College Football Playoff: Shake-up in Week 8 New Year’s Six Projections

Rose Bowl Game – Michigan Wolverines vs Oregon Ducks

The best game outside of the playoff.

The Michigan Wolverines treated the Wisconsin Badgers like they were the Rutgers Scarlet Knights this past Saturday. The Wolverine offense accounted for 444 yards, 320 of that came from the ground game, and held the Badgers to 283 total yards, allowing just 100 yards through the air.

The Wolverines are one of the hottest teams in all of college football right now and are currently the one-loss favorite to make the College Football Playoff. But before they get there, they take on the Michigan State Spartans who scraped out a big win in Happy Valley on Saturday. If the Wolverines win, they keep chances for all postseason opportunities high, but if they lose, the Outback Bowl might be their next best option.

The Oregon Ducks are technically in third place in the Pac-12 North right now, but realistically they are in first place. The Stanford Cardinal hold the breaker over them but the Ducks hold the tiebreaker over the Washington Huskies who have played, and won, one more conference game than the other two.

Regardless of this complicated scenario, the Ducks battle a Washington State team who are ready to throw their names into the mix for the Pac-12 North title as well. If Oregon can win on Saturday, they should also win out for the rest of the season, setting them up for a nail-biting finish to get in the College Football Playoff. Can the Ducks keep on winning? Or will the Cougars have their way on Saturday?