After a raucous Rose Bowl and a Sugar Bowl so sweet it could make your teeth rot, the College Football Playoff national championship game is set.
The game features two teams who combined to go 28-0 this season and will each play in the Big Ten Conference next season.
And they did it in a year when Georgia was looking to become the first team since World War II to win three straight national titles as the crown jewel of a dominant SEC.
And now the SEC will find out for the first time in nearly a decade what it’s like to watch this game from a couch.
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No. 1 Michigan, undefeated champion of the Big Ten, will square off against No. 2 Washington on Monday in Houston.
From the matchup to how each team got here, from details on each team, plenty of pregame reading and so much more, here is everything to know about the College Football Playoff championship game.
MATCHUP
National championship game: No. 2 Washington vs. No. 1 Michigan
Where: NRG Stadium, Houston
When: Monday, 7:30 p.m. ET
Odds: Michigan by 4.5 (as of Saturday evening ET)
NO. 1 MICHIGAN (14-0)
Michigan’s win against No. 4 Alabama not only earned the Wolverines their first CFP semifinal win in three opportunities but put a stop to the SEC’s decade of dominance.
Until New Year’s Day 2024, the SEC had played in eight consecutive national championship games, winning four.
And the Wolverines did it with defense. With six sacks, they put Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe in the brown paper bag twice more than Georgia did in the SEC title game. They also allowed just 283 yards and held the Tide to 3-for-13 on third downs, and 0-for-1 on fourth-and-goal to win the game.
The Tide trailing Michigan 13-10 at half felt unimportant. The Tide fell behind Tennessee 20-7 at the half and trailed Auburn at the half. In each game, Bama came back to win. And despite becoming the first team to lead Michigan in the second half all year, Bama could not come back to beat Michigan in overtime.
The best Michigan team we’ve seen since 1997 is on its way to the national title game.
Rose Bowl: J.J. McCarthy, Michigan outlast Alabama in OT
The Coach: Jim Harbaugh
Three years ago, the Wolverines went 2-4 and Harbaugh looked like he might be on his way out of Ann Arbor. What ensued was one of the best turnarounds we’ve seen in the sport, with three Big Ten titles, three trips to the College Football Playoff, the program’s first win in a CFP semifinal, a 14-0 record, and the right to be called the home team as the No. 1-ranked team in the CFP national title game.
For Harbaugh, his legacy continues to grow. He took San Diego to its first Pioneer Football League title, Stanford to its first BCS win, the San Francisco 49ers to a Super Bowl appearance in 2012 — and now Michigan to its first appearance in the national title game this century.
[Why Michigan’s Rose Bowl victory was the quintessential Jim Harbaugh game]
Who to watch on offense
Blake Corum showed himself to be the best player the Wolverines boast with 83 rushing yards and a TD run in overtime that personified the 2023 team — slashing, gashing, a force that will not be stopped.
With his TD, he set the school record for career rushing TDs in a career and solidified his place in history as one of the best backs the Wolverines have ever fielded.
The Wolverines are 31-0 when Corum scores a rushing TD, which came on Michigan’s last offensive play of the game.
Despite trailing in the second half for the first time all year, quarterback J.J. McCarthy led the Wolverines to a comeback win with 221 passing yards and three TDs — his first passing game with more than 150 yards and two passing TDs since Michigan’s win against Michigan State on Oct. 21.
Who to watch on defense
The Michigan secondary, led by nickel corner Mike Sainristil, held Alabama to just 116 passing yards in its Rose Bowl win — allowing just five pass yards per attempt, while the Michigan front seven sacked quarterback Milroe six times — five of those in the first half.
NO. 2 WASHINGTON (14-0)
Like the Wolverines, the Huskies have reached 14-0 for the first time in school history, won their first College Football Playoff semifinal game in school history, and will play for a national title for the first time since finishing No. 1 in the Coaches Poll following the 1991 season. This after beating Texas in a wild Sugar Bowl on Monday night.
Sugar Bowl: Michael Penix Jr. and No. 2 Washington hold off No. 3 Texas
The Coach: Kalen DeBoer
All he does is win.
Washington is 11-1 in one-score games and 10-0 against ranked ones under DeBoer. He’s also …
- 14-0 this year
- 25-2 in two seasons at Washington
- 104-11 for his career
- The owner of four undefeated seasons, and three national championships at NAIA Sioux Falls
Alongside Georgia coach Kirby Smart and Harbaugh, he’s one of the three best coaches in the sport over the last two years.
Who to watch on offense
Michael Penix Jr., vindicated those who thought he should’ve won the Heisman Trophy with a signature performance against Texas’ defense. He completed 29 of 38 passes for 430 yards with two TDs and zero INTs.
What’s more? He completed at least five passes to four pass catchers in the Sugar Bowl win.
The health of running back Dillon Johnson will be important to monitor. He left the game late with a lower leg injury. Though he rushed for just 47 yards in the Sugar Bowl, he rushed for more than 1,100 this season and became an important weapon in the Washington arsenal, especially in the second half of the season.
Who to watch on defense
A Washington defense that is built on bending but never breaking did just that against Texas. It will have to do just that against the Wolverines if it expects to win.
But if the Dawgs defense can keep the game to one possession, Penix can win it for them.
THE PICKS: WHO WINS THE GAME AND WHY?
We asked our staff to predict which team would win the big game. Below are some brief excerpts, but you can SEE ALL THE PREDICTIONS HERE.
“Given time to throw, Penix has shown he’s good enough to make any defense pay. His receiver corps has more hits than Cash Money Records. Rome Odunze, Jalen McMillan and Ja’Lynn Polk are Big Tymers ready to compete on the sport’s biggest stage.” — RJ Young
“While Michigan — Washington’s future Big Ten conference foe — will pose a larger threat overall [than Texas], Penix and his army of talented wideouts won’t be phased. Neither will its offensive line, which is the best in football and plans to out-muscle Michigan’s DL like it did to Texas in the Sugar Bowl.” — Laken Litman
“Based on the way [Michigan defensive coordinator Jesse] Minter has torn through his toughest challenges this season — it’s hard to bet against him coming up with a plan for Penix, too. He’s in a groove right now as one of the best defensive coordinators in college football. And he’ll find a way to shore up the secondary even if the pass rushers can’t get home. Michigan will win its first national title since 1997 and its first outright championship since 1948.” — Michael Cohen
“I’ll go with a poetic ending to Pac-12 football as we know it, turning out the lights on the conference of champions by having the Huskies edge their future league rivals in yet another classic title game. I have little confidence in just such a prediction knowing fully what the Wolverines are capable of … but Washington has that it factor that tends to show up in games like this.” — Bryan Fischer
- The pick: Washington (three votes)
PREGAME READING
- Jim Harbaugh did everything he could to avoid talking about the NFL during media day on Saturday, but he did take some time to advocate for player revenue sharing.
- All the numbers to know: This will be the fifth matchup of 14-0 teams in the national title game in the 10-year history of the CFP, but there is so much more to know about this game. Let’s dive into the data.
- Hall of Famer Warren Moon is a Washington legend who struggled to gain recognition for his talents as a young Black quarterback. He shared memories about his journey and what he sees in current UW quarterback Michael Penix Jr.
- Washington’s Penix and Michigan’s J.J. McCarthy are very different quarterbacks, but both have qualities that make them possible first-round picks in the NFL Draft. We break them down.
- Washington’s offensive line against Michigan’s big men on the defensive side? That’s only one of the big matchups to watch in the title game.
- We rank the top 20 players in the CFP title game, and you might find some surprises on the list.
- Blake Corum is Michigan’s most valuable player – and leader. Don’t believe it? Check out what his teammates and coaches have to say.
RJ Young is a national college football writer and analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast “The Number One College Football Show.” Follow him on Twitter at @RJ_Young and subscribe to “The RJ Young Show” on YouTube.
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