2024 Rose Bowl: #1 Michigan Wolverines (13-0) vs. #4 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1)

[MichiganCardinal]

 

          vs.          

Setting: 01/01/2024 5:00pm EST on ESPN

Site: The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, CA

Opening Spread: Michigan -2.5

All-Time Series Record: Alabama leads, 3-2

Last Meeting: 2020 Citrus Bowl on 01/01/2020, Alabama won 35-16

 

#4 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1)

Head Coach: Nick Saban (28th Season: 201-28)

Projected Starting QB: Jalen Milroe (Redshirt Sophomore: 11-1)

Last Week: 27-24 W vs. #6 Georgia Bulldogs (12-1) for SEC Championship

 

#1 Michigan Wolverines (13-0)

Head Coach: Jim Harbaugh (16th Season: 142-52)

Projected Starting QB: JJ McCarthy (Junior: 25-1)

Last Week: 26-0 W vs. Iowa Hawkeyes (10-3) for B1G Championship

 

College Football Playoff History

 

[MichiganCardinal]

The fact that there are 28 days off until this game is one of the dumbest things in all of sports.

[lordstanley]

Mouth-watering matchup. Michigan can play up or down to its opposition. If what is supposedly the best Michigan team in a generation can't beat one of the SEC's weakest champions, fine, the ceiling may be Big 10 championships. Kind of how I felt before the OSU game in 2021 - would Michigan be content them with being a top 6-top 15 team a clear notch below Ohio St or would they step up. Same here. Obviously Michigan needs to play better than they did against Maryland or Iowa. Alabama has to play better than they did against Auburn or Arkansas.  Let's go! 

[MIguy]

Michigan can't go into this thinking they're going to be able to line up and use their power running game to control things.  That's exactly what they did against Georgia and they couldn't adapt when it didn't work and got their teeth kicked in.  

[buddha]

pray.

[MichiganCardinal]

2 minutes ago, MIguy said:

Michigan can't go into this thinking they're going to be able to line up and use their power running game to control things.  That's exactly what they did against Georgia and they couldn't adapt when it didn't work and got their teeth kicked in.  

I think this is a dramatically different team than it was two years ago. I'd be surprised if they weren't up for the challenge.

[Dan Gilmore]

1 hour ago, buddha said:

pray.

Wrong forum 😎

[MichiganCardinal]

First time Michigan has been #1 since 1997.

[lordstanley]

37 minutes ago, MichiganCardinal said:

First time Michigan has been #1 since 1997.

And first time a non-SEC team has been #1 since Clemson in 2020, and first time a team outside the South has been #1 since Ohio State in 2015. 

[MIguy]

ESPN has the odds to win at 55.9% in favor of Michigan.  

[Deleterious]

Line has moved to -1.5.

 

 

[MIguy]

25 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Line has moved to -1.5.

 

 

It'll be Michigan +5.5 by game day.  

[buddha]

40 minutes ago, Deleterious said:

Line has moved to -1.5.

 

 

glad i got in at 2.5.

[MichiganCardinal]

It will have been four years to the day of the program's last meeting in the 2020 Citrus Bowl. While not much has changed for the Tide, this being their third trip in those four years to the playoff after having been to the National Championship in four consecutive years before that Citrus Bowl, Michigan is a completely revitalized program.

Shea Patterson was Michigan's starting QB, going 17/37 for 233 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INT. Zach Charbonnet was the leading rusher and someone I don't even remember named Giles Jackson was the leading receiver... Meanwhile Mac Jones was the Alabama QB, Najee Harris their leading rusher, and Jerry Jeudy their leading receiver.

[romad1]

Morning Joe has Finebaum on to talk about how wonderful Alabama is and how evil Harbaugh is.  

[romad1]

9 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

It will have been four years to the day of the program's last meeting in the 2020 Citrus Bowl. While not much has changed for the Tide, this being their third trip in those four years to the playoff after having been to the National Championship in four consecutive years before that Citrus Bowl, Michigan is a completely revitalized program.

Shea Patterson was Michigan's starting QB, going 17/37 for 233 yards, 1 TD, and 2 INT. Zach Charbonnet was the leading rusher and someone I don't even remember named Giles Jackson was the leading receiver... Meanwhile Mac Jones was the Alabama QB, Najee Harris their leading rusher, and Jerry Jeudy their leading receiver.

Michigan seems way better now.

[RandyMarsh]

To me despite their win against UGA I don't think this Bama team is as good as their past teams and are definitely beatable.

I even go as far as to say that UM would beat them 6 or even 7 times out of 10. Our defense is better, our QB is better and we're more experienced. 

Bama has more athletes and 5 star players but many of those guys are young and a little time away from hitting their potential.

Basically if this Bama team was a year older and more experienced think we'd have no shot but right now I think this team is not only beatable but I think we do indeed deserve to be favored. 

Now if we can just avoid 2 JJ pick 6s.....

Edited December 4, 2023 by RandyMarsh

[Mr.TaterSalad]

18 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

First time Michigan has been #1 since 1997.

And we all know what happened there. Michigan and Florida St. co-national champions baby.

[lordstanley]

22 hours ago, MichiganCardinal said:

The fact that there are 28 days off until this game is one of the dumbest things in all of sports.

C'mon, don't you know that all the Alabama players need ample time to submit term essays, study their notes, cram and write exams before a Christmas break. 

[lordstanley]

23 minutes ago, Mr.TaterSalad said:

And we all know what happened there. Michigan and Florida St. co-national champions baby.

Florida St. beats Georgia to finish 14-0 as ACC champion.

Texas beats Washington, and Alabama again, to finish 14-1 as Big 12 champion.

[MichiganCardinal]

I’m still so angry for Florida State. They deserved better. I feel like it was predetermined too. If Alabama had lost to Auburn in the Iron Bowl and then beat Georgia, I bet Georgia would be #4. They weren’t leaving the SEC out, whether for TV money, general bias, or whatever you want to call it. It didn’t matter how well Florida State did this year.

The B1G can get left out in 2018 and 2019, the PAC-12 can get left out in 2016 and 2018-2023, the ACC can get left out in 2022 and 2023, and the Big 12 can get left out in 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022…. But GOD FORBID the chicken comes home to roost with the SEC. It’s shameful and yet another reason to get rid of everything to do with the current format.

[RandyMarsh]

I will say that it is funny that the committee has never once acted on their "not the 4 best resumes but putting the 4 best teams in" mantra until the year that the SEC may be left in the dark.

 

[RandyMarsh]

A guy on the radio had a good point too, I guess one of the committee members brought up how Bama would be favored in Vegas over FSU as a reason why Bama should be in so the callers like "why and the hell do we need a committee if you're just going to use Vegas odds to come to your conclusion?" So true. 

[MichiganCardinal]

36 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

A guy on the radio had a good point too, I guess one of the committee members brought up how Bama would be favored in Vegas over FSU as a reason why Bama should be in so the callers like "why and the hell do we need a committee if you're just going to use Vegas odds to come to your conclusion?" So true. 

That argument completely misses the point too. Oddsmakers are not prognosticating team talent, the games themselves are! Vegas sets lines to make money, not to predict outcomes... And if we are going to go that route, I guess we better take Washington out and put Oregon in, considering Oregon was supposed to beat Washington, per Vegas. Take Alabama out too and put Georgia in, they weren't supposed to win that game either, per Vegas.

[lordstanley]

38 minutes ago, RandyMarsh said:

A guy on the radio had a good point too, I guess one of the committee members brought up how Bama would be favored in Vegas over FSU as a reason why Bama should be in so the callers like "why and the hell do we need a committee if you're just going to use Vegas odds to come to your conclusion?" So true. 

I think Georgia would be favored by Vegas over all four teams in the CFP. 
Ohio State would likely be favored over Washington and Texas. 

Keep in mind that FSU didn’t just lose out to one 1-loss team but to two. 
Texas was 3 spots below FSU going into championship weekend, and all they did win win more impressively over Oklahoma St than FSU did over Louisville. Oklahoma State was ranked 4 spots below Louisville going into the weekend though. Apart from Alabama, Oklahoma St is the only AP Top 25-ranked team that Texas beat (CFP added 4-loss Kansas State as 25 this week but that looks political).  Texas beat 8-loss Houston by only 7, was taken to OT by 4-loss Kansas State, and beat 7-loss TCU by only 3.