LOS ANGELES — It’s a New Year, but The Michigan Daily is putting out the same great work. It’s 2024, and The Daily is keeping you covered 24/7. New Year’s Day is no different — what better way to kick off 2024 than with the Rose Bowl in beautiful Pasadena? It’s Michigan. It’s Bama. Being the first day of the year, it’s sure to be one of the games of the year so far, and it might just be a little more than that. Ahead of a heavyweight bout with a lot on the line, The Daily’s football beat predicts the CFP Semifinal at the Rose Bowl.
Daily Sports Editor John Tondora:
Let’s get it out of the way: Alabama is the standard. There’s no confusing that. They have more talent, and they have a bigger legacy. LANK — Let a Naysayer Know — has been the mantra driving a Crimson Tide squad that felt under appreciated season long.
But let’s get one other thing out of the way: this is it for Michigan, for a long time. It’s do or die time. The Wolverines have been handled and embarrassed for the last two years. Now, they’re on the precipice of the highest heights, or the lowest lows. Jim Harbaugh and J.J. McCarthy are, likely, gone after this season — for reasons already well established. The offense will be losing a plethora of key pieces on the line, at receiver and in the backfield. The moment is now, and this is the chance.
If Michigan’s defensive line can get enough pressure, look for an uncomfortable Jalen Milroe to underperform for the Crimson Tide offense. Meanwhile, if McCarthy can play at his best, and eliminate the unforced errors that hindered his play a year ago today, the Wolverines can come out on top. It won’t be pretty, but Michigan must be ready to leave everything out on the field.
Final Score: Michigan 27 – Alabama 23
Daily Sports Writer Connor Earegood:
All week, the mood in California has been that Michigan might be the higher seed, but this is Alabama we’re talking about, and Alabama knows how to get the job done in January. Now I’m often a contrarian — I don’t give teams any more credit than they deserve and I’ve probably written a lot of takes that piss you off. That’s not going to change this game, because I’m following the majority of folks in saying that the Crimson Tide are going to beat the Wolverines.
I chalk up an Alabama win to this: Michigan is built so that its defense locks games down and buys enough time for an often frustrating offense to get going. Yet against an elite quarterback like Jalen Milroe who can move well and air the ball out on the run, alongside a wider pool of talent on both sides of the ball, I think the Wolverines have met their match. Alabama itself has one of the most talented secondaries in the game, and I believe it is going to make offense harder to come by than any team Michigan has faced this season. The math doesn’t add up close enough for the Wolverines to get the win here. Give me the Tide.
