The prediction is that of the two College Football Playoff semifinals, the Rose Bowl will be the closer.

With ten days remaining before the No. 1 vs. No. 4 clash, the Michigan Wolverines are only a small favorite against the Alabama Crimson Tide.

Even though Jim Harbaugh was out for a few games during the 2023 college football season, Michigan was the superior team the entire time and finished with a perfect record.

Late in the season, Alabama reached its zenith and utilized an SEC Championship Game victory against Georgia, the team ranked #1 at the time, to guarantee a spot in the playoffs.

Nick Saban knows exactly how to prepare his team for a high-profile clash, like the Rose Bowl, and he does not seem to be concerned about anything Michigan was accused of in its sign-stealing scandal.

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Spread: Michigan (-1.5)

Over/Under: 44.5

Money Line: Michigan (-122; bet $122 to win $100), Alabama (+102; bet $100 to win $102)the W

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Of course, in the lead-up to the Rose Bowl, Saban was questioned about the Michigan sign-stealing incident.

The longtime head coach of Alabama didn’t appear to be worried about any of the allegations made against the Wolverines going into the game on New Year’s Day.

“Not really,” Saban stated, according to On3.We constantly make a few minor adjustments. Our attention is on the necessary steps to attempt to achieve good execution. Nothing about any of that really worries us.”

Saban continued his discussion regarding helmet communication in college football as a way to prevent future scandals similar to the one that Michigan was involved in for the entire season.

“I do think the helmet communicator is probably a real powerful thing for the game,” Saban said back in October. “Everybody should — you can’t steal signs or do any of this stuff if you have a helmet communicator and I think it’s, I think it would be a good thing.

“It’s worked out well in the NFL and I also think it’s good to have one guy on defense that you could tell that guy what the call is without having to go through all this signaling process.”

Saban himself stirred up a bit of drama when he brought on former Michigan linebackers coach George Helow to his staff to help prepare for the Rose Bowl.

Wolverines linebacker Junior Colson does not think that will make too much of a difference on the field, though, per Wolverines Wire.

“You can’t really have an advantage in football,” Colson said. “It doesn’t matter if you know somebody’s whole playbook, you’ve still gotta stop it. So you can’t really have an advantage in football. You’ve gotta go out there, play ball, and let the dice roll how it rolls.”

Regardless of who is on which staff at the Rose Bowl, Michigan needs a strong performance out of quarterback J.J. McCarthy.

A handful of anonymous Big Ten coaches offered insight to The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman on what McCarthy has to do to be successful against Alabama.

“I do think J.J. is very talented,” said one of the head coaches. “If he’s healthy, they’re gonna have to let him run more. When you can run like that, it puts so much pressure on your defense.”

One Big Ten defensive coordinator stated, “The unscripted scrambles are the biggest thing he adds.” “If everything’s covered, he can get the first down and move the chains for them.”

While McCarthy’s throwing statistics may not be as impressive as those of the other three quarterbacks in the playoffs, his playoff experience may be crucial in helping Michigan win.

Behind Blake Corum, the Wolverines will stick to their run-first game plan, which should keep Jalen Milroe and the Alabama offense off the field and maybe open up a big scoring window for the team rated highest in the CFB Playoff rankings.