Maxwell Matchups: The CFP National Championship
Everything is on the line tonight, but the impact reaches far beyond the gridiron.
2 Washington at 1 Michigan: 1/8/24 at 7:30 ET at NRG Stadium, Houston, Texas.
After thrilling games in both semifinals of the College Football Playoffs, where both games were determined on the final play, we finally made it to the grand finale of College Football every year: The CFP National Championship. Washington and Michigan are making their first-ever appearance in the CFP National Championship, with their last claimed national title wins coming in the '90s. Washington is led by 2023 Maxwell Award winner Michael Penix Jr. The last Michigan player to win the prestigious award was Desmond Howard in 1991. The game's lead sponsor will be AT&T, followed by 20 other sponsors that include not only national brands like All State and Cheez-IT but also local companies such as Houston Methodist Medicine.
Everyone involved in this year's game hopes they can reverse last year's trend regarding viewership, where Georgia's route of TCU led to a record-low 17.1M audience. If the semifinals are any indication, we will likely see a much more competitive game this year between the two undefeated conference champions, who have battled adversity all year and just kept winning. Washington has been the definition of clutch all year, now 8-0 in one-score games, led by the stoic Kalen DeBoer, whose calm demeanor has reflected onto his team's poise. Meanwhile, on the other side is one of the football's well-known coaches, Jim Harbaugh, who has dealt with two suspensions throughout the year for a recruiting violation and the highly publicized and still under investigation sign-stealing scandal. While not taking away from their dominant season, the sign-stealing scandal involving now fired Conor Stallions will inevitably be background noise going into the championship (likely amplified by a certain fanbase that resides in Ohio).
In the sports apparel space, we get a matchup of Nike (Michigan) vs Adidas (Washington). Michigan's Nike deal is worth $173.8 million, first signed in 2016 and active through 2027, which was, at the time, the biggest apparel deal in college athletics. The Wolverines actually do not have the iconic Swoosh logo on their uniforms, but rather Michael Jordan's Jumpman logo. The partnership with Nike also coincided with becoming the first school to represent the Nike subsidiary Jordan brand on the football field. Since then, a handful of schools have followed Michigan's footsteps in representing wearing the Jumpman on the gridiron, including Oklahoma, Florida, and UCLA. Conversely, Washington flipped from Nike to their biggest adversary, Adidas, in 2018, after the three-stripes reportedly offered almost $20 million more than Nike. They agreed to a ten-year $120 million deal with Adidas. They are the first Adidas school to make the CFP Championship game and will receive bonuses for making and potentially winning the championship. Both schools are heavily invested into by their respective apparel sponsors, making this game significant in the highly competitive sports apparel industry where Nike vs Adidas could be chalked up as an all-time rivalry across any space.
With the recent developments in College Football, the final two teams have been deeply involved with utilizing NIL deals to not only compensate their players but also make an impact on the community. Over the holidays, Washington QB Michael Penix Jr. partnered with Amazon Same-Day Delivery to deliver gifts to fans in the Seattle area, as reported by Nick Kosko of On3. The Quarterback worked with Amazon to identify children who were Washington Husky fans to make surprise deliveries for. Part of this partnership was Penix Jr. "helping celebrate the one-billionth package delivered by Amazon same-day delivery in the U.S." Michigan players, such as star running back Blake Corum, are making an impact through NIL for their community too. Corum, who is ranked 40th on ON3's Top100 NIL tracker, reportedly used his NIL money to buy and donate 600 Thanksgiving turkeys in three different locations in the Michigan community, where he handed out the Turkeys himself. Corum said he felt like it's his purpose to give back, and it helps him get his mind off football.
Washington vs Michigan is setting up to be an all-time matchup that will be exciting on the field, but the off-field implications of a National Championship game are just as if not more significant. From sports apparel companies and their thousands of employees to children receiving gifts from their favorite players, millions are impacted by this game no matter the outcome on the gridiron. The United States is unique in that education and athletics are so deeply intertwined, and with both being fundamental aspects of our culture, a collegiate national championship in America's favorite sport is one of the year's most meaningful events. The off-field implications of the game reach a pinnacle in the final Maxwell Matchup of the season. Michigan. Washington. See you tonight, America.