After losing to Iowa last weekend, Michigan fell to No. 4 in the Amway Coaches Poll run by USA TODAY. Sunday, the Wolverines remained there, even after No. 3 Louisville's loss. Clemson, which beat Wake Forest, jumped over U-M into the No. 3 spot Sunday.
But in the Associated Press poll, Michigan rose to No. 3, ahead of Clemson. Along with No. 2 Ohio State and No. 5 Wisconsin, the Big Ten placed three teams in the top five for the first time in 56 years. Alabama remains No. 1 in both polls.
The No. 3 spot opened in both polls because Louisville, which had jumped U-M last week, was hammered, 36-10, by Houston on Thursday.
The 10-1 Wolverines surged past Indiana in the second half Saturday and remained No. 3 in the Football Writers Association of America-National Football Foundation Super 16 poll.
Only the College Football Playoff rankings are truly important, because those determine the teams that participate in the four-team playoff. Those weekly rankings are released Tuesday nights, and U-M was No. 3 last week.
The loser of the Michigan-Ohio State game Saturday might fall out of contention for the four-team playoff because it will have two losses. But given the small field of other one-loss contenders _ basically just Clemson and Washington _ even the U-M/OSU loser could have an outside chance.
