These have looked like perhaps the two most complete teams for much of the year, and it appears to be an excellent semifinal matchup.
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One of the country’s four-star wide receivers has Alabama in his top 10. Long cited Stanford’s conference title and two top-25 wins (No. 8 Notre Dame and No. 25 USC, which was the only five-loss team in the top 25) as why it got the nod over Ohio State.
Michigan State, after all, traveled to beat Ohio State (essentially eliminating the Buckeyes) and Michigan (ditto) this season, then squeezed past Iowa (another potential playoff team) in the Big Ten championship game Saturday.
Michigan State’s Montae Nicholson (9) celebrates after Michigan State defeated Iowa 16-13 to win the Big Ten championship NCAA college football game Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, in Indianapolis.
Few teams have played a more hard month of November than Oklahoma. While the Crimson Tide have been able to sign higher-rated recruits because of the program’s cachet-and that issue has been mitigated more with each passing year since Michigan State began its recent run of success in 2010-Spartans and Tide coaches use numerous same sets of “critical factors” to evaluate players. The Crimson Tide, of course, is led by former Michigan State coach Nick Saban.
Long is the chairman of the CFP selection committee – a 12-person group that makes the final decisions. Meanwhile, Shillique Calhoun, Malik McDowell and the rest of Michigan’s State’s defensive line pressure the quarterback as well as Alabama’s nine-deep stable of hand-in-the-dirt monsters.
There were no dark circles under the eyes of committee Chair Jeff Long as he emerged from a Dallas meeting room to announce Clemson, Alabama, Michigan State and Oklahoma as the four playoff teams. The body of work resulted in Stanford being slightly ahead of Ohio State.
Only this time, the stakes will be a bit higher. They played that game so close. Oklahoma’s defense has hauled in 19 interceptions, which ranks seventh in the nation, and boasts a +10 turnover margin.
When Oklahoma and Clemson met last December in the Russell Athletic Bowl, Oklahoma did not have a completely healthy Sterling Shepard and they did not have Mayfield, who perhaps has made the single biggest difference in the Sooners’ turnaround this season.
The University of Alabama is headed back to the Lone Star state for the second this season, this time with a shot at the national championship on the line.
QUOTE TO NOTE: “I got to see that 22-play drive last night, and it was pretty awesome”. 2014 ACC champion Florida State landed the No. 3 seed last season.
The semifinal winners will meet in the Championship Game in Glendale, Ariz., on January 11, 2016. Iowa played in the weaker Big Ten division this season opposite Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan. He’s one of the main reasons Clemson’s defense ranks seventh in the nation in total defense, as well as second in tackles for loss (108) and fifth in team sacks (38).
Alcorn State will face North Carolina A&T in the inaugural Celebration Bowl.
Stanford’s Christian McCaffrey put in a stunning performance to lead the Cardinal to a 41-22 win against USC and the Pac-12 championship title.
LSJ MSU beat writer Joe Rexrode and Free Press columnist Drew Sharp discuss the storylines surrounding MSU’s semifinal on December 31 against Alabama.
North Carolina A&T shared the MEAC title with Bethune-Cookman and North Carolina Central. Oklahoma won regular-season games in 1963 and 1972; Clemson won bowl matchups in 1989 and then again last season.
That status, combined with a third victory against a Top 10 opponent this season, help the Tigers secure the top spot in the final College Football Playoff rankings.
This year’s matchup will be the Tide’s first postseason game and third overall contest at AT&T Stadium in Arlington. “The committee viewed Clemson and Alabama as clear-cut”.
The Spartans, who were No. 2 early in the season, edge up after beating Iowa 16-13 in the Big Ten championship game. Iowa drops two spots to sixth after its first loss.
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The selection committee revealed the pairings for second playoff Sunday, a day after the top teams eliminated any controversy about who should be in the final four. “I do think it was a good experience for us because it was a combination of players used to going to bowl games
but we’d never really went to a bowl game that was a playoff game, and I’m not sure we managed that exactly the way we should have”, UA coach Nick Saban said.
