Michigan, TCU save CFP hopes in oddly similar endings

Within minutes of each different connected Saturday afternoon, some the No. 3 Michigan Wolverines and No. 4 TCU Horned Frogs held disconnected upset-minded league foes and kept their undefeated seasons and College Football Playoff chances alive.

In the timeline, TCU's crippled against the Baylor Bears ended first. Baylor held the pb for overmuch of the 4th quarter. The Horned Frogs, down eight, got a touchdown from Emari Demercado with 2:07 to play, but couldn't person the 2-point effort and trailed 28-26. TCU got the shot backmost with 1:30 to play and, without immoderate timeouts, made it to the Baylor 24-yard line.

With the timepiece ticking away, the TCU tract extremity squad rushed onto the tract for a 40-yard attempt. Griffin Kell nailed it and, with the 29-28 win, TCU was inactive successful the hunt for a playoff spot. It was TCU's archetypal roadworthy triumph aft trailing by 8 oregon much successful the 4th fourth since 2016. It made the Frogs the archetypal Big 12 squad to scope 11-0 since the Texas Longhorns did truthful successful 2009 and made it to the BCS National Championship Game.

Right down the middle. #GoFrogs #DFWBig12Team pic.twitter.com/QA85nHbtZC

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TCU scrambles to footwear a game-winning tract extremity successful the last seconds against Baylor.

While the play was unfolding successful Waco, Texas, it was gathering successful Ann Arbor, Michigan. With their rivalry showdown awaiting adjacent week against the No. 2 Ohio State Buckeyes, the Wolverines were losing to the Illinois Fighting Illini. Similar to TCU, Michigan trailed astatine the commencement of the 4th quarter.

The Wolverines' discourtesy had sputtered and missed connected scoring chances with moving backmost Blake Corum retired of the game. Still, it managed 2 tract goals and trailed 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 victor for the country's champion kicker, channeled his interior Griffin Kell and nailed a 35-yard footwear to triumph the game, 19-17.

Moody for Groza (again) pic.twitter.com/Sj9kN8h3ng

The similarities aren't conscionable successful the endings.

Before Saturday, teams ranked successful the apical 5 of the playoff rankings were 1-29 erstwhile trailing successful the last minute. In 2014, the Alabama Crimson Tide won successful overtime aft kicking a game-tying tract extremity against the LSU Tigers arsenic clip expired. TCU and Michigan some accomplished the feat Saturday.

Since 2014, erstwhile the College Football Playoff began, teams with a 10-0 grounds oregon amended were 1-18 erstwhile trailing by 7 oregon much successful the 4th quarter. In 2018, Alabama overcame a 28-21 shortage to the Georgia Bulldogs successful the SEC rubric crippled and went connected to triumph 35-28.

Again, the Frogs and Wolverines matched that feat, each earlier 4 p.m. ET.

ESPN Stats and Information contributed to this story.