Big Ten Commissioner Kevin Warren Explains Why Michigan, Ohio State Belong in CFP

The league’s boss shared why he thinks the Wolverines and the Buckeyes both belong in the College Football Playoff despite Ohio State’s loss Saturday.

Michigan delivered a dominating performance against Ohio State in “The Game” as the Wolverines defeated the Buckeyes, 45–23, on Saturday at Ohio Stadium.

The Wolverines entered Saturday’s game ranked No. 3 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings while the Buckeyes were notch above them at No. 2. However, following Michigan’s second consecutive win against its longtime rival that included the Wolverines trouncing the Buckeyes 21–3 in the fourth quarter, Big Ten commissioner Kevin Warren weighed on why both teams should be among the top four teams in college football vying for the national championship.

“You look at all the games you watch,” Warren said, in part, to ESPN. “Put even the rankings to the side. If you ask yourself, who are the teams that are better than these two football teams in the country? These are two of the four best teams in the country. By far.”

The next set of College Football Playoff rankings will be released on Tuesday, Nov. 29 and will surely look different from those released on Tuesday. Georgia will likely remain No. 1 after defeating Georgia Tech, 37–14. However, it will be interesting to see where the CFP committee places Ohio State after the Buckeyes’ loss considering that TCU is on its way to its 12th consecutive win and other teams like No. 5 LSU (9–2) preparing to play its SEC West foe Texas A&M (4–7) on the road Saturday night.

With the Wolverines’ victory, Michigan will play in the Big Ten championship game next week and would likely earn a spot among the CFP’s top four teams, even if it does not win the conference title game. Since the CFP started in 2014, the Big Ten has not produced two teams in the CFP in the same season.

The Buckeyes reached the CFP once as a non-champion in 2016 as the Buckeyes finished 11–1 that season. Regardless of the Buckeyes’ loss, Warren has no plans to deviate from his belief that this year will be the one that sees both Michigan and Ohio State represented on the biggest stage.

“100%," Warren said. “I think today proved it. Great football game. … Without a doubt, I think they [Ohio State and Michigan] are clearly two of the best football teams in the country.”