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Most Important College Football Game for Each Top 25 Team During 2016 Season

By Zach Bigalke

Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Oxford, MS, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide running back Bo Scarbrough (9) moves past Mississippi Rebels linebacker DeMarquis Gates (3) during the fourth quarter of the game at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Alabama won 48-43. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 17, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines linebacker Jabrill Peppers (5) breaks a tackle by Colorado Buffaloes tight end Chris Bounds (43) in the second half at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 45-28. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 17, 2016; Ann Arbor, MI, USA; Michigan Wolverines linebacker Jabrill Peppers (5) breaks a tackle by Colorado Buffaloes tight end Chris Bounds (43) in the second half at Michigan Stadium. Michigan won 45-28. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-USA TODAY Sports /

6. Michigan Takes Down Pac-12 South Champ Colorado 45-28 (Sept. 17)

Michigan finished the regular season as the highest-ranked team with two losses in the College Football Playoff Top 25. A big reason why the Wolverines placed sixth in the final rankings came down to a run of three straight games where they knocked off Power Five division winners. The streak started with a win at the Big House that seemed solid if unspectacular at the time. What we did not know then was that Colorado would emerge as the Pac-12 national champion, which caused this contest to grow in significance with each passing week of the regular season.

The visiting Buffaloes actually rolled up a 21-7 lead in the first quarter on Michigan. Sefo Liufau went 8-of-10 in the quarter with two touchdown passes to Devin Ross, while Derek McCartney returned a fumble for another score. As the Wolverines sputtered on offense, only a blocked punt returned for a touchdown kept them from remaining scoreless. Led by De’Veon Smith’s 87 yards and a TD, the Michigan backfield combined for 168 yards and three scores to fuel the comeback. Michigan went into the locker room up up 24-21 after 17 unanswered points in the second quarter.

Liufau threw a 70-yard strike to put Colorado back up on the first drive after halftime, but once he was knocked out of game the Buffaloes failed to score again. Over the next two weeks the Wolverines routed Penn State and survived Wisconsin, but looking back this is the game that ultimately kept Michigan at the head of the two-loss pack in the final Top 25.

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