Soon, No. 1-ranked Michigan football and the No. 4-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide will square off in a massive Rose Bowl matchup, which will pit the two blue-blood programs against one another for a spot in this season’s national title game. Leading up to the matchup, ESPN writer Adam Rittenberg projected the winner of the Rose Bowl — here is who the famed network is favoring right now.
Michigan football to face Alabama Crimson Tide in Rose Bowl (CFP) bout
Many Michigan football fans are not too happy with ESPN right now, and perhaps rightfully so after the famed sports network spent the last few months bashing Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines non-stop amid the infamous sign-stealing scandal.
Regardless, the Wolverines managed to win out — even without Connor Stalions (and often Jim Harbaugh, for that matter) — earning another Big Ten title and College Football Playoff berth along the way.
ESPN writer Adam Rittenberg picks Bama to down the Wolverines
Now, with the Maize and Blue contending for a national title berth — which would be Michigan’s first title game appearance in program history — ESPN is still not too high on what Harbaugh’s Wolverines bring to the table. According to Adam Rittenberg, a top college football writer for ESPN, Alabama should win the Rose Bowl — he picked the Crimson Tide to defeat Michigan 31-23 in a December 26 editorial.
Of course, much of the national money is on Alabama to win the Rose Bowl as well, though Las Vegas (and the ESPN Football Power Index) remains steadfast in favoring Michigan football to win its first bowl game since Jim Harbaugh’s first season as head coach for the Wolverines, which came back on January 1, 2016.
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