After falling short in the College Football Playoff, the No. 13 Texas Longhorns will face the No. 18 Michigan Wolverines in the Cheeze-It Citrus Bowl.
The Longhorns finished the season with a 9-3 record and had a case to make the playoffs with wins over the Texas A&M Aggies and Oklahoma Sooners, who hosted first-round games with 11-1 and 10-2 records, respectively. However, Texas lost again in the divisional round to the 4-8 Florida Gators and second-ranked Ohio State Buckeyes.
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Now, the teams that end the regular season against Ohio State will square off on New Year’s Eve.
The Wolverines entered the game with a 9-3 (7-2) regular season record before falling to rival Ohio State 27-9. Coming into this rivalry game, the Wolverines were riding a five-game winning streak, including two wins by one point over 6-6 Northwestern and 2-10 Purdue.
Michigan is led by dynamic freshman quarterback Bryce Underwood, who has struggled with turnovers but has the dual-threat ability to break up games. The freshman averaged 212.7 yards per game, 6.95 yards per carry, and 14 total touchdowns. The Wolverines invested heavily in the running game to take some of the load off their young signal-callers, with Jordan Marshall and Justise Haynes combining for nearly 1,800 yards and 20 rushing touchdowns.
The two teams will face off on New Year’s Eve at 2:00 PM CDT.
