Bowl Projection Roundup: Where does Michigan land prior to The Game?
The Game is on deck for Saturday afternoon. It will undoubtedly define this season as either a success or a failure, as every Michigan vs. Ohio State game should for both programs. The national pundits agree as their bowl projections are clearly based off of whether Michigan wins or loses this weekend. I have not seen a single prediction showing Michigan beating Ohio State and then losing to Iowa in the Big Ten Championship.
As a reminder, the two College Football Playoff (CFP) semi-finals are the Rose Bowl and the Sugar Bowl. The top seeded team in the CFP rankings at the end of the season gets to choose which location they’d like to play in.
CBS Sports (Jerry Palm): Rose Bowl vs. Florida State
Michigan got its toughest test of the season in a 31-24 win at Maryland. The Wolverines had not given up more than 15 points in a game prior to Saturday and had not won by fewer than nine points. Both of those benchmarks came in Michigan’s 24-15 win at Penn State last week.
The Big Ten East division will be decided when Ohio State visits Ann Arbor, Michigan, this Saturday. The Buckeyes had no trouble with Minnesota in a 37-3 win.
Palm has Georgia as the one seed facing off against No. 4 Oregon in the Sugar Bowl.
USA Today Network (Gabriela Carroll): Orange Bowl vs. Louisville
Michigan squeaked out a 31-24 road win over Maryland to stay undefeated. If the Wolverines fall on Saturday to the Buckeyes, they should still be a safe bet for a New Year’s Six bowl. The Orange Bowl takes the highest ranked SEC, Big Ten or Notre Dame team, which is likely to be the loser of “The Game” — unless Georgia loses to Alabama in the SEC championship game, or Iowa pulls off a massive upset and wins the Big Ten.
Michigan is projected to face Louisville. If Florida State makes the playoff, the Cardinals would be the ACC’s highest-rated non-playoff team, which would earn them the ACC spot in the Orange Bowl.
Action Network (Brett McMurphy): Rose Bowl vs. Oregon
McMurphy doesn’t get into detail on each specific bowl. However, he projects that Georgia, Michigan, and Florida State all cap off unbeaten seasons at 13-0 with Oregon winning the Pac-12 Championship at 12-1. McMurphy then projects Oregon jumping over Florida State for the No. 3 spot, giving us No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Florida State and No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Oregon. He then goes one step further and projects both Georgia and Michigan as semi-final winners with Georgia opening as a three-point favorite over Michigan in the national championship.
Athlon Sports (Steven Lassan): Rose Bowl vs. Florida State
Similar to McMurphy, Lassan has Georgia, Michigan, and Florida State finishing 13-0 with Oregon beating Washington for the Pac-12 Championship. However, Lassan does not have the Ducks jumping over the Seminoles because of it. Lassan has No. 1 Georgia taking on No. 4 Oregon in the Sugar Bowl with No. 2 Michigan taking on No. 3 Florida State in the Rose Bowl. He also projects Georgia and Michigan as semi-final winners before facing off in the national championship.
Fox Sports (Bryan Fischer): Rose Bowl vs. Oregon
Fischer projects Michigan to beat Ohio State and win the Big Ten. He also projects Georgia to finish at 13-0 and be the SEC Champion. Similar to McMurphy and Lassan, he projects Oregon to exact their revenge on Washington in the Pac-12 Championship. However, unlike his peers Fischer has Florida State dropping one of their final two games due to the Jordan Travis injury. He then slides in Texas to the No. 4 slot. This would give us matchups of No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 4 Texas and No. 2 Michigan vs. No. 3 Oregon.
In other New Year’s Six games, Fischer has Oklahoma vs. Alabama in the Cotton Bowl, Tulane vs. Florida State in the Peach Bowl, Louisville vs. Ohio State in the Orange Bowl, and Washington vs. Missouri in the Fiesta Bowl.
All in all, it seems like most in the media project Michigan to knock off Ohio State and win the Big Ten. If that were to happen, the Rose Bowl is the likely choice against either Florida State or the Pac-12 Champ. If not, the Orange Bowl appears to be the consolation prize.
