After last season's letdown of a National Championship game, we can only hope the New Year's semifinals last week were just a foreshadowing of things to come.
Both Washington and Michigan are very hungry football teams who have proven resilient all season, but only one can come out on top tonight. Only one will be crowned the National Champion, and if history proves itself, there should be an easy bet on who it will be.
The Washington Huskies are riding a 21-game winning streak behind their star quarterback and three NFL-caliber wideouts, while the Michigan Wolverines have not lost since their shocking defeat in last year's semifinal game. They have a star running back and a stout defense, and when you look at the Huskies and Wolverines from afar, they are polar opposites.
Photo via Reddit
That said, when you get down to the nitty gritty, you have to look at the historical aspect of this type of matchup. While this morning I felt a little voice in my head saying I should flip my choice to Washington, the realist in me cannot go against the betting favorites.
Washington has a stellar offense with a lot of weapons in their arsenal, but Michigan's defense is as good as they come. Michigan's defense is top-10 in virtually every defensive category the major sites want to point out, and after last year's National Championship thumping I'm sticking with the "defense wins championships" narrative.
Michigan also has arguably the best running back in the nation in Blake Corum going against a defense that gives up 4.4 yards per rush. Combine that with the Michigan assumingely wanting to send Jim Harbaugh off on a good note (if he returns to the NFL after the game), along with the emotional factor of wanting to finish the job for Dametrius Walker, and I think Michigan pulls out the win 27-20.
As long as Jack and Jackie Harbaugh switch seats at the right time, this is Michigan's game to lose.
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