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Paul Finebaum Identifies Must-Win Game For Michigan’s College Football Playoff Hopes
By Scout Springgate,
6 hours ago
The defending college football national champion Michigan Wolverines have a hefty schedule this fall as head coach Sherrone Moore begins his first full season at the helm of the program; replacing Jim Harbaugh after he departed during the offseason for the NFL's Los Angeles Chargers.
While the Wolverines will be replacing a large portion of the talent from last season's championship team, ESPN's college football analyst Paul Finebaum explained on Wednesday morning's episode of "Get Up" that Michigan is still in a good place to assure itself of a College Football Playoff berth if the Wolverines can earn an upset in its Week 2 matchup with the Texas Longhorns.
“I don’t think [this is a rebuilding year],” Finebaum said. “I think they have on the defensive side a good enough team to be a Playoff team. I think the schedule is not their friend. So, they’re gonna have to pull an upset.”
With the Wolverines receiving one of the conference's toughest schedules this season following the league's reconfiguation to accommodate its expansion to 18 teams, Michigan has conference games against USC, Washington, Oregon, and Ohio State. Dropping a pair of those games isn’t unlikely, but a marquee win against Texas would go a long way to helping the Wolverines secure a spot in the now 12-team playoff.
“Second week of the season, Texas comes in there and everybody knows we spent last week talking about [Steve] Sarkisian and Texas,” Finebaum added. “That’s a game they probably need to win to get far along because there’s a couple of games they’re not going to win. So, I think for Michigan, 10-2 will get them in. 9-3 and it’s gonna be a long Saturday night on Selection Sunday weekend.”
As of now, it’s entirely too difficult to predict how the season and CFP will work out, but a early victory over a national contender such as Texas would be a major help to the Wolverine's playoff chances.
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