This is also an area where LSU succeeded Do not get me wrong: Alabama is miles ahead of the Tigers defensively. However, I do suspect that poor SEC shooting inflated this stat for both teams, and given that the Wolverines are near the top of the country at Double-digit Power 6 teams are always dangerous, but there is no way to spin this other than a win if Michigan is fortunate enough to face UCLA instead of Alabama.
The Bruins sputtered down the stretch, losing six of their last 11 games heading into the NCAA Tournament, but will have earned their place in the Elite Eight by taking down No.
Unlike Alabama, the Bruins are very methodical and actually rank as one of the slowest teams in the country. They do not cough up many turnovers nor force steals themselves, so this one will come down to the halfcourt. This seems like a game where UCLA might have a tough time scoring, despite their good numbers. Though the Bruins are good from deep, they take very few threes just On the other side of the court, Michigan will just need to run its sets.
The Citrus Bowl has no obligation to select the best available Big Ten team. Instead, the bowl can decide based on TV ratings and ticket sales.
And a matchup between Michigan and Alabama, pitting Harbaugh against Nick Saban for the first time, might be too much to pass up. Of course, there's a chance Michigan could end up at a different bowl.
The Orange Bowl could then choose Penn State for an at-large bid. Either way, the most likely scenario seems to involve the Wolverines returning to the Citrus Bowl, where they hold a all-time record. Michigan most recently played in the bowl in , following Harbaugh's inaugural season. It kind of reminds me of the Ohio State game. There were a million reasons in that game why the Buckeyes really should have not cared about it.
I wasn't confident that Michigan would win, but on paper, Ohio State had already won the East and would be playing for a Big Ten title and would probably be in the playoff regardless of what happened.
Really the only incentive was beating a rival that hasn't been much of a rival for a long time. They still came into Ann Arbor and completely destroyed Michigan. That tells me, as far as Bama goes, sometimes those programs are just designed to beat you, even if they don't care about a game. I think if they win, it would be huge. Confidence wise, it would make you feel like you're not as far away from beating top teams as it seems because Alabama still is one of those top teams.
Does Michigan have the talent? Yeah, if they play their best game. If they play like they did against Notre Dame, they might be able to beat Alabama. If they play like they did against Wisconsin or Ohio State, then no. Part of that has been fueled by first-year offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who spent last season on the staff at Alabama as wide receivers coach. Saban himself has called this game, the first meeting between the two football programs since , an opportunity to get things back on track.
The 14th-ranked Wolverines , Big Ten , meanwhile, have a similar mindset. Michigan has been a program of consistency under Harbaugh, but not nearly to the level of Saban and Alabama. The Wolverines have not won the Big Ten championship since , nor played for a Big Ten title since, let alone qualified for the playoff.
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