talented enough to do it. Peppers is one of the most dynamic punt returners in the country. But that potential semifinal matchup will be derailed if Clemson beats SC and climbs to No. 3 ahead of the Ohio State-Michigan loser.

But a 24-21 loss to Penn State in game in which the Nittany Lions got the winning touchdown by returning a blocked field goal for a touchdown kept OSU out of the conference championship game. The Buckeyes are 18-1 in the month of November under coach Urban Meyer. Golden Gophers’ LB Jonathan Celestin will lead the effort to contain Badgers’ RB Corey Clement, but he must also beware of TE Troy Fumagalli taking underneath passes.