College Football Playoff: Longhorns fall, Wildcats rise in New Year’s Six projections

Capital One Orange Bowl – Alabama Crimson Tide vs Michigan Wolverines

If you like defensive battles, then you’re going to love this matchup.

The Alabama Crimson Tide take on the LSU Tigers this Saturday, and now we can see just how good the Crimson Tide really are. They’ve dominated teams in all three phases of the game, but the LSU Tigers are the real deal. Alabama is favored by 14 points but this game should be much closer than a double-digit victory. If the Tide were to win by 14 or more points, we might as well cancel the rest of the season. Can the Tide continue their dominance or will the Tigers take control of the SEC West?

The Michigan Wolverines had a bye week in Week 9, but are now preparing for a home game against the Penn State Nittany Lions. This game should be low scoring, as Michigan’s defense is one of the best in the country and while the Penn State defense hasn’t been great all season, they’ve played well enough to show they can slow down Michigan’s offense. The past two meetings between these two haven’t been close but this year will be different. A loss for Michigan doesn’t rule out a NY6 bowl game but does put their playoff chances in jeopardy.