What an unpleasant evening in Los Angeles for the now (deservedly) unranked Michigan Wolverines.
Head coach Sherrone Moore may have brought the team (4-2, 2-1 Big Ten) west a day early, but they never looked
like they got off the plane as the No. 20 USC Trojans (5-1, 3-1 Big Ten) cruised to a 31-13 victory.
No, this was not a death sentence for Michigan, and Moore is still a ways away from facing the same fate as his former conference adversary James Franklin (though that notion feels more possible than ever after such a disheartening performance in such a crucial game).
It’s unclear what the ESPN FPI watched because the Wolverines are still ranked an encouraging 17th in their rankings, down five spots from a week ago. However, Michigan’s win-loss projection has dropped to 8.3-3.8, its conference championship odds have dropped to 2.1 percent and its College Football Playoff chances now sit at 11.4 percent. Heading into the USC game, Michigan had an 8.1 percent chance of winning the Big Ten and a 31.7 percent chance of making the College Football Playoff.
As bad as Saturday night was, the Wolverines do have a favorable remaining schedule. However, they will probably need to win out (just a 3.6 percent likelihood, according to the FPI) to reach the CFP. They also face an uphill battle as the Ohio State Buckeyes (No. 1), the Indiana Hoosiers (No. 2), the Oregon Ducks (No. 5) and the Trojans (No. 9) all have better claims than Michigan.
Hopefully, Moore can regroup his Wolverines and bounce back from that disaster at USC this weekend when they host Washington.
