Juwan Howard reacts to Michigan's victory in Rose Bowl

The third time was the charm for the Michigan Wolverines football team, finally breaking through to the national championship game in their third consecutive appearance in the College Football Playoff following their overtime versus Alabama in the Rose Bowl on Monday.

All of Ann Arbor is excited about the football team’s success, even head basketball coach Juwan Howard as his team starts conference play on Thursday. Following the Rose Bowl win, Howard was asked to react to the recent success of the football program, first pulling back the curtain on how he caught the action.

“My mindset was let’s get together as a team and let’s watch it,” Howard said. “But then I was thinking, I need to be dialed in and I can’t have no distractions while I’m watching this game because I feel like I have to be in the right seat, with the right clothes on to watch and lock into every play that’s on the floor. Whether it’s defense, offense, special teams, you name it.”

Howard’s fandom and support for Michigan’s football team was evident, even saying he superstitiously made his wife switch seats during the game when things weren’t going well for the Wolverines in the third quarter. But he also gave credit to both teams for their preparedness on college football’s biggest stage.

“I have so much respect for Nick Saban. Great coach, Hall of Famer, and he does an amazing job of preparing his teams and I know in four weeks we all were a little nervous about what his preparation would be,” Howard admitted. “And he and his staff did a hell of a job with that, but we don’t give enough credit to Coach Harbaugh and his staff. And I say we just collectively, not you guys, just in general. Like his preparation with he and his staff and players was special and it was great to see.”

The game was closely contested, with neither team ever leading by more than seven points. But after ending regulation tied at 20 points, the Wolverines were able to prevail and pull out the win in overtime, making Howard and many others proud of the team’s resilience.

“When we needed to score in the second half, we scored. And when we needed to get a stop, we got our stops and that shows the mental toughness,” Howard explained. “When the game was going in the third quarter when Alabama was making their run our mindset, our attitude did not change and it goes to the fact that how our coach and staff prepared our players and also how the players who are the leaders kept everyone mentally stable.”

Howard and his team even found inspiration in the football team’s performance on Monday, doling out more praise for the Wolverines as he looks ahead to being glued to the television yet again next week to root for the maize and blue in the national championship.

“And I of course learned a lot from that and I feel our players learned a lot from it as well. We took away mental stability no matter what when things are not going your way, how you have to stay locked in and just finish. Finish, finish, finish,” Howard emphasized. “With that I think Coach Harbaugh, I know Coach Harbaugh, and his staff is the best coaching staff in the country and we have one more game to play and we’re going to play against a tough team in Washington.”

“And I know that I gotta figure this out as far as how I’m a watch the game what clothes I’m a wear, because I gotta bring some good energy to our football team.”

Michigan takes on Washington in the national championship next Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET in a game airing on ESPN. Howard and the men’s basketball team on the other hand open up conference play on Thursday as they host Minnesota at 9:00 p.m. ET.