There has been a lot of debate on who should get in over the last 24 hours and several weeks leading up to this weekend. All the what-if scenarios have been thrown around and discussed. The committee made its decision, and the field of 4 is set to go.
The Rose Bowl
The Rose Bowl will feature #1 Alabama taking on #4 Notre Dame. This matchup was scheduled to play in California but was recently moved to Texas Stadium on New Year’s Day.
The Crimson Tide finished the regular season undefeated after beating Florida in the SEC Championship Game 52-46. The Fighting Irish are coming off a 34-10 loss in the ACC Championship Game to Clemson. Notre Dame was undefeated going into the game and did enough over the season to earn the playoff’s final spot.
The Sugar Bowl
The Sugar Bowl will be a rematch from last year’s playoff game with #2 Clemson going up against #3 Ohio State on New Year’s Day.
The Tigers moved up in the rankings after an impressive win over Notre Dame in the ACC Championship. Ohio State gets in as the #3 seed after beating Northwestern 22-10 in the Big 10 Championship Game.
The Decision
Alabama and Clemson were the only two clear cut locks leading up to the final decision. Some think Ohio State shouldn’t get in because they only played 6 games and 4 wins against teams with losing records.
There was also a lot of debate about the final selection with the #4 seed. Notre Dame had a horrible loss yesterday against Clemson but had big wins against Clemson and North Carolina earlier in the season. Texas A&M and Oklahoma were the two other teams in consideration for the last spot.
