I believe the winner of this game will go on to win the national championship. Michigan is experienced and physical, and I love their 'Michigan vs. The World' mentality. BUT, the Wolverines haven't played a team with Alabama's talent and speed, and Jalen Milroe is a game-changer for me. I like the Tide to win with a final score around 27-24.

Both teams here have elite defenses, but I still have this game going comfortably over 45.5 points. I think Jalen Milroe is going to be a problem for Michigan's defense with his running ability, and on the other side I expect Blake Corum to have some success against Alabama's front. I expect this game to get into the 50's.

Jim Harbaugh has not been good in bowl games, his team has not been the same post controversy, and they will be without the heart and soul of the offensive line. PLUS, they cannot replicate the speed and strength of the Ala QB. (Which is why my BEST PLAY on the game is Bama over 21.5 team total). But I’ll also take Bama straight up at plus money

Boy do I despise both these programs -- too bad they aren't playing in the Oppenheimer test zone. Yet I'd gladly take either head coach in Chicago. Really hard to bet against Nick Saban when he has all this time to prepare, and what have we seen from Michigan in the past two national semifinals that would indicate something different this time around? UM also lost arguably its top run-blocking offensive lineman, right guard Zak Zinter, to a season-ending injury in the regular-season finale. QB JJ McCarthy has done very little offensively himself in the past four games, but the Wolverines didn't need him to do much with their strong run game. They aren't likely to be as successful on the ground against Bama.

It's always tough to get a handle on how teams will come out and play after bowl practices, but one constant over the latter half of the season was Alabama hunkering down and improving most weeks. This is a huge step up in competition for a Michigan team that coasted through an easy Big Ten schedule with its lone test coming at home to Ohio State. The Crimson Tide enter on a 5-1 ATS run. Nick Saban is 6-0 in the College Football Playoff semifinals, while Jim Harbaugh is 0-2. The fact that we're getting nearly an entire FG here is icing on the cake.

Alabama has proven better than the rating offered covering the spread in eight of their last 10 games. They kind of slid under the radar as opposed to much more scrutinized past Alabama teams. The Jalen Milroe benching after the Texas loss and then winning his next 10 starts is an incredible story as is his fourth-and-31 against Auburn with 32 seconds to go. But Michigan’s power defense will give Milroe trouble. Michigan was No. 2 in the nation allowing 239 ypg and No. 1 allowing only 9.5 ppg. Michigan QB J.J. McCarthy is 25-1 as a starter. He's a machine. Coach Jim Harbaugh has his guys believing that it's them against the world. I’m on Michigan to cover.

I don't care about the narratives surrounding this game. These are two evenly-matched teams, but there's one player I believe will make the difference. As great as Michigan's defense has been, it hasn't faced a QB as dynamic as Alabama's Jalen Milroe. Right now, I trust Milroe to make a big play against the Michigan defense more than I trust JJ McCarthy to make one against Alabama's.

I think Michigan's offense has several challenges against Alabama's defense that will end up being the difference in this game. The offensive line has been reshuffled after Zak Zinter's injury and the Michigan wide receivers have not faced a secondary as talented as the one deployed by Nick Saban and the Crimson Tide defense. In a game that I do think will be close and decided at the margins, the struggle to create explosive plays with those two disadvantages will break the game in the direction of Alabama.

Only one playoff semifinal game has carried a smaller total this this. The modest number is understandable, given Michigan's shutdown defense, but coaches tend to open up their offenses with the stakes so high. Last year, the two semis (which included Michigan) generated 177 points. Offenses seem to relish playing in the Rose Bowl. In the last nine, one game (with Alabama) produced 45 points while the rest landed between 51 and 93 -- with three in the 90s.

I'm not a believer in the teams Michigan has beaten this season. Ohio State was the best of the bunch, but Alabama is far more battle-tested than Michigan and is coming off a win over arguably the most talented team in the country in Georgia. The Wolverines's defense, which has built its reputation on stopping offensively challenged teams, also hasn't seen a dual-threat quarterback like the Tide's Jalen Milroe. His running ability will force Michigan to devote a defender to spy or risk giving up chunk yardage on scrambles and designed QB runs. Milroe will be the difference in Alabama winning the Rose Bowl.

My simulations indicate a total of 51, while the SportsLine model predicts it to be as high as 53. Both teams exhibit strong offensive ratings and shouldn't encounter much difficulty moving the ball. On the Bama side, I believe there is significant potential for explosive plays down the field, thanks to Milroe's dual-threat ability. Although Michigan might be the better team overall, the defensive metrics appear to be somewhat inflated due to the quality of the opponents they faced. I'm on the Over at 0.5u to start the game.

As the case vs. Georgia in the SEC title game four weeks ago, it appears as if a loss to Texas is still counting against the Crimson Tide, which won the rest of its games as it swept thru the SEC and, as noted, dispatched the top-ranked Bulldogs on December 2. Jalen Milroe's improvement at QB has made him an early contender for next year's Heisman, and Bama is nothing if not battle-tested after a season's worth of SEC wars. Michigan's credentials have been a bit overblown after facing a watered-down schedule, so the Wolverines' lofty defensive stats don't mean more than either of the past two years vs. Georgia (scored 34) and TCU (scored 51) in playoff losses. Play Bama (Rose Bowl)

Give me the SEC team. It is almost as simple as that, the SEC has dominated all other conferences for years. Alabama comes in playing th-eir best football of the season with 11 straight wins and a ATS record of 8-3. Michigan is 13-0 with a 7-2 ATS record over their last nine games. The number one stat that back me is strength of schedule. Alabama was #1 while Michigan played the 60th SOS. Milroe and the Tide roll.

The wrong team is favored here … in a very big way. Never doubt Alabama coach Nick Saban with a month to prepare, especially given that he can finally fine-tune the offense to fit quarterback Jalen Milroe’s strengths after adjusting on the fly during the season. Milroe presents unique challenges to the Michigan defense due to his arm and his vision as a runner – something that he has steadily improved upon during the season. This will be an upset … and a blowout.

One coach is 0-6 in his last six bowl games, while the other has won six straight CFP semifinals. Alabama really has no business being here except for the 4th and 31 prayer against Auburn. Michigan's victory over Ohio State was nice, but their schedule was so pathetic that we don't really know how good they are. I would've picked the Wolverines over Washington or Texas, but I don't trust them against the SEC's best (sorry Georgia). Alabama 20, Michigan 17.

No trends are telling you to take Michigan, but sometimes it's not about the trends. The Wolverines are the best team in the country with the best team in the country. The Crimson Tide haven't had to play a low-scoring, grind-it-out kind of game this season. The Wolverines defense will make the stops that Georgia wasn't able to in the SEC Championship. Expect Blake Corum to run wild as Michigan moves on to the Championship.