Recently freed political prisoner Jim Harbaugh, and his merry band of inspirational, overly oppressed freedom fighters known as the Michigan Wolverines football team are back in the College Football Playoff for the third straight season.
Having endured unfathomable levels of adversity this season, as perfectly articulated by OC/late season Interim Head Coach Sherrone Moore in his post Penn State win crying fit, the egregiously persecuted Michigan Wolverines will take on the Alabama Crimson Tide in the Rose Bowl CFP Semifinal.
Rose Bowl CFP Semifinal FYIs
Michigan Wolverines vs Alabama Crimson Tide
New Year’s Day, 5pm EST Rose Bowl Stadium, Pasadena, CA
Odds: Michigan Wolverines -2, -110 Money Line, O/U 46.5
How the Rose Bowl Was Killed By the Death of Conferences: go here
Brent Musburger on WHY the CFP will never overtake New Year’s Eve: go here
Kirk Herbstreit Perfectly Articulates the Transcendent Rose Bowl Setting: go here
#1 Michigan Wolverines (13-0, Big Ten Champions)
We’ll see if the Wolverines can somehow recover from their post traumatic stress disorder, a condition that is perfectly natural and totally normal, considering all the unimaginable hardships they’ve had to endure during the Harbaugh suspension for sign-stealing.
Somehow they need find a way to overcome. Perhaps doing the extremely original and utterly unique “us against the world” routine will help.
I mean everything about that bit is very fresh and distinctive.
No one, in their own conference, this season, did the same shtick, right? (actually both Northwestern and Ohio State coach Ryan Day did it)
Maybe Michigan is right- it is them against the world!
All those people ranking them high in the polls, doing the same for their recruiting classes, trying to make a Heisman trophy candidate of J.J. McCarthy (despite his attempting only 8 passes in the Penn State game, and his throwing just one pass TD in his last five games), the TV money, the media hype….all vile, evil oppressors, all of them!
Oh, your heart must go out to these poor downtrodden souls.
#4 Alabama Crimson Tide (12-1, SEC Champions)
Congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines, you’ve somehow made even Ohio State more likable than you. Ditto for Alabama; really didn’t think that was possible.
Offensive coordinator Tommy Rees has certainly had his struggles this season, but he seems to have figured it out now. The Tide quarterback position had been a disaster earlier this campaign, but it is not just settled, but actually succeeding right now.
But I don’t see that side of the ball as where this game will be decided. It’s not Bama offense versus UM defense where we’ll see a National Championship game berth decided.
The more critical portion of this game will be Michigan Wolverines offense versus The Tide’s defense. A.J. Barner is known more as a blocking TE, but he is actually a good receiving tight end. He needs to catch passes at will in order for UM to win this game (and help his NFL Draft stock).
Can Bama stop him? #15 Dallas Turner is one of the best pass rushers in the nation, and Michigan doesn’t have the tackles to stop him in big on big situations, so they’ll need to double team him.
Or they can stay very run-oriented, including McCarthy himself, and run right at Turner.
The Bama secondary is very good, and the Wolverines don’t have any receivers as talented as what they have at the running back position in Blake Corum.
While the Tide don’t belong here (we covered that already in the Florida State article), they can still easily knock off the Michigan Wolverines, if Nick Saban game plans right.
Prediction: Michigan Wolverines 29, Alabama Crimson Tide 27
Third time is the charm for big blue in the CFP
Paul M. Banks is the owner/manager of The Sports Bank. He’s also the author of “Transatlantic Passage: How the English Premier League Redefined Soccer in America,” and “No, I Can’t Get You Free Tickets: Lessons Learned From a Life in the Sports Media Industry.”
He’s written for numerous publications, including the New York Daily News, Sports Illustrated and the Chicago Tribune. He regularly appears on NTD News and WGN News Now, while writing for the International Baseball Writers Association of America. You can follow the website on Twitter.