The storyline is there. The Alabama Crimson Tide lost to Michigan in the Rose Bowl last season. Kalen DeBoer, then head coach at Washington, saw his Huskies lose to those same Wolverines in the College Football Playoff national championship game.
The Crimson Tide and Wolverines are now being matched up in the ReliaQuest Bowl, but there’s no animosity hanging over from last season. This is, at least, according to DeBoer — who just finished 9-3 in his first regular season in Tuscaloosa.
“There’s so many different pieces to this,” DeBoer told the media (h/t On3). “I get that and appreciate the question for sure. But, you know, I think this again, we’ve made it always about this team. That’s when we’ve been at our best, is when we really focus on just what it means to this program, this team. We go back to the Iron bowl. It wasn’t about anything external, it was about this group. And that’s what we will certainly keep it to, you know when it comes to getting ready for, you know, Michigan and the bowl game.”
