One of the voters in the AP Top 25 actually ranked Michigan well ahead of Ohio State despite the Wolverines’ loss to the Buckeyes on Saturday, and his reasoning is quite interesting.
Tom Murphy of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette shared his top 25 poll Sunday, which has Michigan ranked No. 3 and Ohio State at No. 5.
Murphy decided to play replay god and determined Michigan was the true winner of the game. As he explained:
Yes, I voted Michigan higher than Ohio State. The Wolverines essentially outplayed their arch rival on the road and I don’t think the football reached the necessary 15-yard line on J.T. Barrett’s fourth-down run in double overtime. As that was the game-decided play, I appointed myself as the replay official and deemed Michigan the winner. Now, if only the College Football Playoff selection committee would do the same. As a side note, while I admire Jim Harbaugh for speaking his mind after the game, he appeared to pin everything on the officiating, which isn’t a good look.
Look, I can understand not penalizing Oklahoma State for their loss against Central Michigan because the referees actually screwed up a rule that took the win away from the Cowboys. But the replays showed Barrett got the first down, and Ohio State won on the next play.
Rank Michigan highly and I have no problem with it. Put Ohio State second and Michigan third. That works for me. Argue that both should be in the playoff and I might agree. But don’t tell me Michigan won that game when they didn’t.
