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PASADENA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 01: Jalen Milroe #4 of the Alabama Crimson Tide runs with the ball in the second quarter against the Michigan Wolverines during the CFP Semifinal Rose Bowl Game at Rose Bowl Stadium on January 01, 2024 in Pasadena, California. (Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Neither the Alabama Crimson Tide or the Michigan Wolverines had the type of season they wanted in 2024.
Alabama (9-3 overall) lost three games, which was one too many to keep them out of the 12-team College Football Playoff. Michigan (7-5) won the national championship a year ago while going 15-0 but was never in contention to repeat as champions this season.
This year’s ReliaQuest Bowl (formerly the Outback Bowl) matchup between the Crimson Tide and the Wolverines won’t have near the amount of stakes as last season’s Rose Bowl, a CFP semifinal game that Michigan won 27-20 in overtime.
But it’s still Alabama vs. Michigan, and college football blue bloods like the Tide and Wolverines carry a lot of weight. That’s particularly true for bowl games that aren’t normally accustomed to having two historical powerhouses play in lower-tier events.
USA TODAY Sports recently ranked all 35 non-playoff bowl games for the 2024-25 season from best to worst. Alabama vs. Michigan ranked in the top 10 at No. 7, one spot behind the Music City Bowl matchup between the Missouri Tigers and Iowa Hawkeyes.
Eddie Timanus explained his ranking for Alabama-Michigan this way:
“One might expect a rematch of a playoff game from a year ago to be higher on the list, though clearly a lot has changed at both programs since. The Wolverines’ decline was more precipitous than the Crimson Tide’s ebb, but both teams own victories against playoff teams, so clearly there is still enough roster talent to give us a quality contest.”
On that note, Alabama quarterback Jalen…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/where-alabama-vs-michigan-ranks-222459415.html
Author : Roll Tide Wire
Publish date : 2024-12-15 22:24:00
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