Alabama vs. Michigan: College Football Playoff Rose Bowl prediction, pick

The first leg of the final four-team College Football Playoff national semifinal brings us a classic Big Ten vs. SEC matchup between the school that has the most wins in history and the program that has dominated the 21st century like no other, as No. 1 Michigan squares off against No. 4 Alabama in the 2024 Rose Bowl semifinal game.

• Michigan: Wolverines went 13-0 despite coach Jim Harbaugh being out for 6 games over two different suspensions, winning a 3rd straight Big Ten championship
• Alabama: Despite losing to Texas early and seemingly falling out of the playoff picture, the Crimson Tide rallied to beat Georgia and win the SEC title

Alabama vs. Michigan prediction, preview

When: Mon., Jan. 1
Time: 5 p.m. Eastern
TV: ESPN network
. Of those, 25 are touchdowns. Michigan is 3rd nationally in red zone defense, allowing opponents to score 71 percent of the time, 9 of the 15 scores being touchdowns.

Michigan vs. Alabama prediction

It sounds almost too easy to just say that SEC speed wins these non-conference games, but it's a formula that has played itself out repeatedly in recent postseasons. 

Michigan will challenge the Tide's receivers on the perimeter and its front seven will win battles against an Alabama protection unit that has floundered at times, while Wolverines back Blake Corum tests a run-stop that struggled somewhat against higher-quality backs like Ole Miss' Quinshon Judkins and Texas' Jonathon Brooks.

Both these defenses are great on paper, and if anything Michigan has the advantage in theory, but take into consideration that over the course of Big Ten play, it hasn't faced an opponent that will have the size and speed that Alabama presents. Talent wins out, and that edge, as always, belongs to the Tide.

College Football HQ picks...

• Alabama wins 27-20
• In an upset
• And hits the over