The final year of the four-team playoff has come to an end, with Michigan reigning victorious in the 2023-24 college football season. Washington, which was the runner-up, missed a few passes down the field and stalled on several promising drives, eventually losing 34-13. Michigan’s running game carried them to a 13-0 regular season, and did not slack off on the biggest stage. Donovan Edwards started the scoring, and Blake Corrum also contributed two scores. Both running backs tallied over 100 yards, and the Wolverines piled up 303 rushing yards as a team. Many fans enjoyed the competitiveness of this entire season. Andrew Tropp ‘26 says “…the playoffs were a great end to the 4 team playoff structure and the power 5 structure.”
To get to this point, the Wolverines played a very risky game versus Alabama at the Rose Bowl. Special teams issues very nearly cost Michigan their season, with muffed punts and missed field goals giving Alabama golden opportunities to put the game away. Fortunately for the Big Ten champions, quarterback JJ McCarthy and wide receiver Roman Wilson led a game-tying drive. The game would go into overtime, where Michigan scored on their opening drive. A defensive stop — or perhaps a questionable play call — left Alabama short on a fourth-and-goal attempt. Michigan emerged victorious, and clinched their first CFP title game appearance.
On the other side, Washington and Texas matched up in the Sugar Bowl. Two high-powered offenses went down to the wire, but it was Heisman runner-up Michael Penix Jr. and his Washington Huskies who came out on top. Penix racked up 430 passing yards, with 125 of those going to projected first-round pick Rome Udonze. This performance was the fourth-most passing yards in a playoff game since the new format. Quinn Ewers and Texas also put up 500 yards of total offense, but could not finish the job. The season was far from a failure for Texas, though. This marked their first ever appearance in the playoff. Ever since winning the national title in 2005, the program has failed to meet expectations. This was the second straight year that both semifinal games were thrillers. Last year, Michigan and TCU played an incredible Fiesta Bowl. To follow that up, Georgia and Ohio State went down to the wire as the clock struck midnight. Prior to last year, though, many complained about how uncompetitive these games were.
This capped off a great college football season. Conferences are changing left and right, and additions to the playoff itself also are apparent. Since this playoff style has been so new, the committee has faced backlash and challenges in forming the best way to set up these games. Starting next year, twelve teams will partake in the competition. Will this cause the games to be more lopsided, therefore making the games even more unwatchable? Or, with these new additions, more fans will be intrigued to watch, and the season will be more exciting. Cody King ‘24 says that this change “creates more opportunities for student-athletes to gain national attention.” Additionally, he remarks that this is an important step “for College Football to move forward.” There is more room for error in the regular season, and hopefully, adding more teams will decrease controversy and overall dissatisfaction with the committee. Only time will tell how this new change will fare.
