HOUSTON – When Michigan polished off a perfect 15-0 season with a national championship on Monday night, it also cemented itself as one of the top five college football programs of this era.
The sport as we’ve always known it is about to change. Though we’ve only had a four-team playoff for 10 years, the switch from two teams competing for a BCS national title to four playoff spots wasn’t nearly as dramatic as what’s coming in the fall.
When the playoff expands to 12 teams, it will be much easier for teams to qualify, but more difficult for the non-traditional powers to actually win a national title. Sure, a team like Iowa could finish ranked among the top 12, but can it win four straight games against the likes of Alabama, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Oregon, etc.?
We’re also going to see an unrecognizable conference landscape. The Big Ten and SEC are expanding, the Pac-12 is dissolving, and the Big 12 looks like a combination of former Group of Five schools and the old Pac-10.
So when clock reached zeroes in Michigan’s win over Washington, it also struck midnight for what has been an epic era of college football.
And the Wolverines made sure they will be remembered as one of its kings.
Playoff expansion was sorely needed, but it will undoubtedly erase the necessity of excellence in the regular season. Each of the last two years, Michigan needed to go 12-0 in the regular season to get into the playoff. That level of perfection is no longer required.
Fifteen different teams made at least one appearance in the four-team College Football Playoff. Nine won at least one playoff game.
But only six programs have made the playoff three or more times. One of those programs (Oklahoma) went 0-4 in semifinal games, while the other five combined to win nine of the 10 national championships.
Those five programs -- Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Michigan, and Ohio State -- are the ones that will be remembered as the kings of the last decade.
We can argue about which team is sixth -- would you rather make the playoff four times (Oklahoma) or make it once and win the championship (LSU)? But the top five are indisputable. Michigan made sure of that.
Since Jim Harbaugh arrived in Ann Arbor, the Wolverines are one of only six teams to win at least three Power Five conference championships. They also rank top six in terms of total wins and winning percentage. The programs on all three of those lists: Alabama, Clemson, Michigan, Ohio State, and Oklahoma.
The 40-3 record from 2021-2023 will be remembered as a golden era of Michigan football, but this was one of the most consistent programs in the sport even before it figured out how to beat Ohio State and compete for national championships.
Michigan has been a popular target of ridicule for many years because so much of its success came in the distant past. But that’s not the case anymore.
The most competitive 10-year era in college football history just came to an end, and Michigan is once again right at the top.