Michigan and Alabama Deliver Epic Rose Bowl to Close Out Four-Team CFB Playoff Era

In the end, there he stood. The most polarizing figure in college athletics couldn't help but smile, and how can you blame him after all that.

While a smile will never look quite right plastered across Jim Harbaugh's face, his emotion was real and on time. As he did everything in his power to avoid saying the least amount required, Harbaugh's parting shots in the afterglow of his team's win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, one of the greatest football games in recent memory, said it all.

"Who has it better than us?"

Sure, he was talking to the Michigan faithful around the world celebrating the program's breakthrough. It's been a year for Michigan in so many ways, after all.

The scandal before the season. The suspension. The scandal during the season. The second suspension. The headlines have been written and rewritten.

But those six words didn't just ring true to Michigan fans as they stood defiantly through it all; they perfectly encapsulate the emotions felt by so many college football fans in that moment.

With the stakes enormous and the sun setting at one of the greatest settings in all of sports, Michigan delivered an all-time win over a program that has won more than anyone else of late.

It was ugly at times, filled with mistakes on both sides. It was an imperfect back-and-forth tussle between two desperate teams manned by two ultra-competitive coaches.

In short, it was damn near perfection in large part because of its blemishes. It was college football personified.

Ryan Kang/Getty Images

The Wolverines outlasted Alabama 27-20 in overtime, stopping Alabama QB Jalen Milroe on fourth down to secure the win. The final play was so well guarded, it seemed almost anticlimactic as Alabama came up short.

But the moments that led to that specific moment—the touchdowns and the turnovers and the immense drama in between—painted the perfect football picture.

For Michigan, which has made the playoff and lost the previous two seasons, this was a joyful exorcism. And it never came easy.

Special teams' miscues, a long stretch of offensive struggles coupled with a slew of mistakes that would have been endlessly analyzed if the team ultimately lost plagued Michigan for much of the game.

In the end, the Wolverines were able to overcome the mistakes thanks to the legs of running back Blake Corum and three touchdowns courtesy of quarterback J.J. McCarthy. Both were held in check for much of the second half only to find life late in the game and in overtime.

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

On the Alabama side, this looked like another Nick Saban special in the making. After crashing the playoff in controversial style, a slow start put the Crimson Tide in a small hole. From there, much like it has all year, Alabama climbed its way back into contention.

While making yet another national championship game ultimately wasn't the reality, Alabama's game effort—a theme all year—once again jumped off the screen. This was a tremendous performance by a team that saved its season months prior.

Alabama fans will never celebrate a moral victory. But this season, even though it is now complete, was filled with enormous highs.

All told, Michigan and Alabama put on a show. Of course, they did.

The next chapter of Saban vs. Harbaugh was somehow better than expected, and the Wolverines, amid all the storylines that have followed them all year long, could end the season as champion.

That, in itself, is a story. Given all that has unfolded thus far, and the drama that has surrounded Michigan certainly played a role in the intrigue surrounding the Rose Bowl—a semifinal game that delivered.

AP Photo/Kyusung Gong

While the College Football Playoff has produced its fair share of semifinal clunkers over the years, this wasn't that.

This game had its various flows and rhythms, but even when both teams struggled to find themselves at various points, there was intrigue. There was doubt. There was hope.

As the sport braces for more teams and a 12-team playoff format next season, it will end this chapter on an incredible high. Michigan and Alabama did its part; that much is for certain.

Now, the Wolverines will look to complete one of the wildest national championship runs imaginable. The momentum of their win over Alabama in the Rose Bowl, one of greatest scenes most televisions will see all year, will undoubtedly play a key role in whatever comes next.

As the playoff braces for change and conferences ready for what is likely to be a chaotic offseason, the games, even as their dwindling, continue to deliver. Although the format will look different one year from now, this year's Rose Bowl will live on.

Harbaugh, a man of few words, said it best.

Who has it better than us?