Michigan vs. Washington picks, predictions: College football national title odds, lines

The unstoppable force meets the immovable object with everything on the line as Michigan and its No. 2 ranked passing defense lines up against Washington and its No. 1 ranked passing attack in the College Football Playoff national championship game.

Big Ten champion Michigan overpowered SEC champion Alabama in a thrilling overtime Rose Bowl victory after a landmark goal line stand on defense, while Pac-12 champion Washington edged out Texas in the Sugar Bowl semifinal.

What can we make of the matchup? For that, let's turn to the College Football Power Index, a computer prediction model devised by ESPN analysts. FPI uses data points from both teams to simulate games 20,000 times and pick winners.

Michigan vs. Washington picks, predictions

Michigan odds: The big favorites on the index, Michigan comes out as the winner in 74.3 percent of its simulations, or 14,860 of its projections.

Washington odds: That leaves the Huskies as the projected winner in the remaining 25.7 percent of sims, or 5,140 of the index's predictions.

Point spread: Michigan enters the CFP national title game as 4 point favorites against Washington, according to the lines at SI Sportsbook.

Total: 54.5 points (Over -120, Under Even)

Moneyline: Michigan -195, Washington +165

Score prediction: Taking each team's scoring margin into account, the index predicts that Michigan will defeat Washington by 9.8 points, enough to cover the spread.