Michigan's Path to the College Football Playoff Is Alive and Well

When Brandon Reilly's route seemingly took him out of bounds before catching Nebraska's game-winning touchdown in its victory over seventh-ranked Michigan State on Saturday, the controversial play was cause for celebration in more than just Lincoln.

If that wasn't apparent as the Cornhuskers' unlikely upset was taking place, it was in the moments following it, when Michigan tight end Jake Butt took to Twitter to share his thoughts on its rival's still-fresh defeat.

"I knew God had our back. Lose on fluke to little bro and that's how they had to go down," Butt posted. "I am the biggest OSU fan now."

While Butt's younger brother would later take credit, or more accurately, blame, for the ill-advised tweet, a similar sentiment was already widespread in Ann Arbor—even if it puts the Michigan faithful in the unique position of rooting for rival Ohio State for the next two weeks.

Because provided the Buckeyes take care of business between now and their Nov. 28 trip to Michigan Stadium, the Wolverines once again control their own destiny in the Big Ten East—and potentially beyond. Reilly's unusual touchdown against the Spartans on Saturday may have resulted in an even more atypical trail in Ann Arbor being formed, with the end game being a potential trip to the College Football Playoff for the Wolverines.

Three weeks ago, following Michigan's own stunning defeat at the hands of Michigan State, any postseason hopes beyond a traditional bowl game seemed highly improbable for Jim Harbaugh's team. But with Nebraska knocking off the Spartans—two weeks before they head to Ohio State for a matchup with the No. 3 Buckeyes—the Wolverines' playoff aspirations have found a sudden unlikely breath of fresh air.

Although in order to make the four-team playoff at the end of the year, Michigan would have to set some new precedents in the process along the way.

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images

Sitting at 17th in last week's debut of this season's College Football Playoff rankings, the Wolverines seemingly had their work cut out for themselves when it came to crashing the second-year postseason format. "Really it came down to evaluating their resumes, what they've done, who they've beaten and how they've played in those games," selection committee chair and Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long explained of the ranking process on ESPN's broadcast of last Tuesday's ranking reveal. 

Working in Michigan's favor, however, is its status as the country's highest ranked two-loss team and its ability to add two crucial resume-boosters between now and the playoff's Dec. 7 selection show.

With five of the 16 teams that were ranked ahead of the Wolverines a week ago having lost over the weekend, Michigan appears poised to climb at least a couple of spots in this week's rankings. That could put the Wolverines on pace with where Ohio State stood at this time a year ago before making a run to college football's final four in the last month of the regular season.

Ranked 14th in the second playoff rankings of the 2014 campaign, the Buckeyes climbed 10 spots in five weeks based primarily on the merits of a win over eighth-ranked Michigan State and a Big Ten title game victory over No. 13 Wisconsin.

Assuming this year's Ohio State team remains undefeated for the next two weeks—knocking the Spartans out of contention for the Big Ten East Division championship in the process—the Wolverines will have an opportunity to add one of college football's most impressive wins to its resume by beating the Buckeyes in their regular-season finale.

And if it does that—in addition to beating Indiana and Penn State in the next two weeks—Michigan would then go on to play in the Big Ten Championship Game, where the Wolverines could add the most crucial piece to its playoff case.

Tony Ding/Associated Press

Because an appearance in Indianapolis the night before the final playoff rankings are revealed would not just give Michigan another opportunity at obtaining a Top 10 win over a potentially undefeated Iowa team that ranked ninth in this year's first playoff poll, but as we learned a year ago, it's conference championships that matter most to the selection committee.

"Championships won" are listed as the first tiebreaker in the committee's guidelines when it comes to comparing teams. Not coincidentally, the playoff a year ago was comprised of four outright conference champions in Alabama, Oregon, Florida State and Ohio State.

It's also not a coincidence that the only Power Five conference that was left out of the inaugural playoff, the Big 12, was the one that declared co-champions, devaluing the resumes of both TCU and Baylor in the process.

Should Ohio State beat Michigan State in two weeks, eliminating the Spartans' head-to-head tiebreaker over Michigan in the process, the Wolverines would have an opportunity to add a pair of potential Top 10 wins and an all-important conference championship to its case. A year ago, the playoff was made up of one undefeated and three one-loss teams, but Michigan could set the precedent for a two-loss squad crashing the playoff with a resume that would include:

• An outright Big Ten championship
• Likely at least three wins over ranked opponents, including Northwestern and (potentially) Ohio State and Iowa, with BYU and Penn State still in contention to be ranked by the end of the year
• A top-40 strength of schedule
• Its only losses coming by a combined 11 points to a pair of ranked teams in Utah and Michigan State

The Wolverines may not even need much more help from teams who are ranked ahead of them—other than Michigan State—losing, although that certainly wouldn't hurt either. If the the playoff selection committee remains steadfast in its stance that outright conference championships are what matter most, Michigan may possess an inside track to the second College Football Playoff that many may not see at the moment.

Making the most of it, especially when it comes to beating the Buckeyes in the final weekend of November, will be easier said than done. But thanks to the Cornhuskers' controversial upset, the path to a Big Ten bid for a playoff spot could find itself running through Ann Arbor, a more unlikely path than the one run by Reilly that put Michigan in this position in the first place.

Ben Axelrod is Bleacher Report's Big Ten lead writer. You can follow him on Twitter @BenAxelrod. Unless noted otherwise, all quotes were obtained firsthand. All statistics courtesy of CFBStats.com. Odds provided by Odds Shark. Recruiting rankings courtesy of 247Sports.