Championship week. It’s become the worst week of the season for Michigan football fans over the last seven years.
With the exception of 2011, the first year of the Big Ten Championship Game, Michigan has gone into the first week of December after a loss to Ohio State. To make matters worse, either Michigan State or Ohio State has played in the title game six of the eight years. MSU has made three appearances and Ohio State has made four.
Championship week has been a reminder that Michigan can’t beat Ohio State. It’s a reminder that the Wolverines haven’t been atop the conference since 2004.
Some Michigan fans probably can’t bring themselves to even watch the conference championship games, especially after their own hopes were ripped away in Columbus last weekend. But many of these games will have a major impact on Michigan’s bowl game.
Here’s a look at how the conference championship games will affect Michigan.
The Pac-12 title game won’t have much of an impact on the national picture, other than to determine which team will play in the Rose Bowl and which will settle for a lesser bowl game.
If Michigan lands in the Rose Bowl, the winner of the Utah-Washington game will be its opponent. That’s really the only way this conference title game affects the Wolverines.
The loser will have four losses, so there’s no danger of Michigan getting bumped out of a New Year’s Six game by the Pac-12 runner-up.
There are three conference championship games that will play a big role in determining where Michigan lands, and the Big 12 is one of them.
If Alabama beats Georgia this weekend, all signs point to Oklahoma getting into the playoff if it can take care of business against Texas. That means Ohio State would be left out and the winner of the Big Ten Championship Game would end up in the Rose Bowl.
In that scenario, Michigan would likely land in the Peach Bowl or Fiesta Bowl.
Texas winning the Big 12 would complicate the picture because the Longhorns would lock up a spot in the Sugar Bowl and eliminate the conference from the playoff picture. Ohio State would be the next logical team to move into the No. 4 spot, sending Michigan to Pasadena for the first time since 2006.
If Texas wins and either Ohio State or Alabama loses, Michigan could end up playing against Oklahoma’s high-powered offense in the Peach Bowl or Fiesta Bowl.
