Michigan Football: Your rooting guide for championship week
Mountain West Championship: Utah State vs. (19) San Diego State, Saturday, December 4th, 3:00 p.m. EST, Fox
Not really much to put here except former Michigan football coach Brady Hoke is the coach of San Diego State. He has them rolling right now as they are 11-1 overall.
This game obviously has no impact on Michigan or the college football playoff. This is one of two games that are appetizers for bigger games to come later in the day.
Personally, I’m not gonna pay too close attention to this game, although I want San Diego State to win just because Brady Hoke did formerly coach Michigan, even if he was unsuccessful most years here.
Sun Belt Championship: Appalachian State vs. (20) Louisiana, Saturday, December 4th, 3:30 p.m. EST, ESPN
Another football game that has no bearing or impact on Michigan football and the college football playoff as a whole. The last “appetizer” game before the most important and biggest games come on for the rest of the day.
Louisiana’s head coach Billy Napier will be taking over for the Florida Gators as soon as Louisiana’s season is over, so I wonder how motivated Louisiana’s players are to win this game. It seems the last few times that Appalachian State has made the title game, they’ve won it.
SEC Championship: (1) Georgia vs. (4) Alabama, Saturday December 4th, 4:00p.m. EST, CBS
This game is the one that Wolverines fans are gonna want to watch the most (besides our game, the Cincinnati game, and the Oklahoma State game of course). For one, this game should be close throughout, but two, Michigan needs to put on their Georgia hats and root the Bulldogs.
First of all, Michigan needs Georgia to beat Alabama. Alabama has made the playoffs so many times, it’s getting a little irritating to be honest. Obviously, if Alabama won, they’d probably slide up to the #1 spot, and Georgia would drop to #3 or #4.
We as college football fans don’t need two SEC schools to make the playoffs again. We could do without it. Michigan could do without it. Especially because Alabama is perennially in the playoff. We could do without them for another year.
The last reason why Michigan football should root for Georgia is because of the Heisman Trophy odds. Currently, Alabama QB Bryce Young is the favorite to win the Heisman, but if he has a bad game against the Bulldogs, then Aidan Hutchinson (who is currently third in Heisman odds) has a chance.
Ohio State QB C.J. Stroud is second in the Heisman odds. Although he still ended up with almost 400 passing yards and had two touchdowns, it still all ended in a loss to Michigan. He doesn’t play another game to boost his Heisman resume until the bowl game, which is not for another month, and the Heisman will already be decided long before that bowl game.
Obviously, no defensive player has won the Heisman since Charles Woodson in 1997, but that can change this year.
All Aidan Hutchinson needs is a chance. Georgia needs to shut down Bryce Young with their historically elite defense, and that could open the door for Aidan to swoop in and take the Heisman.
In a season as wide open as this one, with no player separating themselves from the pack in terms of the Heisman race, it would be refreshing to finally see a defensive player take home the highest award. Quarterbacks will always be more valued in the eyes of Heisman voters, but this year, that isn’t necessarily the case.
The Heisman goes to “the player that impacts their team and the game of football the most.” Defense is always harder to play than offense. It’s a fact.
Hutchinson has to go against the best offensive tackles and quarterbacks this game has to offer. And he’s dominated this season. That’s much more valuable than a quarterback that has all of these receivers to throw to that are always open for huge gains (aka Bryce Young and CJ Stroud).
Let’s hope at the very least Georgia does its job and wins. A shutdown of Bryce Young and Alabama’s offense would only be a cherry on top.
AAC Championship: (16) Houston vs. (3) Cincinnati, Saturday, December 4th, 4:00 p.m. EST, ABC
This game is very important as well. Cincinnati has looked really good for most of this season, albeit in a not-very-good conference.
Michigan fans will want to put their rooting hats on for Cincinnati to win this game. Right now, if the playoff started today, Michigan would be paired up with Cincinnati. That would be the easiest first-round matchup of the two first-round matchups for Michigan if they beat Iowa.
Houston is really good too, so I see this game being close. If Cincinnati wins, they are a lock for the college football playoff, and they would be the first non-Group of Five teams to make it to the playoff.