The college football season came to a close on Monday night as Michigan football and Washington football battled things out in Houston, and the Wolverines came out on top with a 34-13 victory. Both teams came into the game with perfect 14-0 records, and Michigan was ranked #1 while the Huskies were ranked #2. It was a fitting end for the four-team playoff era, and the Wolverines are the final champion of said era as they finished 15-0, and they are the current kings of college football.

Michigan football ended up winning the game 34-13, but the game was closer than the score indicates as the Wolverines pulled away late to seal the victory. It ended up being a great game, and Washington football played their hearts all season long, they just ended up falling a little bit short.

At the beginning of the game, it looked like Michigan was going to pull away early and run the Huskies out of the building. The Wolverines started the game with their punishing rushing attack and they scored on a long run by Donovan Edwards to make it 7-0. Washington marched right down the field after that, but a huge red zone stop made it 7-3, and then Edwards exploded again for an even longer touchdown run to put Michigan up 14-3. Washington then immediately went three-and-out, and they had to punt. It was not a good start.

Right when Michigan got the ball back, Blake Corum exploded for a huge run, and all of a sudden, it looked like the Wolverines were going to go up 21-3. However, Washington football made a huge stop to force a field goal, and from that moment on, their defense played a much better game. The Huskies got a score before halftime, and it was 17-10 at the break after the abysmal start from Washington.

Michigan led by seven for most of the second half, and Washington had their opportunities to tie it, but the Wolverines were too much on defense. It was strength against strength in this game, and Michigan proved just how dominant their defense is by holding perhaps the best offense in college football to just 13 points. Eventually, the boa constrictor kicked in, and Michigan marched down the field to go up 27-13, and that really put the pressure on. Mike Sainristil sealed the deal with an interception that set the Wolverines up inside the Washington 10, and they punched it in one more time for good measure.

Will Washington football make the College Football Playoff next season?

Now, the 2o23 college football season is officially over, and so is the four-team playoff era. If only four teams were going to the playoff next season, the answer to the above question would be a simple no. However, 12 teams will be in the playoff next season, so the Huskies could have a chance.

At the end of the day, it's going to come down to who decides to come back next year. If everyone leaves that is supposed to leave, then no, Washington will not be back in the College Football Playoff next season. Sorry Huskies fans.

This team was built on their offense, and they're going to be losing too much talent to come back and have a similar season. The Huskies are also going to the Big Ten next season, and they don't have a very easy schedule. Here is who Washington plays next season:

Weber State

Eastern Michigan

Washington State

Northwestern

@ Rutgers

Michigan

@ Iowa

@ Indiana

USC

@ Penn State

UCLA

@ Oregon

To be a safe pick to make the playoff, I would say Washington needs to win 10 games. There's a chance that they could go 9-3 and get in, but 10 wins would make it safe. I just don't see 10 wins on that schedule with what the Huskies will have coming back next season. Their defense will need to improve a lot, and they will need to have a lot of new guys step up on offense. I don't think they'll have quite the regression that TCU had this year, but I expect them to finish with seven or eight wins and miss out on the playoff next year.

Still, Kalen DeBoer is doing a fantastic job with this program, and the Huskies will be back. There is just a lot to replace next season, so it might not be the year that they do it.