By The Associated Press The latest on the college football playoffs, bowl matchups and other news on selection Sunday (all times EST).
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SEC victor Alabama plays the Big Ten champion Spartans in what will likely be a bruising College Football Playoff semifinal between two 12-1 teams at the Cotton Bowl. Oklahoma comes in as the Big 12 champion and they will play the Tigers in the semifinals after getting ranked at number four.
As for the matchups themselves, The Clemson Tigers will take on the Oklahoma Sooners for the second straight year in a bowl game, as they demolished the Sooners 40-6 in last year’s Russell Athletic Bowl. Both teams boast four wins over ranked foes (Oregon, Michigan, Ohio State and Iowa for the Spartans; Tennessee, Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State for the Sooners), but based on last week’s playoff rankings Michigan State’s collection of wins is over higher ranked teams than Oklahoma’s.
OU was idle Saturday after wrapping up the Big 12 championship last week with a 58-23 thrashing of Oklahoma State. The national championship, then, should be a battle. The Tigers haven’t budged from the No. 1 spot since they were elevated there following a November win over Florida State.
The semifinal winners advance to the January 11 title game in Glendale, Ariz.
True chaos only occurs if loses to in the Atlantic Coast Conference title game and loses to Florida for the Southeastern Conference championship.
For the first time in College Football Playoff history, no one is arguing about which schools should be in the four-team field. Alabama is also lucky converted on a miracle fourth-and-25 play to pull out a 53-52 win over Mississippi.
SABAN SUCCESS: Alabama has won 25 SEC titles, including four under Saban.
Alabama is the only team in this year’s playoff field that played in last year’s. Alabama won’t get the chance to take down Ohio State, but beating the team that beat the Buckeyes would make a pretty strong statement.
The starting times for the college football playoff games are set, according to ESPN.
January 11, University of Phoenix Stadium, 8:30 p.m. Despite being the No. 4 seed in the playoff, it’s possible no team is playing as well as Oklahoma right now.
“We know what kind of physical, tough teams they have at Michigan State, and it will be a real challenge for our team”, said Bama head coach Nick Saban about the New Year’s Eve matchup with the Big Ten champion.
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Sugar Bowl: Oklahoma State (10-2) vs. MS (9-3), January 1. He will be matched against Michigan State coach Mark Dantonio, who was a member of his staff in all those years and has produced a 5-1 record against top-five opponents during his underrated coaching career.
