The Michigan football program is attempting to earn a playoff berth for the fourth year in a row. That trails behind only Clemson and Alabama for most consecutive appearances. They'll have to go through about three other teams on their schedule who are also favorites to get into the tournament. So how will Sherrone Moore's regime accomplish this rare feat? Well, here are three reasons why they can do it yet again.

1. The Defense

Even without their quarterback on defense, Rod Moore, Wink Martindale's unit will still be in the conversation with the Ohio State's and Georgia's of the world. They simply have to much returning talent and will be running the same system that they have been winning with over the last three years with, making Martindale's transition smoother than if he was heading to the NFL.

The Michigan football secondary has a wealth of depth with the new transfers and will be tested against Quinn Ewers, Dillon Gabriel, and Will Rogers. The defensive line should be in the top 10, or better, against the run with the two run stuffers manning the middle. If you had to pinpoint a weakness on defense it would be the linebackers with new starters there, but they have played purposeful minutes in the past at Big Ten schools.

2. An Expanded Playoff

With a new 12 team playoff format the chances of making the illusive postseason will be easier than ever before. Last year's undefeated Florida State team would have been the five seed and got there shot, all the while not having to face a pissed off Georgia squad in a meaningless new year's six bowl. This time around three loss teams could be left out and everyone will argue whether they were excluded or not.

The field ought to be loaded with three to four teams from the Big Ten and the SEC, meaning about eight of the seeds should be taken up right there. The other four will comprise of the ACC and Big 12. An undefeated or one-loss squad like Liberty was last season will likely get a chance to crash the party and earn a top 12 seed depending upon where they rank.

Oregon and Ohio State appear to be locks unless they completely collapse, while Michigan football and other programs will be battling it out for a spot in the rotation as well. In the final CFP rankings before the playoff last season, three Big Ten teams would have qualified, but that is not counting Washington and the Ducks. No three-loss teams or worse would have been included in the mix.

3. 10 wins or more should qualify for an automatic berth

The top 12 teams in the 2023 playoff rankings each had 10 wins or more and that was not including a non-power group of five school. That should be a prerequisite for qualifying. In Michigan's case they look like the current favorite in 9 of their 12 games in 2024, meaning they'll have to knock off another win to feel safe about making the playoff.

A home playoff game in the winter is doable and would be a disaster for an SEC team or a school from the west coast. That's where Michigan's advantage of playing in that bitter cold weather and having a potent run game that they could potentially have would be on their side. Plus there could be a lot of rematches which ruins the sacredness of the game in my opinion, but that won't kill the sport by any means.

Going 9-3 is no guarantee that one will make the playoff and is almost a certainty that you'll probably miss out on unless a lot of losses happen within the top 12. There are no rules, but finishing in the top two of the expanded Power-4 conferences means they'll be automatically entered into the equation, while about five or so other teams could be politicking for one of the four spots remaining.