Unsurprisingly, Michigan was not in the inaugural College Football Playoff top-25 rankings. But if they were to make the top-25 at any point this season, here is what the Wolverines will need to do to make that happen:
To the surprise of no one, the Michigan Wolverines were left out of the initial College Football Playoff (CFP) top-25 rankings.
The full top 25 rankings of the first College Football Playoff reveal of the season ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/6cavXZ0aPy
— ESPN (@espn) November 6, 2024
With a 5-4 overall record and 3-3 record in the Big Ten, the Wolverines didn’t even receive any votes in either the AP Poll or the Coaches Poll. So without saying “just win,” what must Michigan do to crack into the top-25?
Looking at the schedule, Michigan plays at Indiana this week, at home against Northwestern, and then in Columbus for The Game. A win over Indiana would certainly move the needle, as Indiana is having the season of a lifetime and is currently 9-0. That would put the Wolverines at 6-4 with one win over a currently ranked team as USC no longer counts.
Looking back at least year’s CFP rankings, no teams with four losses were in the top-25 through 10 games. Sitting at No. 25 was a 7-3 Kansas team that had a win over top-10 Oklahoma, but nothing else notable. Would it be impossible for the Wolverines to be ranked at 6-4? No, but it’s not likely.
A subsequent win over Northwestern wouldn’t move the needle at all. It would, however, put the Wolverines at 7-4, which has historically been good enough to crack into the late-20s of the CFP rankings.
Obviously, a win over the Buckeyes would be enough to get the Wolverines ranked, but a loss to Indiana followed by wins over Northwestern and Ohio State would make things a bit more interesting, to say the least.
On the field, Michigan has to get healthy in the secondary. Defending Oregon’s passing attack would have been difficult fully healthy, but it was nearly impossible without Will Johnson and Jyaire Hill. Indiana poses a shockingly great passing attack as well, so things don’t get much easier.
Offensively, Michigan needs to sustain drives. The defense has been left on the field for long, exhausting drives far too often, but then gets no break as the offense immediately goes three-and-out. Especially with such a solid kicker, the offense needs to get better at picking up at least a few first downs on every drive.
A big part of that starts with the offensive line. Early in the season, Michigan fed Kalel Mullings and Donovan Edwards at all costs, leading to defenses stuffing the box and running blitzes frequently. Now that Michigan has found some semblance of a passing game, I would expect defenses to still play to the run, but respect the pass game a bit more. This should directly lead to more holes for Mullings and Edwards to run through.
It doesn’t appear likely that Michigan will be ranked in the CFP top-25 at the end of the season. However, if it’s going to happen, the Indiana game is the lynchpin. A big win in Bloomington could shift the whole narrative of the season.