All eyes in the college football world are on Norman, Okla., for the first-round College Football Playoff matchup Friday night between No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama. While the Sooners and Crimson Tide are fighting to keep their seasons and championship hopes alive, another program up north will be keeping a close eye on the events at Gaylord Family-Oklahoma Memorial Stadium—the Michigan Wolverines.

Michigan fired head coach Sherrone Moore on Dec. 10 and is searching for a replacement on the sidelines. One of those top names on the athletic department’s radar is Alabama coach Kalen DeBoer, who led the Crimson Tide to a 10-3 record and CFP appearance this season.

During College GameDay that aired ahead of the matchup between No. 8 Oklahoma and No. 9 Alabama on Friday night, ESPN reporter Pete Thamel dropped a significant update to the Michigan coaching search.

“Sources tell me that Michigan officials remain convicted that they want to attempt to hire Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer,” Thamel said. “The result of tonight’s game is going to factor heavily into that pursuit because an Alabama loss would make the logistics of attempting to hire DeBoer much more tenable.”

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If Alabama does lose to Oklahoma on Friday night, it would clear up the timeline for Michigan’s attempt to hire DeBoer. But if the Crimson Tide win, Alabama would play No. 1 Indiana on Jan. 1 in the quarterfinals for a chance to advance to the semifinals Jan. 9 and, if they won that game, the national championship Jan. 19.

It seems unlikely that Michigan would want to wait until late January to hire a new head coach. The transfer portal officially opens Jan. 2—a date that many Michigan players, including quarterback Bryce Underwood, have circled on their calendars as they await to see what the future of the Wolverines’ program looks like.

As for DeBoer, he issued a statement earlier this week about his intentions to stay at Alabama. Former Crimson Tide coach Nick Saban said Friday that DeBoer does have the full support of the university as well, a point proven even further by Thamel’s reporting.

“I’ve been told by sources that Alabama officials behind the scenes have worked aggressively to try to sign Deboer to a new deal,” Thamel said. “Michigan officials aren’t solely focused on DeBoer, as I’ve been told by sources they’ve had a handful of exploratory conversations with different candidates this week. The hiring pool, if it’s not DeBeor, sources have told me, would involve Kenny Dillingham of Arizona State, Eli Drinkwitz of Missouri and Washington’s Jedd Fisch.”

Even if Alabama loses to Oklahoma on Friday night, it’s far from set in stone that DeBoer will even consider moving up north to Michigan. But the Wolverines reportedly plan on pursuing him. An Alabama loss Friday night would make an intriguing coaching search in Ann Arbor even more fascinating.

“One of the biggest factors in this search is going to be what that scoreboard says tonight after the Alabama-Oklahoma game,” Thamel said. “That’s going to set the tone for the direction of where this search goes.”

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as How Alabama-Oklahoma Considerably Impacts Michigan’s Search for a New Head Coach.

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