Top-ranked Michigan and No. 4 Alabama are set to square off in the historic Rose Bowl, serving as a College Football Playoff semifinal this season. Though it has direct national championship implications, how does it rank when compared to others?
CBS Sports’ Tom Fornelli ranked all 41 college football bowl games and the Rose Bowl came out on top for obvious reasons.
Fornelli points out the controversy surrounding both teams participating in the matchup, which just adds to its excitement.
“I mean, you can’t ask for much more than this, can you? Do your best to ignore the controversy of Alabama getting in and Michigan’s sign-stealing scandal. Just look at the matchup. Two of the most historic programs in the sport’s history will battle. Michigan is the only college football program in history with 1,000 wins to its credit, while Alabama is the only program with roughly 1,000 national titles. And it’ll all take place in our greatest college football setting: the Rose Bowl on New Year’s Day.”
He goes on to mention that these are two programs hated by many across the college football realm and that many fans would like to see both teams lose as if that were an actual option.
When comparing the Tide and Wolverines, Fornelli makes strong points regarding both teams’ respective issues during the regular season.
“As for the matchup on the field, I’m not sure if I’ve ever been more confident about two teams while simultaneously feeling like I have no idea who they are. Yes, Alabama beat Georgia to finish the season, but it’s also a team that needed a miracle to get past Auburn and struggled to beat Arkansas. But we’ve also seen it play incredible football against some of the toughest teams on its schedule. As for Michigan, it has two huge wins over Ohio State and Penn State, but it hasn’t looked dominant in any of its last four games. All I know is that we’ve got two elite defenses in play, which I’m never sad to see.”
Identity issues aside, this will be a game between two programs rooted deep in the history of college football. Regardless of what happened in the regular season, it all comes down to which one can show up, perform, and walk away with a win en route to the national championship game against the winner of the Sugar Bowl, either No. 2 Washington or No. 3 Texas.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the College Football Playoffs approach.