ESPN says this is the biggest challenge facing Michigan football in the Rose Bowl

Michigan football is the No. 1 in the country for the first time in the College Football Playoff era and going back long before that in the AP Top 25 and US LBM Coaches Poll. Yet, the Wolverines aren’t spoken of much as being the top team in the nation.

That’s probably because the maize and blue have made it to the playoff two straight years and have been bounced both times.

It was understandable in 2021 facing Georgia, but it was inexplicable against TCU in the Fiesta Bowl last year. The Wolverines were their own worst enemies, with J.J. McCarthy throwing two pick-sixes and the defense giving up 37 points.

ESPN’s Bill Connelly put together the biggest questions in each bowl game (subscription required) and for the Rose Bowl, he sees an Alabama team that’s coming in underrated and angry.

What’s the opposite of rat poison? Nick Saban always starts complaining when coverage is too positive and when people start expecting too much of his team. But now he’s been able to feed off of a unique amount of negativity with the reaction by some (who will remain nameless) to Alabama’s playoff inclusion over an unbeaten Florida State. History suggests that means we’ll see a particularly strong and motivated version of Alabama in Pasadena. Combined with the fact that their last performance — an SEC championship win over Georgia — was their best of the season, that could be a pretty scary thing.

Connelly continues noting that Michigan football has been ‘the most consistently dominant team of 2023’ which means that the Wolverines could still handle business. But the maize and blue will need, at the very least, a great performance by J.J. McCarthy in order to survive and advance to Houston.

No longer will the Wolverines have the ability to beat up on lesser teams. Every team, from here on out will be elite. But…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/espn-says-biggest-challenge-facing-025102037.html

Author : Wolverines Wire

Publish date : 2023-12-17 02:51:02

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.