Blake Corum: The leader and most valuable player for Michigan.

Oftentimes, the College Football Playoff presents an intriguing branding opportunity.

The CFP logo can be seen almost everywhere—on the buses that athletes use to travel to press conferences, on the headsets that coaches don, and even on the individual grass blades in different areas of an end zone at a stadium. As a result, players may find it more difficult to stand out off the field because everything is so tightly controlled in terms of presentation.

This is partly intentional, but occasionally it makes the minutes leading up to kickoff a little boring. When team buses arrive, their rosters, which now number well over 85 players, usually discharge a generic mass of sameness clad in team uniforms.

This has been the case for the most of his tenure with the team during its recent winning streak, as well as prior to, during, and following the Wolverines’ emotional 27-20 overtime victory over Alabama in the Rose Bowl semifinal.

As he jogged off the field amid thunderous applause and raised fists full of roses, the senior received some of the loudest cheers from the fan base despite being the smallest scholarship player on the roster, generously listed at 5-foot-8.