Michigan football scored a decisive win over Ohio State in College Football Week 13. Here are the biggest winners and losers.
Ryan Day had more to prove during the 2023 college football season than anybody. He needed to beat Michigan football and Saturday was his chance.
Yet, even without Jim Harbaugh, Day couldn’t avoid a third-straight loss to the team he can’t even name (Michigan) or the TTUN as Ohio State fans say, which is ridiculous when you can’t beat said team.
Michigan needed this win, in part, to validate the last two, with all the advanced-scouting nonsense, and the Wolverines delivered, keeping their Big Ten championship hopes alive as well as their College Football Playoff hopes.
Ohio State is still alive for the playoff but just barely. Washington and Florida State winning didn’t do anything to help with the Buckeyes but that’s all secondary to what Saturday means for both programs.
Here are the biggest winners and losers from College Football Week 13.
Biggest winner: Michigan football
There’s no doubt that Michigan is the big winner this week. The Big Ten suspended Jim Harbaugh and it still didn’t matter.
Michigan football won its two biggest games of the season without its head coach. For one, that tells you that Sherrone Moore is ready to take over at U-M (if Harbaugh doesn’t come back for some reason) or at least somewhere else.
Moore wasn’t afraid to go for it on key third-down situations and didn’t make a single game-management mistake. Outside of a few conservative calls potentially, it’s hard to criticize a single thing that Moore did as the head coach.
The defense got exposed a little on the back end without Wil Johnson, but there’s only so much you can do to corral Marvin Harrison Jr. J.J. McCarthy didn’t put up huge numbers, but made enough winning plays and Blake Corum cemented his status as a Michigan football legend.
The Wolverines are one win away from a third straight Big Ten title and they also get Jim Harbaugh back next week.
Biggest Loser in College Football Week 13: Ohio State
Early on Saturday, Bruce Feldman was talking about how Ryan Day might be willing to talk to Texas A&M football about its head-coaching job.
That probably wasn’t going to be the case if the Buckeyes won, but they didn’t. Now, Day might be looking for a way out of town, before he’s run out of town.
For the third year in a row, Ohio State will miss the Big Ten championship game. It’s likely the Buckeyes will miss the playoff and most importantly, OSU has lost three straight to Michigan for the first time since 1995-97.
This season is a failure for Ohio State just like the past two. So how long can Ryan Day survive? He’s not going to get fired yet, but his team actually has to get tough, which will require more than calling out Lou Holtz on national TV.
More College Football Week 13 winners: Playoff hopefuls
Washington, Alabama, and Florida State were all on upset alert on Saturday night in rivalry games and a loss would have been killer for any of the three teams trying to make the College Football Playoff.
Washington wouldn’t have been knocked out of the playoff. A win over Oregon would put them in the mix for the top four, but the Huskies would have needed help. Now, they need to beat Oregon. That’s it.
Alabama would have been knocked out of the national title hunt for the second year in a row. The Tide were facing fourth-and-goal at the 31 line when Jalen Milroe found Isaiah Bond for one of the most incredible game-winning receptions you’ll ever see.
The Tide went from being knocked out of the playoff to still being in the mix. Alabama needs a win over Georgia and maybe some help, but a berth is still possible.
Florida State probably would have been knocked out completely with a loss. Their resume wasn’t going to be strong enough as a one-loss team, especially without Jordan Travis. The Seminoles have to be undefeated and after surviving against Florida, just need to beat Louisville to win the ACC championship again and reach the College Football Playoff.
More College Football Week 13 losers: Teams looking for bowl eligibility
It started on Thursday night with Mississippi State losing to Ole Miss and continued on Friday as Nebraska football dropped a heartbreaker to Iowa.
The havoc continued on Saturday for teams that needed just one more win to reach a bowl game as Minnesota fell to 5-7 following a loss to Wisconsin. Illinois joined its Big Ten West rivals Nebraska and Minnesota in coming up one win short thanks to a 45-43 loss to Northwestern.
In the SEC, it was a similar story as South Carolina lost to Clemson and Florida had Florida State on the ropes before some key mistakes late.
Even Washington State lost a critical opportunity in the Apple Cup to reach a bowl game. It ended up being a great thing for James Madison and Jacksonville State as both programs will get to go bowling thanks to the number of teams that failed to get their sixth win this weekend.
It’s still possible for Minnesota or Mississippi State to get in as 5-7 teams if California fails to beat UCLA or Colorado State doesn’t beat Hawaii. Everyone else is out.