Quote:Michigan wouldn't be #1 if Alabama is 13-0.
Not necessarily. Alabama could play poorly to barely-beat lower end SEC teams while Michigan still cleans house. But yeah, one should not bank on it.
With that said, yes, the Rose Bowl (2nd to the 4-team "playoff") -- would be the highest a non-conference B1G/P12 winner would be expected to go.
In this Hypothetical, if Michigan's #1 and Wisconsin loses Only to #1 twice, could they get in the playoffs? They'd have to be
Clearly better than the 4th & 5th best P5 conference champions.
#1. Michigan (13-0)
#2. Alabama (13-0/12-1)
#3. Washington (13-0/12-1)
- Oklahoma (9-3) winning B12 off tie-breaker
- UNC (11-2) winning division off tie-breaker, beating Wake Forrest in ACC Championship game
You could then say Wisconsin losing another barn-burner to UM, being the only team to challenge them yet again after UM destroys Ohio State (again, we're talking fantasy land here), could earn that #4 spot.
With that said though, even then, I would say they'd probably pick the ACC Champ UNC. Why? Hey, Wisconsin, you already lost to one of those 3 teams *twice* in this 4-team playoff. Let's choose a P5 Conference winner with the same record instead.