The obvious means that, absent upset wins, that 1,2, and 3 are set. So the committee is just keeping the conferences happy making more people think that some of these other games are still important and keeping fans tuned in.
They'd have a lot of explaining if Michigan was ranked above a 12-0 ND. How can they not say with a straight face that ND was unequivocally not better given the head to head?
If they did, it would completely eliminate face-to-face as a criteria.
It certainly is possible that a combination of one loss Georgia, a one loss Alabama or a one loss Oklahoma forces ND out. But it won't be Michigan.
I think there is a bigger risk of Michigan getting bounced out than ND. But if the committee did that now, it eliminated the drama for the Big Ten.
Any "eye" test applied to ND would also have to be applied to Michigan and there is nothing that inherently favors Michigan over ND except for their whims, which is all the "eye" test is.
They can't even explain their ratings now so they duck the questions so they can keep their options open.
It doesn't matter when the game was played.
We lead the whole way!
Michigan was never close to winning!
There weren't "weird" plays or weather, making it a "lucky" win for ND.
We beat a common opponent on their field by a greater margin that Michigan did.