CFB National Championship 2024: Odds, Top Storylines for Washington vs. Michigan

The Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies square off on Monday night in the first College Football Playoff National Championship appearance for both programs.

Michigan has been hovering around the title game for the last two years, but it fell short in the semifinal round twice.

The Wolverines have the best team of the Jim Harbaugh era and come into Houston as the No. 1 seed and favored team.

Harbaugh is the topic of NFL speculation, as he has been for the past few years, and a title might be the perfect way for him to end his Michigan career, or add to his legacy.

Washington is the first Pac-12 title game representative since the Oregon Ducks in 2015, which was the first year of the four-team playoff.

The Huskies are the underdog for the third straight elimination game. They thrived in the first two of those contests and will once again be a dangerous underdog on Monday night.

Spread: Michigan (-4.5)

Over/Under: 56.5

Money Line: Michigan (-192; bet $192 to win $100); Washington (+160; bet $100 to win $160)

The Harbaugh era has been a rousing success at Michigan, but there is one thing left for the Wolverines to achieve.

The three-time Big Ten champion has not won a national championship despite playing at one of the highest levels in the sport.

Michigan fell to the Georgia Bulldogs and TCU Horned Frogs in the semifinal round in the last two seasons.

Harbaugh's team was close to losing yet another semifinal, but it rallied to defeat the Alabama Crimson Tide in overtime at the Rose Bowl.

As he has been for the last few seasons, Harbaugh is the topic of speculation with NFL job openings. He has not taken any interviews yet, but if he wins on Monday night, he might be more motivated to go out on top and take another challenge at the professional level.

Michigan should not be distracted by any Harbaugh rumors because it has a ton of veteran experience throughout its roster.

Quarterback J.J. McCarthy will appear in his fourth CFB Playoff game on Monday and running back Blake Corum is one of the most battle-tested players at his position.

Michigan will try to dictate the pace of the contest through Corum in order to keep the ball out of Michael Penix Jr.'s hands.

The Wolverines would love to win a 20-17-type game, and if the score remains low, they should come out on top.

Washington has embraced the underdog role in its previous two games.

The Huskies bossed the Pac-12 Championship Game against Oregon and then controlled the Sugar Bowl against the Texas Longhorns.

Penix and Co. built up advantages in both contests that withstood challenges from each opponent from a fourth-quarter comeback.

Penix deservedly received all of the headlines after his 400-yard performance against Texas, but the Huskies defense was equally as responsible for the victory.

Washington slowed down Bo Nix and Quinn Ewers, two of the best quarterbacks in the FBS, and forced each player into turnovers and early stops.

The Huskies face a different challenge against Michigan's run-heavy offense, but if they can get the same amount of interior pressure as they did against Texas, they should come up with plenty of stops.

Washington is shouldering the reputation of west coast football, whether it likes it or not, in the title game as well.

The Huskies are trying to become the first Pac-12 winner of the CFB Playoff in their final game as a Pac-12 program before moving to the Big Ten next season.

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