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This past weekend in the SEC Championship Game, the Alabama Crimson Tide’s mystique finally began to show. The Tide played their best game of the season, defeating the two-time defending national champion Georgia Bulldogs. As a result of the win, Alabama edged out Florida State to make the College Football Playoff.
For Alabama, being in the College Football Playoff is a very familiar experience. What isn’t familiar, however, is the position that the bookmakers have put the Crimson Tide in entering consecutive games.
For just the second time since head coach Nick Saban joined the team in 2007, Alabama is in a position to be underdogs in back-to-back games. Saban had some encouraging words about his team during a press conference.
Michigan opens as a -2.5 favorite against Alabama. If Alabama ends up closing as the underdog, it will mark just the fifth time since the beginning of 2010 that Alabama has been the underdog against a non-SEC team and the first time since the Sugar Bowl against Clemson in 2008.
Player Competition
Alabama’s quarterback play might be weaker compared to the performances of their opponents for once. Big Blue has a chance to keep the ball away from the Crimson Tide with McCarthy’s strong leadership.
McCarthy should be able to go above his 202 YPG average through the air in what should be a high-scoring game. The Michigan QB only ran into the end zone three times this season for a score. But in a game of this magnitude, the chances of a rushing TD for McCarthy are highly favorable.
Offense vs. Defense
Michigan’s run defense, allowing just 87 yards per game on the ground, is ranked sixth. This means that Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe might have to make plays to make up for the lack of runs. He’s never seen a bigger, more impassable defense than Michigan’s.
The tale of this game might lie in Alabama’s ability to move the chains. It’s just a matter of Bama having a strategy to pass short or even use the swing pass to their running backs in an attempt to score points.
The two teams will go head-to-head in the Rose Bowl Stadium in Pasadena, California on Jan. 1, 2024.
Kickoff is set for 5:10 p.m.
