Oklahoma didn’t have a championship game, but they won the Big 12 outright, with just one loss (to Texas, who did beat Baylor on the final week), and won against Baylor, TCU and Oklahoma State to finish the season, which should give them enough credit when the final decision is made.
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The No. 1-ranked team by the committee will play against the No. 4 team in a semifinal while No. 2 and No. 3 will meet in the other semifinal game.
The Celebration Bowl pits the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference champion against the Southwestern Athletic Conference victor.
The winners will play for the national championship on January 11 in Glendale, Arizona.
“Clearly Clemson (is) the No. 1 team in the nation”, Jeff Long, chairman of the CFP selection committee, said Sunday. The Tigers are in with a win over North Carolina in the ACC Championship Game.
The Crimson Tide (12-1) will face No. 3 Michigan State (12-1) on December 31 in the Cotton Bowl.
Clemson is the lone unbeaten team in the country, following Iowa’s loss to Michigan State in Saturday’s Big Ten championship game. That wasn’t as much of a worry this season, especially with Pac-12 victor Stanford having two losses.
The College Football Playoff Selection Committee will announce the final four teams that will participate in the playoff semifinal pairings at 11:30 a.m. CT Sunday. Ohio State is idle and still has an outside shot if they get help.
Bill Hancock, College Football Playoff executive director, told reporters Osborne’s replacement would also likely be a former coach.
Alabama and Florida play each other for the eighth time in the SEC Championship Game.
There could be a few changes near the top of the AP poll following Saturday night’s conference title games.
Going into the game, Iowa was No. 4 in the College Football Ranking, with Michigan State No. 5.
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The four teams in line for the playoffs appear to be Clemson, Alabama, Oklahoma and Michigan State.
