When the final College Football Playoff rankings were revealed, many were shocked to see which team was granted the fourth and final spot. Alabama, with one loss and an SEC championship, got the nod over undefeated ACC champion Florida State. Fans, players and coaches were caught off guard, but none more than the Seminoles… and Michigan.
The one-seeded Wolverines were all together watching the announcement, and the moment was captured on film. Once Alabama’s name was announced, there was a moment of silence where everyone looked around at each other before slowly clapping. There was no true sense of excitement from the room, as seen in the video below posted to social media by ESPN’s Adam Rittenberg.
Michigan reacts to Alabama being selected at No. 4. Wolverines and Crimson Tide in the CFP semi. pic.twitter.com/V2mrgLQA3W
— Adam Rittenberg (@ESPNRittenberg) December 3, 2023
Online, the video took off. Fans assumed Michigan’s reaction was out of shock and fear. However, one player now speaks out with an explanation.
“It’s funny that I keep hearing everybody say we’re scared because we got ‘Bama,” says Wolverines linebacker Michael Barrett. “It was more like the shock of not seeing an undefeated Power 5 team get picked. We kind of figured that all the undefeated teams were going to come & we were just debating on who would slip into that fourth spot. So not seeing Florida State in there, it was kind of a shock to everybody. It wasn’t really like fear, never that, of any team. It was just more that shock. We kind of just were already expecting, ‘okay, if they got (Texas) at 3, then they’ve got to be Florida State at 4.’ “
Barrett’s explanation makes sense, but many will choose to believe what they want, which is fair. The team was in shock not over who they would be playing and fear that they would lose, but that Florida State was left out of the top four after the season they had.
This explanation comes days before they meet the Crimson Tide in Pasadena for the College Football Playoff Rose Bowl semifinal, which goes to show how confident Michigan was then, and how the team feels now.
Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama football as the team continues to prepare in the final days leading up to the highly-anticipated matchup.
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