The College Football Playoff is officially set, with the CFP committee making its decision on the four best teams in the country on Sunday.
The No. 1 Michigan Wolverines will face off against the No. 4 Alabama Crimson Tide. And the No. 2 Washington Huskies will play the No. 3 Texas Longhorns.
With this in mind, there are four possibilities as to who will face off in the National Championship next month. Here are my subjective rankings on which of the four possibilities will be the most entertaining for viewers watching at home.
4. Michigan vs Washington
I will repeat that this is entirely subjective. Every fan enjoys different styles of football. But those looking for a ton of offensive firepower likely won’t see much if this is the National Championship game.
Washington would obviously love to let star quarterback Michael Penix Jr. air the ball out in this matchup. But they may have an incredibly hard time doing that considering Michigan’s defense allows the second-least passing yards in the country behind only Ohio State.
I could see a defense as good as Michigan shutting down an offense like Washington, which is a bit more one-dimensional than any other team in the College Football Playoff.
Michigan’s offense on the other hand can look shaky at times, and Washington could find an answer on defense as well to make this a defensive slog.
If you are a fan of defensive battles, this could be the game for you. But the majority of fans watching at home will likely see this as the least intriguing matchup out of the four possibilities.
3. Michigan vs Texas
This matchup features two blue-blood programs in college football that perhaps match up a little better considering Texas’ offense as a whole seems to be a bit more well-rounded than Washington’s.
The Longhorns’ offense ranks inside the top 25 in both passing and rushing yards on the season, giving Michigan’s defense a bit more to worry about in this potential matchup.
This will likely bring the best out of Michigan’s offense on the other side against a Texas defense that can be susceptible to the passing game.
2. Alabama vs Washington
The SEC has long been thought of as the premier conference in college football. So it would certainly be interesting to see how a Pac-12 team like Washington would fare against an Alabama team looking to regain its claim of being the best college football program in the country.
Similarly to Michigan, Alabama’s main goal in this contest would be to shut down the elite passing game of Washington. And they may have a tougher time doing so than a team like Michigan, likely creating a more action-packed game.
If this matchup happens, it will be a true “David vs Goliath” matchup where Washington will need to show that they can match the physicality and resilience that a program like Alabama always brings to the table. And everyone can get behind a good underdog story.
1. Alabama vs Texas
It is a matchup that we have already seen this season, as Texas was able to give Alabama its lone loss of the year all the way back in Week 2 of the regular season.
This creates countless storylines that I believe make this game the most intriguing National Championship possibility.
Has Alabama improved enough as a team to get its revenge against Texas on the grandest stage of them all? Will Texas prove that the Week 2 victory wasn’t a fluke?
It’s also an intriguing matchup because Texas will be joining Alabama in the SEC next season. A win against Alabama in this matchup would be a pretty huge statement that they will be a force in the conference for years to come.
These two teams are certainly two of the biggest-name schools in the entire country with some of the most passionate fans in the sport. Simply put, a matchup between Alabama and Texas would make for perhaps the most viewed National Championship game in quite some time.
