College Football Playoff Semifinal Odds & Point Spreads 12/4/16

The other semifinal is No. 2 Clemson (12-1) against No. 3 Ohio State (11-1) at the Fiesta Bowl, also on New Year’s Eve.

The rest of the New Year’s Six bowls were set to be announced later in the day Sunday.

“We come back to our protocol, and this is identifying the four very best teams in college football”, Hocutt said “Conference championship is only one piece, one metric of that conversation that we have”. The league took its time in joining the Pac-12, ACC, SEC and Big Ten in creating a conference title game (it arrives next year). “I didn’t hold that sign up”. “A lot of anxiety, a lot of hope”. “Three wins over CFP top 10 teams, including what possibly will be defined as the game of the year, the victory they had over MI”.

After watching the selection show from a maternity ward where his daughter gave birth to a boy, Meyer seemed in no mood to deliberate the current system.

Maybe the biggest victor of the day was Coach Urban Meyer.

If there is a pattern to be found in the committee’s work over three years it may be this simple: For the most part, the teams are ranked by the number in the loss column. You come back this year and there are a lot of expectations, but our team did a great job of staying focused. “So that’s the first thoughts”, Meyer said.

“We looked at key statistical categories, which translates to performance on the field each and every week”, Hocutt said in an ESPN interview. The Buckeyes also had a head-to-head loss to Big Ten champion Penn State, which missed the playoff. 5 and 6 in the poll.

Penn State finished fifth in the final CFP rankings Sunday morning after its victory over Wisconsin in the Big Ten championship game Saturday night.

The one difference from last week’s top four and the final one was Clemson and Ohio State switched spots.

No. 1 Alabama will face No. 4 Washington in a semifinal at 3 p.m. on December 31 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, while No. 2 Clemson and No. 3 Ohio State will meet at 7 p.m. on December 31 at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

But first things first for the Buckeyes is a date with the Tigers. The Tigers have won the previous two, a 17-15 win in the 1978 Gator Bowl, and the 40-35 win in the 2013 season Orange Bowl.

Clemson 40, Ohio State 35, January 2, 2013, in the Orange Bowl.

Ohio State beat Michigan, Wisconsin, Nebraska (by 59 points), as well as Tulsa and top-10 ranked Oklahoma in out-of-conference play. The programs are two of the best in the country.

Instead, Wisconsin was right where no one outside of its own locker room expected the Badgers to be, carrying a lead into the fourth quarter at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Led by dynamic quarterback Deshaun Watson, Clemson lost to Alabama in the national championship game last season. “Are they only used as tiebreakers, or is it other metrics?” Alabama beat Washington 20-19 in the Rose Bowl on January 1, 1926 to earn its first national championship.

Sorry, Penn State, but more losses, fewer quality wins and a weaker schedule than Ohio State isn’t going to cut it. 2,428 yards, 24 TDs passing; 847 yards, nine TDs rushing.

“I’m not going to sit here and lobby for any bowl”, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said afterward.

“We won’t even focus on USC for probably; we’ll get a bonus week and a half total, bonus three days or something like that”. Their only loss was by a close margin, three points, to a top-10 team. Keep an eye on Ohio State freshman Nick Bosa and Clemson senior Ben Boulware — both make plays all over the field.

The semifinal meeting will be a battle of teams that excel on both sides of the football.