The No. 1 Michigan Wolverines and No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide are about to face off in the Rose Bowl on January 1, and while Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh and his team remain ready for anything, Harbaugh is clearly aware of the level of competition that he is about to face. Today, after the Disney Welcome Event in Los Angeles, Harbaugh had a chance to speak about Michigan’s prep for Bama and more just days before the College Football Playoff semi-final games are played.
Michigan football coach Jim Harbaugh could lead U-M to first Rose Bowl win in nearly 30 years
After nine years with Michigan football, Jim Harbaugh and his Wolverines are finally back to the top of college football — the Wolverines have appeared in two straight College Football Playoffs, won three Big Ten title games, and are about to appear in yet another four-team CFP field.
With a date against one of the best programs, with one of the best coaches, in college football just a few days out, Jim Harbaugh and Michigan football are training hard in hopes of winning the program’s first-ever College Football Playoff game, simultaneously earning a Rose Bowl title for the first time since 1997 along the way.
Harbaugh says Alabama could run Michigan out of the building, but thinks the Wolverines can do the same
That said, Harbaugh knows that Nick Saban and Alabama football are nothing to be taken lightly; in fact, Harbaugh said today that Bama is capable of running Michigan football out of the building.
“It’s one of those kinds of games; I’ve been studying Alabama and they’re really good,” the Michigan football coach said Wednesday. “So good they could clear run us out of the stadium. And we’re good, too. We’ve got the ability to do the same to them.”
Jim Harbaugh predicts a close game
But which way does Jim Harbaugh think it will go? Well, he apparently does not see a blowout coming for either team; instead, he thinks the Rose Bowl could be “one heck of a football game.”
“The other possibility (for Michigan football vs. Alabama) is that it’s gonna be one heck of a football game, and that is the way I think it’s gonna go,” Jim Harbaugh said.
Despite the fact that most of the national money remains on Alabama to win the Rose Bowl, Michigan football is still favored according to Vegas’s odds and the Football Power Index. Only time will tell, but Jim Harbaugh seems to think the Rose Bowl is going to be a great game regardless, and we don’t really disagree one bit.
“It’s gonna take everybody,” Harbaugh said. “Same on defense — gonna take everybody to stop the potent attack of Alabama. Same for the special teams, I think that’s going to be a real battle in the kicking games.”
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