Michigan Wolverines Top Washington Huskies to Capture National Championship

The University of Michigan Wolverines beat the Washington Huskies 34-13 to win their first national championship of the College Playoff era.

For Michigan, it’s not only their first national title in the CFP era, but their first national championship since 1997. The storied program has enjoyed steady success in the Big 10 over the past several seasons, winning three conference titles to earn a spot in the CFP semifinals.

But in 2021, the Wolverines lost to the University of Georgia Bulldogs, and in 2022, they fell short to the TCU Horned Frogs in one of the biggest college football upsets ever. This year, ranked No. 1 in the country, the Wolverines finally made it to the finals after eking out an overtime win against No. 4 ranked University of Alabama. 

While the championship was monumental for Michigan in and of itself, it was also an exclamation point to a season marred by scandal. Head coach Jim Harbaugh served two separate suspensions at the start and end of the season, missing the first three games amidst an NCAA investigation into recruiting violations, and then the last three over a sign-stealing scheme involving a former staffer. Despite the chaos, Michigan enjoyed a dominant, undefeated season on their way to the title. 

Michigan’s win also marks a rare geographical swing in college football dominance. Since the CFP era began in 2014, all the winners have either come from schools in the south or the mid-Atlantic region. The showdown also reflected some of the strange conference realignments college football has seen in recent years. Back in August, Washington — along with the University of Oregon — both announced that they would be leaving the Pac-12 to join Michigan (and many other big name college football programs) in the Big 10 (which will have 18 teams when the 2024 season starts later this year). 

The Washington-Michigan title game was also the last of the four-team CFP structure, which will expand to 12 teams next season. That change will be very welcomed following the selection committee chaos that flared up at the end of last season and saw undefeated ACC champs, Florida State University, miss out while two one-loss teams made the cut (Texas, which won the Big 12, and Alabama, which won the SEC title).