Alabama Will Advance To Championship

Alabama vs. Michigan, 5:00 ET

Happy New Year, my friends! I hope this year brings you happiness, health, and prosperity. Also, I hope this year brings us a lot of winning bets and few slumps. We've gone through the appetizers of Bowl Season and now we are at the meat and potatoes as the College Football Playoff starts here. This first play is in the game between Alabama and Michigan.

Alabama snuck into the playoffs with a victory over Georgia in the SEC Championship Game. It was a convincing win as well. The score was pretty close at 27-24, but they were in control for the majority of the game. The previous game was against Auburn, and that was a much more nerve-wracking game. They marched down the field and scored a touchdown late in the game to take the lead before holding the Auburn offense from getting a game-tying field goal. Now they need to figure out how they are going to beat this Michigan defense that is very talented. If they can take down Georgia's defense, there isn't much of a reason to think they can't manage with the Michigan one. However, keep in mind, they play Georgia so often that they know the strengths and weaknesses. The biggest question in this game is if the Alabama defense can stop the run. Michigan wins the battle up front and pushes opponents back on the regular. You have to imagine that the Alabama defense will stand their ground as much as possible but don't expect them to shut down the run game. Of course, Nick Saban will prepare them for the battle.

COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 26: Michigan Wolverines quarterback J.J. McCarthy (9) looks at the Ohio State sideline as Michigan Wolverines running back Donovan Edwards (7) (not pictured) races 85-yards for a touchdown during the fourth quarter of the college football game between the Michigan Wolverines and Ohio State Buckeyes on November 26, 2022, at Ohio Stadium in Columbus, OH. (Photo by Frank Jansky/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Michigan has had an interesting season mostly due to off-field things happening. They ended up having a fall guy for the cheating scandal and it seems like as of now that is all behind them. The team has overcome pretty much any obstacle they've had to face this season with Jim Harbaugh being on the sideline and then not. The team isn't very complex in terms of what they do. They want to turn and hand the ball off to their running backs and let the offensive line do the work. It has been extremely successful this season. I personally don't think that Michigan played a very tough schedule this year. Sure, Penn State is a good team, and Ohio State is always tough, but that's about it. Now they have to face Alabama with Saban getting extra time to prepare for the game. If Alabama slows down the run game, I'm not confident that JJ McCarthy, the Wolverines quarterback, will be able to attack the Alabama secondary. They aren't as good as they've been in previous years, but I also don't think McCarthy is that good of a quarterback.

Last year Michigan had a good defense as well, but they were absolutely torched by TCU in the College Football Playoffs, giving up 51 points. I have to imagine they will have a better effort in this one against an Alabama offense that has improved but isn't perfect by any means. It is hard to pick against Saban with extra time to prepare. I also think Alabama has played a tougher schedule this season. I'm going to back Alabama to win this game.

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