Michigan lands at No. 2 in College Football Playoff and fans think the fix is in
It seems there was nothing Michigan football could do to rise from No. 2 to No. 1 in the decisive College Football Playoff rankings.
The CFP committee on Sunday ranked Alabama No. 1, Michigan No. 2, Georgia No. 3 and Cincinnati No. 4 (Notre Dame and Ohio State, respectively, followed up in the close-but-no-cigar tier at Nos. 5 and 6). Bama will play Cincy in the Cotton Bowl and Michigan and Georgia will meet in the Orange Bowl on Dec. 31 (7:30 p.m.).
There's a good case to be made for the Crimson Tide to be No. 1; it played one of the toughest schedules in the nation and beat the previously ranked top team, Georgia, handily to win the SEC title.
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But many college football followers are suspicious. U-M did everything it was supposed to after its lone loss to Michigan State, beating Ohio State and Iowa in one-sided affairs. Winning the Big Ten championship game by 39 points didn't sway the group led by CFP chair Gary Barta, who watched his Hawkeyes get embarrassed in Indianapolis.
On-air personalities and fans wondered if the rankings were simply be manipulated to avoid a Bama-Georgia rematch in the semifinals. Others rolled their eyes at the idea of an all-SEC national title game.
Gross by the CFB playoff committee. Michigan won by damn near 40 yesterday. Alabama doesn’t deserve to be 1, and now we will likely see another all SEC championship. NOBODY WANTS TO SEE GEORGIA vs ALABAMA again. They should’ve been the 2 and 3 seeds. A joke
— Horseshoe Blue (@HorseshoeBlue1) December 5, 2021
Not sure how well Michigan's run game will fare against the Georgia front 7. If we're gonna win that one, Cade (or JJ) are gonna have to make some big time throws
— Justin (@Tweets_ByJ) December 5, 2021
Would not be shocked if Michigan beats UGA
— Flipped the Stimmy to a LLC (@JHova_Witness) December 5, 2021
Unbiased observer here, no dog in that fight...
But you seem to miss the... um... *fact*... that there *is NO definitive ranking* that establishes "the 4 best".
Hence the need for a committee.
When you've got 130 teams and a 12 game schedule, that's just naturally the case.— ElevateBaseball (XY, if that makes any difference) (@ElevateBaseball) December 5, 2021
These aren't even Michigan fans... one dude is a Buckeye!
Michigan got screwed. Georgia should have fallen to 4, but the committee didn’t want an immediate rematch.
— Nick Fink (@finkn23) December 5, 2021
I’m a @OhioStateFB fan, but I want @UMichFootball to win it all now Ya I said it
— Chris Check (@checkbball) December 5, 2021
I don't have any opinion on the seedings, but the games should have been Alabama v. Georgia and Michigan v. Cincinnati... CFB is a sham and fixed this ranking.
Georgia got exposed last night and got rewarded https://t.co/5R7Ato23Ed— Kasey (@Kasman119) December 5, 2021
I think there is legitimate argument that Michigan should be 1 but I don’t think anything that the committee did was egregious
— Corey (@Koogs242) December 5, 2021
Suddenly everyone hates the SEC.
We all want to see Cincinnati Michigan, right?
— Mac (@GreaneyMac) December 5, 2021
CFP is boring @NCAA @NCAAFootball and I will absolutely not be watching the championship game if it’s georgia and alabama
— † Jordan Sherwood⚡ (@_FlashJordan_) December 5, 2021
Imma be real, I’m sick of the SEC dominance but it is what it is. As a whole they recruit much better than everybody else while also having better coaching 🤷🏽♂️
— Paulstradamus (@small215) December 5, 2021
Follow the Free Press on Facebook and Twitter for more news. Tyler Davis can be contacted at tjdavis@freepress.com or on Twitter @TDavisFreep.
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This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Michigan is No. 2 in College Football Playoff, fans don't get it