Just a Minute: Should Michigan be favored over Alabama in the Rose Bowl?
The Wolverines are currently a 1.5-point favorite over the Crimson Tide, but will it stay that way?
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00:00 Welcome into Baylor Central's Just a Minute.
00:02 Alongside Austin Haynett, I'm Katie Windham.
00:04 And Austin, this is the first time we've gotten to talk on here
00:06 since Alabama made the college football playoff.
00:10 There was a lot of tension over the weekend of would Alabama get in,
00:13 would they be the first SEC champion to get left out?
00:16 Obviously, they got that fourth seed,
00:17 which means they will face number one Michigan in the Rose Bowl.
00:21 And normally when number one's playing number four, they're favored.
00:24 Normally number one is favored in any game.
00:27 The opening line was around two and a half, I think.
00:29 It's already dropped down to one and a half.
00:31 Do you think Michigan should be favored over Alabama?
00:35 Do you think they will stay as the favorite over Alabama
00:37 once this game rolls around on January 1st?
00:41 Yeah, these postseason cross conference games, I think, for Vegas
00:44 are kind of hard to predict because you don't really know
00:48 how these teams face off with each other
00:49 because they haven't seen really any common opponents.
00:52 There's really no – you know, it's just a weird thing to set a line on.
00:55 And I think they gave the benefit of the doubt to Michigan
00:57 because they're number one.
00:59 And they've been pretty impressive all year.
01:01 They've got a couple good wins.
01:02 And, you know, Alabama's had some struggles at times.
01:04 But, yeah, to answer your question,
01:06 I think this is something we will see change.
01:08 It's already changing a little bit.
01:10 But I think the more people see it by January 1st and say,
01:13 "Whoa, Alabama's an underdog against Michigan."
01:15 I think I've kind of seen this play out before.
01:17 We've seen Georgia play Michigan over the years.
01:19 We saw, obviously, not really any impact on this game,
01:22 but Alabama did beat Michigan pretty handedly in the second half
01:25 of that Citrus Bowl back in 2019.
01:28 So, like, we've seen Michigan go against these SEC opponents,
01:30 these top teams.
01:32 And I think most people would kind of agree
01:33 that you'd probably favor Alabama and Georgia
01:35 over just about anybody in the country
01:36 at this point in the season.
01:37 So I do expect that to change.
01:39 I don't know how far it'll change
01:41 because I still think Michigan deserves a lot of respect.
01:43 And I think they will get a lot of respect from Vegas
01:46 and from people that are analyzing this game
01:48 just because they do have a great team.
01:49 And it will be a tall task for Alabama.
01:51 But, yes, I think that by the end of this, by 2024,
01:55 January 1st, when that game kicks off,
01:57 Alabama probably will be favored in this game.
02:00 Yeah, it's tough because, in some respects,
02:02 Michigan is number one.
02:03 So it's almost like they've earned that respect.
02:06 But it's also interesting as we've gotten a little more
02:08 removed from the selection show on Sunday
02:10 because, obviously, most of the drama
02:11 was surrounding Florida State, Alabama at 4-5,
02:13 and the committee chairmen did say it came down
02:15 to those two for the last spot.
02:17 But, really, you can look at, you know,
02:18 why isn't Michigan ranked first?
02:20 They've been watching and have the same record.
02:22 And Washington had a much tougher schedule.
02:24 I was listening to the radio yesterday.
02:26 And I think, basically, like,
02:28 Michigan does have a good defense.
02:29 It statistically is one of the best defenses in the country.
02:32 But I think they faced, like, six teams --
02:35 basically, like, half their schedules
02:37 was teams whose offense was ranked,
02:39 like, below 100 in total offense.
02:42 Like, because the big ten,
02:43 there's just a lot of bad offensive teams.
02:45 So, you know, Michigan has not faced an offense
02:50 like Alabama has, really, yet.
02:52 Obviously, they've played Ohio State,
02:54 and this is loaded with talent.
02:55 But it's going to be a good matchup.
02:58 It's going to be a tough matchup.
03:00 That's what you want in semifinal games,
03:02 even though that has not always been the case.
03:05 But we'll have lots of Rose Bowl content
03:08 coming in the following weeks.
03:11 And then, of course, the week leading up to the game
03:12 will both be out in Pasadena.
03:15 But then I'll wrap up today's "Just a Minute."
03:16 Thank you so much for watching.
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