3 Best Bets and Player Props for Alabama vs. Michigan in the ReliaQuest Bowl

Life comes at you fast.

Last season, the Alabama Crimson Tide and Michigan Wolverines met in the Rose Bowl in an all-time classic. A goal-line stand against Jalen Milroe led to a Wolverines win, which they parlayed into a national title.

This season, they'll rematch at 12:00 p.m. ET in Tampa on New Year's Eve after disappointing campaigns with first-year coaches that -- obviously -- left them out of the College Football Playoff.

Which blue blood can end their season on a high note?

Using the college football odds at FanDuel Sportsbook, let's dive into the Alabama-Michigan best bets for Tuesday's ReliaQuest Bowl.

All college football odds come from FanDuel Sportsbook and may change after this article is published.

Alabama vs. Michigan Betting Picks and Player Props

Michigan +14.5 (-112)
Alabama Under 28.5 Points (-111)

Bowl season hasn't been kind to potential top NFL Draft quarterbacks. Cam Ward stopped playing at halftime, and Shedeur Sanders' Colorado Buffaloes didn't seem to make the trip to the Alamo Bowl. How will Jalen Milroe fare?

Well, he's got a difficult test against a Michigan defense that's been elite all season and is coming off a signature performance. UM was fourth across FBS in opponent yards per play allowed (4.1 YPP), and they just held one of the favorites to win the College Football Playoff to 10 total points and 4.3 yards per play (YPP).

That side of the ball hasn't been the issue, but senior Davis Warren has also stabilized the Michigan quarterback situation a little. He's amassed a 72.0 QBR or better in three of his last five games. The exceptions were both playoff teams, including the Ohio State Buckeyes. Alabama's defense (19th in YPP) isn't quite as scary, and they allowed a modest 3.9 yards per carry this year.

This one figures to be ugly and low-scoring -- a distinction that could get significantly worse if Milroe ends up exiting this one early with the NFL in mind.

The maximum amount of points that a non-playoff team scored on Michigan this year was 24, and it's not as if 'Bama hasn't had their fair share of stinkers. I'm laddering their team total featuring a key number of 28, which should also give the Wolverines an excellent chance to cover the spread.

Jordan Marshall Anytime Touchdown (+190)

Just because we haven't seen Jordan Marshall operate in Tuesday's projected role for Michigan doesn't mean we don't know what the role is.

Kalel Mullings or Donovan Edwards wouldn't have been this long for a score in any matchup for the Wolverines, who sport FBS' 20th-highest rush rate this season (58.6%). They scored 18 rushing touchdowns to just 11 passing scores in 2024.

I'd argue that Marshall might have a total monopoly of Michigan's backfield on Tuesday. The two games where he's received any work at all are Michigan's most recent two, where he earned eight carries to just two for Benjamin Hall.

The Wolverines might have been preserving his redshirt, but a third appearance in Tampa won't burst it even if he gets 30 carries. If the true freshman lives up to his four-star recruiting outlook, he might not come anywhere close to needing extra eligibility in exchange for playing on Sunday.

Hall has +270 odds to score, so you could conceivably take both at favorable odds to profit even if we aren't totally sure how this backfield will work out. I'm forecasting it'll mostly run through Marshall.

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The above author is a FanDuel employee and is not eligible to compete in public daily fantasy contests or place sports betting wagers on FanDuel. The advice provided by the author does not necessarily represent the views of FanDuel. Taking the author's advice will not guarantee a successful outcome. You should use your own judgment when participating in daily fantasy contests or placing sports wagers.