Michigan, TCU save College Football Playoff hopes in unusually similar

5:16 PM ET Jeremy WillisESPN.com Within minutes of each other on Saturday

afternoon, both the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines and No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs held off upset-minded conference enemies and kept their undefeated seasons and College Football Playoff chances alive.In the timeline, TCU’s game against the Baylor Bears

ended first. Baylor held the lead for much of the fourth quarter. The Horned Frogs, down eight, got a goal from Emari Demercado with 2:07 to play, however could not convert the 2-point try and trailed 28-26. TCU got the ball back with 1:30 to play and, with no timeouts, made it to the Baylor 24-yard line. 1 Related With the clock ticking away, the TCU field goal group hurried onto the field for a 40-yard attempt. Griffin Kell accomplished and, with the 29-28 win, TCU was still in the hunt for a playoff area. It was TCU’s very first roadway win after tracking by 8 or more in the 4th quarter given that 2016. It made the Frogs the first Big 12 team to reach 11-0 because the Texas Longhorns did so in 2009 and made it to the BCS National Championship Video Game. At one point in the fourth quarter, Baylor had a 92%chance to win the game, according to ESPN’s win probability metrics. ESPN Right down the middle. #GoFrogs #DFWBig 12Team pic.twitter.com/QA85nHbtZC!.?.!— TCU Football (@TCUFootball)

November 19, 2022 play 0:32 TCU scrambles to kick a game-winning field goal in the final seconds

versus Baylor.While the drama was unfolding in Waco, Texas, it was integrating in Ann Arbor, Michigan. With their rivalry face-off waiting for next week against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, the Wolverines were losing to the Illinois Battling Illini. Comparable to TCU, Michigan trailed at the start of the fourth quarter.The Wolverines ‘offense had actually sputtered and missed on scoring possibilities with running back Blake Corum out of the game. Still, it handled two basket and tracked 17-16 with 2:06 to play. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy completed 3 passes, including a fourth-down conversion. With 9 seconds left, kicker Jake Moody, the reigning Lou Groza winner for the nation’s finest kicker, carried his inner Griffin Kell and nailed a 35-yard kick to win the game, 19-17. Things didn’t look great for Michigan late in the fourth quarter. ESPN Moody for Groza(again)pic.twitter.com/Sj9kN8h3ng!.?.!— Michigan Football(@UMichFootball)November 19, 2022 The similarities aren’t simply in the endings.Before Saturday, groups ranked in the top five of the playoff rankings were 1-29 when trailing

in the final minute. In 2014, the Alabama Crimson Tide won in overtime after kicking a game-tying basket against the LSU Tigers as time expired. TCU and Michigan both accomplished the

task Saturday.Since 2014, when the College Football Playoff began, groups with a 10-0 record or better were 1-18 when trailing by 7 or more in the fourth quarter. In 2018, Alabama got rid of a 28-21 deficit to the Georgia Bulldogs in the SEC title game and went on to win 35-28. Once again, the Frogs and Wolverines matched that feat, all before 4 p.m. ET.ESPN Statistics and Details added to this story.