Why Michigan beating Ohio State is best case scenario for Oregon's CFP hopes

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Why Michigan beating Ohio State is best case scenario for Oregon's CFP hopes originally appeared on The Sporting News.
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The College Football Playoff picture is a little over a week away from being finalized, but there is still much to be decided before the final bracket is revealed. 

In the Big Ten, there is a good possibility that two teams are all but guaranteed locks to qualify for postseason play. Those, of course, are the top two teams in the nation: the No. 1 Ohio State Buckeyes and No. 2 Indiana Hoosiers. Should the No. 6 Oregon Duckstake care of the Washington Huskies this Saturday, it should give the Ducks a path into the CFP.

But there is one caveat: the Michigan-Ohio State game.

ESPN's Heather Dinich wrote Tuesday that the Wolverines "will have a better win" over any other Week 14 team given the stakes of the Ohio State game and their chance to extend the streak to five wins in a row.

A Wolverines win, according to Dinich, coupled with the Ducks beating the Huskies, would likely put both teams in the 12-team field rather than one.

"The win against USC boosted the Ducks' résumé enough to jump Ole Miss, and the complete performance against another ranked contender answered some questions in the committee meeting room. Oregon now has a 16.5% chance to reach the Big Ten title game, according to ESPN Analytics," Dinich wrote.

The Ducks would need outside help to reach the title game, as noted here. They won the league title in their first year in the Big Ten this past season before being eliminated by eventual national champion Ohio State in the Rose Bowl.

Regardless of what happens, it seems obvious that the Big Ten will have multiple teams in the postseason. It's just a matter of how the seeding plays out and which teams take care of business over the next few weeks to determine how deep the field may get.

We shall soon find out.

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