The Rose Bowl matchup between the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide and the No. 1 Michigan Wolverines is setting up to be one of the best College Football Playoff semifinal matchups in quite some time.
Not only is it a matchup of two of the best football programs in college football history but it will also feature two of the top coaches in the country, Alabama’s Nick Saban and Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh.
Aside from the elite coaches roaming the sidelines, this matchup will also feature some of the top players in the sport, and after all, those are the guys who will make the plays in the game that determine the outcome.
With kickoff still three weeks away, let’s take a look at how the Tide and Wolverines matchup statistically.
Alabama’s offense, Michigan’s defense, by the numbers
| Alabama offense (rank) | Michigan defense (rank) | |
| Passing | 228.5 yards/game (61) | 152.6 yards/game allowed (2) |
| Rushing | 172.69 yards/game (49) | 86.62 yards/game allowed (6) |
| Scoring | 35.1 points/game (19) | 9.5 points/game allowed (1) |
| Total | 401.2 yards/game (54) | 239.2 yards/game allowed (2) |
| First downs | 20.2 first downs/game (69) | 12.7 first downs/game allowed (2) |
| Third down conversions | 46.75% (14) | 30.77% allowed (13) |
| Red zone conversions | 94% (7), TD: 70% (20) | 71.43% allowed (4), TD: 42.86% allowed (7) |
| Tackles for loss | 78 allowed (100) | 73 (41) |
| Sacks | 43 allowed (125) | 33 (25) |
Michigan’s offense, Alabama’s defense, by the numbers
| Michigan offense (rank) | Alabama defense (rank) | |
| Passing | 218.8 yards/game (75) | 188.8 yards/game allowed (23) |
| Rushing | 161.77 yards/game (60) | 124.54 yards/game allowed (33) |
| Scoring | 36.7 points/game (14) | 18.4 points/game allowed (17) |
| Total | 380.5 yards/game (68) | 318.3 yards/game allowed (13) |
| First downs | 20.5 first downs/game (64) | 16.4 first downs/game allowed (11) |
| Third down conversions | 46.71% (15) | 33.89% allowed (25) |
| Red zone conversions | 88.14% (39), TD: 71.9% (18) | 81.58% allowed (53), TD: 52.63% allowed (30) |
| Tackles for loss | 44 allowed (6) | 82 (25) |
| Sacks | 18 allowed (33) | 38 (9) |
Also. according to ESPN’s FPI, Michigan is ranked No. 1 while Alabama is ranked No. 5. It is also important to note that Alabama does have the advantage in strength of schedule where the Tide faced the fifth toughest schedule while Michigan faced the tenth.
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