Strawberry Ice Cream Cone
Good afternoon, Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) sports.
We previously argued that Michigan should absolutely not be in the College Football Playoff rankings with the schedule it it has (and ESPN’s Dan Mullen finally came around to our point of view).
We also said that Michigan didn’t really get a test until it played Penn State – and we mentioned that it was questionable as hell whether Penn State actually had an offense. We know now that they do not have an offense – right after that game, James Franklin fired his offensive coordinator. Seriously, imagine you’re the head coach at Penn State – the Football Bowl Subdivision I school in Pennsylvania with the most resources (and it’s not close) – and you’re having this much difficulty finding an offense. So we can truly say now that Michigan will have waited until week 13 to play an actual with with offense. To be fair, Michigan has a tough as nails defense – but if you’re Penn State – and you’re a decade into the James Franklin era, you shouldn’t have send out a search party to find an offense (but that’s what it’s come to at Penn State).
Washington and Florida State both have better resumes than Michigan – and quite honestly, it’s close by any stretch of the imagination. By any stretch, Washington has played the toughest schedule in the country (on the schedule here, they have five ranked wins – but you can also include Arizona in that bunch now, too) – and they just keep finding ways to win. Washington toughens up on defense when they need it the most. Florida State basically has wrecked the ACC – and has crashed the will of LSU, as my friend @TalkinACCSports. We’ll find out a lot more about Florida State when they play Florida and in the ACC championship game without Jordan Travis.
We know about Michigan: They have played no one all year and do not play a team with an offensive pulse until week 13 of the season when they go against Ohio State. Should they get into the college football playoff if they defeat Ohio State? Absolutely (but they better not lose in the Big 10 championship game). This is likely no different than Washington and Florida State having to win out. But they absolutely should not be ahead of 1.) Georgia, 2.) Ohio State [you better not lose to Michigan], 3.) Washington [if Washington wins the Apple Cup, I would absolutely consider moving them to the two spot], 4.) Florida State [They are in a tough spot – have to win both vs. archrival Florida and vs. Louisville], 5.) Oregon [who shares many common opponents with Washington – and will likely play the Huskies in the Pac-12 championship game], 6.) Texas (who defeated Alabama – Thanks @TalkinACCSports!), 7.) Alabama [sorry, but Oregon has a better schedule] – and then slide Michigan in at #8.
Why #8? Michigan should not be able to utilize a self-licking ice cream cone to get to the College Football Playoff. With a schedule of East Carolina, Maryland, Michigan State, Bowling Green, Rutgers, UNLV, Nebraska, Purdue, and Penn State – they have played no one with a legit offense all year. In the process, the Wolverines found the formula of trying to get to undefeated status: Play no one all year, but get a bump during Thanksgiving week with a game vs. Ohio State. It’s a perpetual self-licking ice cream cone – and this is the formula Michigan uses for success.
Michigan would rather you talk about sign stealing than the teams they play all year – and the College Football Playoff committee must not reward a team that utilizes this self-licking ice cream cone.
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