Michigan football bowl game vs. Alabama: Time, TV, prediction for ReliaQuest Bowl in Tampa

Posted by author December 8, 2024 Football

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A trip to Tampa, Florida, at the end of December? Could be much, much worse.

Michigan football learned Sunday it will be playing No. 11 Alabama in the ReliaQuest Bowl at Raymond James Stadium on New Year’s Eve in what will be the Wolverines’ fourth straight trip to the postseason, but the first non-College Football Playoff bowl game since 2019 when the Wolverines lost, 35-15, to Alabama in the Citrus Bowl.

Speaking of the Crimson Tide, this will be the second straight postseason where the Wolverines will go up against Alabama after beating Nick Saban and Co. in January’s Rose Bowl to advance to the CFP championship game.

But that is just the start of the many layers of juicy storylines for this year’s rematch.

The victory by Jim Harbaugh’s Wolverines ended up being the last game of the legendary career of Saban, who called it quits and joined ESPN’s “College GameDay” after many epic seasons and national titles. Who did the Tide call on to replace Saban? Kalen DeBoer, of course, who was the head coach at … you guessed it, Washington, who Michigan eventually went on to beat in the national championship.

Head not hurting yet? Well, the Crimson Tide had a solid first year under DeBoer, finishing 9-3 overall but with some frustrating losses, namely to Vanderbilt (6-6) and Oklahoma (6-6). That left the Crimson Tide vulnerable, and the College Football Playoff committee, chaired by Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, decided SMU out of the ACC was more deserving of a spot in the 12-team field, snubbing Alabama.

Now, DeBoer and his staff will have a quick opportunity for revenge on multiple fronts.

The ReliaQuest Bowl is played at Raymond James Stadium, the home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Michigan fans should be be familiar with the bowl game, even if they remember it as the “Outback Bowl,” as it was known from 1996-2022. This will be the Wolverines’ seventh time playing in the bowl game and they have a 3-3 record in their previous six trips.

While bowl games aren’t the major events that they used to be before the postseason expansion across college football, landing in the ReliaQuest Bowl with a matchup against Alabama is about as exciting as it gets.

Michigan football bowl game vs. Alabama prediction

While nothing is official, it’s safe to say that both teams will probably be playing without a lot of their star players, as is usually the case in non-playoff bowl games these days. That makes it inherently tough to predict what might happen when these squads hit the gridiron on New Year’s Eve, but here goes nothing. While the Wolverines would typically be a big underdog based on how the regular season went, everything has been flipped on its head by the last two weeks of the year. Alabama was shockingly blown out of the water by Oklahoma in Week 13, while the Wolverines pulled off a stunner of their own in Week 14, beating Ohio State for the fourth straight year.

But what does that mean for the bowl game? Probably not much. This early in the DeBoer regime, the Tide will still be able to sell this as an opportunity to create momentum. And while the same could probably be said about the Wolverines, if they don’t have Mason Graham and Kenneth Grant on the interior defensive line, they won’t be able to slow down the Crimson Tide attack, which still features sophomore dual-threat QB Jalen Milroe. Sherrone Moore and the Wolverines get off to a good start, scoring the first touchdown of the game, but the Tide roar back and blow the Wolverines out of the water for some much-needed revenge for DeBoer. But with a new coordinator and a new quarterback arriving soon, no one in Ann Arbor loses any sleep. The pick: Alabama 35, Michigan 14.

Michigan football bowl game vs. Alabama odds

Early spread: TBD.
Moneyline: TBD.
Point total over/under: TBD.

Michigan football bowl game vs. Alabama TV channel, start time

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