Two seed Alabama and three seed Michigan State will play in the second college football playoff game at eight pm in the cotton bowl. Alabama is still considered the gold standard for a college football program. Their boosters are bankrolling the highest spending university in football. They have had the number one ranking recruiting class four years in a row, so they have to be the most talented team. They have been ranked in the top two going into the last regular season game seven times in the last eight years.
This year Alabama is the only team to have a repeat appearance in the playoff and are trying to win yet another championship. Michigan State has won the rose bowl and the cotton bowl and only lost three games total. However, this is their first run of national championship contention in decades. As a result, they haven’t been taken seriously as a team that could actually win the championship by a lot of people. Their offense looked largely incompetent in the Big Ten championship game against the previously undefeated Iowa.
Michigan State’s offense has now become underrated. In their last regular season game they scored 55 points against the solid Penn State defense. Connor Cook is one of the best pocket passers in the country and will be one of the first quarterbacks drafted this year. Michigan State’s offensive line has been injured at times this season, but they are healthy now. Michigan State will be able to pass protect and run the ball very well against Alabama in this game. While the offense isn’t Michigan State’s strength it will play very well in this game, and it is certainly better than Alabama’s.
Alabama’s offense will struggle in this game, but that has happened a lot in the past two seasons. The Michigan State defense is one of the best in the country. They will certainly be able to stop Alabama. No one is able to completely stop Derrick Henry for an entire game, but he will at least be limited. It is unclear if either the Alabama offense or the Michigan State offense will actually be able to achieve consistent success in the game. Mostly likely both will struggle. Alabama’s loses in the last two postseasons both came against balanced teams in Ohio State and Oklahoma. Both of those teams had more offense firepower than Michigan State.
There certainly is a chance that Alabama could be taken down in the postseason again, but they have won three championships for a reason. Their offense can wear down opposing defenses and get better as the game goes on, and they have the most talented team in the country. Alabama is a clear favorite, but Michigan State is getting sold a little bit short.
