ALABAMA - The 10th and final four-team College Football Playoff will come to an end on Monday when the Michigan Wolverines and the Washington Huskies decide the 2023 champion.
Houston, Texas, will be this year's venue, with the game set to kick off at 6:30 PM CT. According to ESPN BET, Michigan enters the game as a 5-point favorite over the Huskies (-5.5, O/U 56.5).
The stage is set.#CFBPlayoff pic.twitter.com/YZxdhoE64w
— College Football Playoff (@CFBPlayoff) January 8, 2024
Since replacing the BCS National Championship game in 2014, five different teams have been able to lift the 24k gold College Football Playoff National Championship Trophy, with the Alabama Crimson Tide being the team to win the most CFP titles with three (2015, 2017, 2020).
Starting next year, the CFP will expand from four to 12 teams, allowing the six highest-ranked conference champions an automatic bid to the postseason. The top four teams will recieve a first-round bye to the quarterfinals while the other six teams will fight for a place in the next round.
Michigan and Washington will put their undefeated record on the line, both with a chance to become just the 4th team in the history of college football to go 15-0 in a single season, joining last year's Georgia team, the 2019 LSU Tigers and the 2018 Clemson Tigers.
This is the 14th time both schools face each other, with four of the previous meetings also being in a major bowl. The Wolverines lead the head-to-head against the Huskies with a 8-5 record.
For Washington, this game will be a farewell as a Pac-12 member, with the conference suffering a huge realignment after 10 of its members switched conferences, including the Huskies, who had been members of the Pacific Coast Conference since its inception back in 1915. Starting next season, Washington will compete as a member of the Big Ten Conference.
Out of the traditional Power 5 conferences entering the 2023 season, the Big 12 and Pac-12 are the only ones to not win a CFP title, with Oregon being the only other Pac-12 representative besides the University of Washington, losing to Ohio State in the inaugural 2014 edition.
The Wolverines reached their first CFP National Championship game after two straight seasons of being eliminated in the semifinals. Michigan, one of the most storied programs in college football, has not won a national championship since 1997. Led by RB Blake Corum, the Wolverines will hope to claim the 12th national championship in program history. They have a pretty good shot this year, with a defense that has been excellent the entire season, allowing only 9.5 points per game (ranks 1st in FBS).
To counter Michigan's defensive prowess, Washington will hope their brilliant offense can deliver the first national championship to Seattle since 1992, when the Huskies defeated No. Michigan at the Rose Bowl 34-14, to wrap up a 12-0 season and a share of the national championship. Heisman finalist, QB Michael Penix Jr., will be the Huskies' best weapon. The QB ranks 1st in all FBS in passing yards per game, 3rd in Pass TD's and 5th in total offense.
Out of the two teams, only one person of Latino descent will be involved in this year's CFP National Championship game. Juan Rodriguez, an Offensive Graduate Assistant for the University of Washington, will be involved in the sidelines. Rodriguez joined the Huskies' coaching staff entering the 2023 campaign.
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