Bowl-Game Expert Paints A Grim Outlook For Michigan, Michigan State
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
It's been a while since both Michigan and Michigan State entered the college football season with this much optimism.
But not everyone's buying the hype.
Jerry Palm, a bowl-game expert for CBS Sports, released his College Football Playoff projection today and neither the Wolverines or Spartans cracked his field of national semifinalists. In fact, Palm doesn't even foresee the two teams reaching one of the coveted selection-committee games.
He predicts that Michigan will play Ole Miss in the Outback Bowl on Jan. 2 while Michigan State will square off with Tennessee in the Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31.
Palm's CFP field is comprised (in descending order) of Oklahoma, Clemson, Alabama and Notre Dame.
Palm's prediction runs counter to most of the preseason sentiment surrounding Michigan and Michigan State. Both teams have top-ten odds to win the national championship and even better chances of reaching the College Football Playoff.
Michigan is listed at 7-4 to reach the national semifinals while Michigan State is listed at 7-1.
Recently, ESPN's Mark Schlabach picked the Wolverines to make the national championship, where he believes they'll lose to Alabama.
On Tuesday, Sports Illustrated featured Michigan's Jabril Peppers on one of the four covers for their college football preview issue and chose the Wolverines to make the College Football Playoff.
Michigan State opens the season Sept 2. vs Furman while Michigan kicks things off a day later against Hawaii.
