Joel Klatt believes Michigan should be ranked ahead of Ohio State
Michigan football is sitting at 9-0 and 3rd in the most recent batch of College Football Playoff rankings. Some are splitting hairs between the Wolverines and 2nd-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes, but the two will meet on Nov. 26 to sort out who belongs where in the standings.
FOX Sports analyst Joel Klatt has a strong opinion on it, though. He believes the Wolverines should be ranked ahead of the rival Buckeyes.
“While Ohio State might have a higher ceiling, I think Michigan has the higher floor,” Klatt said this week. “And what was laid bare for all of us to see over the last couple of weeks is the fact that Ohio State is not playing great football on their offensive line. When you get into a game like they had against Northwestern when you have to run the ball and they know you have to run the ball, can you still dominate?
“And that’s a one-win Northwestern team that they still should have dominated on the ground, and they didn’t. So that’s a concern moving forward. I don’t have that concern with Michigan. The bottom line is this. Buckeye fans, you are crashing weather sites all over the internet refreshing your weather site to see what the weather is going to be like on Nov. 26. Michigan fans don’t have to do that. It’s for that consistency that I moved the Wolverines up to No. 2.”
The committee feels different about Michigan
Klatt’s point all are reasonable, but what matters most is the opinion of the College Football Playoff committee. Michigan’s non-conference schedule is a sticking point, and they basically all but say they need to beat Ohio State to get into the playoff.
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“We put them up and we talked about each team individually,” Corrigan said. “We talk about them in groupings to make sure that we’ve got it in the right area or in the right spot as we go through this. The win over Rutgers this weekend and the second half in particular and the way they’ve played, they’ve done a really good job of pulling away from teams.
“As you look at Ohio State, obviously they both have the win over Penn State but Ohio State has that win over Notre Dame. Both have top-10 scoring offenses, top-10 scoring defenses, and we’re going to continue to evaluate it as we move forward. If anything, that non-conference schedule from Michigan has been a factor.”
Michigan has a pair of games before Ohio State that it can help change the narrative in for a differing playoff narrative. The Wolverines return home the next two weeks contests against the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Illinois Fighting Illini. Assuming Illinois can find a way to take care of Purdue this weekend, it would give U-M another chance at a win over a ranked opponent.
Saturday’s game against Nebraska kicks off at 3:30 p.m. ET and will be broadcast via ABC. The Illinois game will also be an ABC broadcast, but the kick time has not been set.
