The 2024 College Football Playoff National Championship is set. No. 1 Michigan will square off with No. 2 Washington at NRG Stadium in Houston on Monday, Jan. 8. It’s a battle of future Big Ten opponents as the Wolverines seek to win their first national title since 1997 and the Huskies look to win their first since 1991 as well as the Pac-12’s first since 2004 in the conference’s final season.
Michigan got here thanks a thrilling 27-20 overtime win taking down No. 4 Alabama in the Rose Bowl semifinal. The Wolverines stuffed Crimson Tide quarterback Jalen Milroe at the 2-yard line on fourth-and-goal to clinch the win after running back Blake Corum kicked off OT for Michigan with a 17-yard touchdown run. The win marked the program’s first-ever CFP victory after an 0-2 start the last two seasons, and it brought the Wolverines to 14 wins in a single season for the first time in school history. Quarterback J.J. McCarthy led the Wolverines with four touchdowns passing.
Washington reached the national title game after taking down No. 3 Texas in stunning fashion, 37-31, in the Sugar Bowl. The Huskies closed as a 3.5-point underdog against the Big 12 champions, but their offensive attack proved too potent for the Longhorns to handle. Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. threw for 430 yards and two touchdowns, while running back Dillon Johnson added a pair of scores on the ground. The victory continued Washington’s meteoric rise under second-year coach Karen DeBoer, who is now 25-2 since arriving from Fresno State. This after the Huskies struggled to a 4-8 mark in 2021.
Let’s take a look at where each team stands ahead of the CFP National Championship before our CBS Sports college football experts provide their first-look picks for the game.
No. 1 Michigan (14-0), Rose Bowl champion
Michigan has been knocking on the door of greatness for three seasons but wasn’t able to break through in a playoff game until Monday night’s win over Alabama. The Wolverines’ strength is their defense, which put its nastiness on display again in the Rose Bowl by limiting Bama to a season-low 288 yards. The Wolverines sacked Tide QB Jalen Milroe six times — four in the first half — and came up with the game-winning stop on the last play of the contest. That performance was emblematic of the dominance displayed all season by a unit that entered the CFP ranked No. 1 nationally in total defense.
The Wolverines…
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