The first College Football Playoff rankings were revealed tonight, and the selection committee placed U-M at No. 5. The Wolverines currently hold a 7-1 record (5-0 in league play), and have only dropped a seven-point affair at Notre Dame in the season-opener.
The rest of the top group consisted of Alabama at No. 1, Clemson at No. 2, LSU at No. 3 and Notre Dame at No. 4.
Three other Big Ten teams also appeared in the committee's debut top-25 — No. 10 Ohio State, No. 14 Penn State (who Michigan faces this weekend) and No. 16 Iowa.
The fact that the Wolverines checked in at No. 5 was not a surprise, so the reaction from the ESPN personalities has been limited.
However, here's what a few of them had to say about it:
Rece Davis: “Michigan is in great position with everything in front of them.”
Kirk Herbstreit: “Michigan is on this 'Revenge Tour' and has taken care of business. If they keep winning, they'll be in the Big Ten Championship, so they control their own destiny.”
Chris Fowler: “I think Michigan only controls its destiny if you assume Alabama takes care of business in Baton Rouge this weekend and wins the SEC. If Alabama stumbles, teams should be nervous because that could mean two SEC programs could get in."
Mike Golic Jr.: "If Michigan wins out, they're going to be in. Their offense doesn't really have any play makers outside of [sophomore receiver] Donovan Peoples-Jones, though, and it hasn't looked as different as I thought it would."
---
• Talk about this article inside The Fort
• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes
• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolverine
• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolverineMag, @BSB_Wolverine, @JB_ Wolverine, @AustinFox42, @Balas_Wolverine, @DrewCHallett and @Qb9Adam.
• Like us on Facebook
