ESPN Writer Predicts Orange Bowl Outcome
At the end of the month, Michigan is participating in the College Football Playoff.
That sentence is still music to maize and blue ears and will be until kickoff. Of course, the No. 2 Wolverines will have their work cut out for them against the No. 3 Georgia Bulldogs, but you better not count out the Wolverines. Georgia is favored by seven points, but there are plenty of folks who think the Wolverines can advance to the national championship game.
ESPN senior write Adam Rittenberg broke down all 44 bowl games and his prediction for the Orange Bowl should make Michigan fans pretty darn happy.
Jim Harbaugh's mission to build Michigan into a team that would truly reflect his personality took longer than expected, but it has happened. The Wolverines will make their CFP debut against a team that largely resembles them. Like Michigan with Aidan Hutchinson and David Ojabo, Georgia boasts elite defensive linemen such as Jordan Davis. Both teams are built around multiple rushing options, talented tight end play and unheralded but effective quarterbacks in Cade McNamara (Michigan) and Stetson Bennett IV (Georgia). Will Georgia consider a QB change after Bennett's struggles in the SEC title game? Coach Kirby Smart must guard against an Alabama hangover, or Georgia's four-decades-long national title drought will add another painful year. Michigan played its best football down the stretch and will outlast Georgia in a defensive struggle behind two Hutchinson-forced turnovers.
Prediction: Michigan 24, Georgia 21
Whoa. That's an ESPN talking head picking Michigan over an SEC darling. That's noteworthy, and it's also completely reasonable and possible. Michigan is solid, disciplined, smart and plays complementary football in all three phases. The Wolverines are a damn good football team. That's why they're No. 2 in the country, in the playoff and completely alive even against the "vaunted" Bulldogs.
Do it or die trying.
