A classic battle between two football powerhouses will send one team to the National Championship Game on New Year’s Eve. The 2015 Cotton Bowl will pit No. 2. Alabama and No. 3 Michigan State against each other in a College Football Playoff semifinal. The winner will play for an NCAA title. The loser will turn its thoughts toward spring football.
Cotton Bowl 2015 live stream: How to watch Michigan State vs. Alabama online
No. 2 Alabama and No. 3 Michigan State square off with a National Championship Game invitation on the line in the 2015 Cotton Bowl.
The Crimson Tide overcame an early upset loss to No. 12 Ole Miss and won 10 straight games to clinch their 25th SEC title in program history this year. Alabama dispatched quality opponents like Wisconsin, Texas A&M, LSU, Mississippi State, Tennessee, and Florida to fulfill the high expectations that head coach Nick Saban has earned in Tuscaloosa. Every victory in that stretch, with the exception of a 19-14 win over the Volunteers, came by at least 13 points. Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry has been unstoppable in stretches; he led the FBS with 1,986 rushing yards.
Michigan State hasn’t been as dominant, but the Spartans have the resume to back up their top-three ranking. The team wrapped up a 12-1 regular season by toppling No. 5 Iowa in the Big Ten Championship and have also recorded wins over Michigan, Oregon, and Ohio State in 2015. Only a controversial loss to Nebraska kept them from running the slate, although they needed a little luck to escape Ann Arbor with one of the most unlikely wins in college football history. They’ll turn to NFL Draft prospect Connor Cook and his sparkling 24:5 TD:INT ratio with hopes of pulling off the upset in Arlington.
How to watch, stream and listen
TV: Dec. 31, 8 p.m. ET, ESPN. Chris Fowler and Kirk Herbstreit will have the call.
Radio: Alabama, Michigan State
Online streaming: WatchESPN
Spread: Alabama is favored by 9.5 points.
Make friends: Get to SB Nation’s team blog chats for this game at Roll Bama Roll (for Alabama fans) and The Only Colors (for Michigan State fans).
Three big things to know
1. Though Derrick Henry is Alabama’s headliner, they’ll rely on the nation’s No. 1 defense to keep the Spartans from gaining any ground on Thursday. The Tide feature four different first-team All-SEC defenders, including the league’s Defensive Player of the Year, Reggie Ragland. ‘Bama has held opponents to under 260 yards per game this season, and only two teams have been able to muster more than 17 points against them. Michigan State’s offense has been middling. It ranks just 68th in the nation in terms of total yardage. They’ll have to find a new gear to break into the end zone with regularity against Alabama.
2. How will MSU stop Henry? By stacking the box and forcing quarterback Jacob Coker to beat them with his arm. They’ve had success shutting down impact runners this season; Michigan State held Ohio State standout Ezekiel Elliott to only 44 rushing yards in their November showdown. The Spartan defense is clicking at the right time; the team has held opponents to only 12.5 points per game in their recent four-game winning streak. That includes victories over New Year’s bowl participants Ohio State and Iowa.
3. Who wins on Thursday? SB Nation writers lean toward the Crimson Tide by an 8-3 margin. The advanced stats like ‘Bama as well. S&P+ goes above and beyond the 9.5-point spread to predict a 30-19 win behind a huge disparity between the Alabama defense and the Michigan State offense. In all, the numbers give Nick Saban a 42 percent shot of adding another national title trophy to his mantle once the dust settles on the College Football Playoff.
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