Sports

College Football National Championship, was it a flop?

Hal'e Martin, Sports Editor • January 22, 2024

For the first time in three years, there were two undefeated teams in the College Football National Championship, The number 1 Michigan Wolverines and the number 2 Washington Huskies. To say this was a long awaited matchup, is definitely an understatement.

JJ McCarthy and Michael Penix Jr. after the National Championship Game on January 8th in Houston. (With the First Pick)

After being the number 1 team in all of College Football, since the start of the season, the Michigan Wolverines have been unstoppable. They have been a powerhouse since 1879, where they have had 110 winning seasons and 25 undefeated seasons since the founding of the program.

The Washington Huskies have been overlooked all season long, they have been on the come up for a couple of years especially after the transfer of star QB Michael Penix Jr. from Indiana. Not only has Penix made a name for Washington but also arguably the best wide receiver in all of college football Rome Odunze, has also helped Washington make this historic run.

After the first half of the Championship game, the score was 17-10, Michigan and with Washington receiving the kickoff, it was looking promising for the Huskies. But this was just for the Wolverines to run away and the final score to become 34-13 Michigan.

This was truly upsetting for the Huskies considering the historic season they had. With the loss, the Huskies are going to look very different with the two largest impact players Rome Odunze and Michael Penix Jr., graduating. Also with the loss, both Odunze and Penix Jr. ‘s draft stock will go down but not by a lot. At the moment it looks like Marvin Harrison Jr., will be drafted above Odunze for top wide receiver, but Penix Jr. is still the number 5 quarterback in this draft behind USC’s Caleb Williams, North Carolina’s Drake Maye, LSU’s Jayden Daniels, and Oregon’s Bo Nix.

The Michigan Wolverines will still remain a powerhouse even with the graduation of their star QB JJ McCarthy, who is also expected to be drafted very high in this year’s draft.

Both of these colleges continue to produce incredible athletes such Washington’s athletes Cornerback Marcus Peters and Safety Budda Baker, and also Michigan’s athletes such as Defensive Ends Aidan Hutchinson and Brandon Graham. Neither of these programs disappoint.

With all that being said, the 2023-2024 College Football Season has come to an end.

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