A pair of relative newcomers to the College Football Playoff scene will battle to leave their mark on the postseason’s 2022 edition when No. 2 Michigan and No. 3 TCU square off in the Fiesta Bowl for a spot in the national championship.
While Georgia is the reigning champion and Ohio State has made the CFP in three of the past four seasons, TCU is making its playoff debut and Michigan just made its first-ever playoff appearance last season. The showdown between the Wolverines and the Horned Frogs will also mark the first time the two programs have played in football, and you could not ask for higher stakes or a better setting for the series’ first meeting.
Michigan’s 13-0 campaign was powered by a ruthless efficiency on both sides of the ball. The Wolverines are one of just two top-10 teams in both scoring offense and scoring defense. That well-rounded dominance was on full display when Michigan went into Columbus and handed rival Ohio State a 45-23 defeat, the second win in as many years against the Buckeyes for eighth-year coach Jim Harbaugh.
But while Harbaugh has spent nearly a decade building the program to this peak of beating Ohio State, winning Big Ten titles and making the College Football Playoff, Sonny Dykes has soared with TCU to the top of the sport in just his first season. TCU, 5-7 in 2021, finished the regular season 12-0 before falling in overtime to Kansas State in the Big 12 Championship Game. That seven-win turnaround has been powered by one of the most explosive offenses in the country, a Heisman Trophy finalist at quarterback in Max Duggan and a team that has shown resiliency in tough spots with a 5-1 record in one-score games.
Michigan’s dominance over its opponents has made it the favorite, but there’s…
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